The race to indoor championship season heats up for Washington squads with Husky Classic & Whitworth Invite...
With conference championship meets upcoming towards the end of the month for some of Washington's Division I and II schools, teams are looking to fine tune their traveling squads in essentially the final regular season meets of the short indoor season.
Most of the state's Division I and II schools will travel to Seattle for Friday and Saturday's Husky Classic at the Dempsey Indoor Center on the campus of the University of Washington.
In addition to the Husky Classic in Seattle, teams will send athletes to The Podium for Friday and Saturday's Whitworth Invitational, hosted by Whitworth University.
At the Husky Classic, host Washington will host full squads from Western Washington, Seattle Pacific, Seattle University, with partial squads from Washington State, Gonzaga, and Eastern Washington.
According to the start lists posted for the Whitworth Invitational, Central Washington and Eastern Washington will have most of their squad competing, while partial teams from Washington State and Gonzaga will make the short trip to Spokane.
Saint Martin's is the only Washington D1 or D2 school not competing this weekend.
Back in Seattle, the Husky Classic fields appears to be weaker on paper than past years, mainly due to the fact that teams who normally come to the Dempsey are opting to go to the Boston College Eagle Elite meet in Boston at the one-year old Track at New Balance, which will host the NCAA indoor championships in one month.
Teams who have traditionally come to Seattle for the Husky Classic include Oregon, UCLA, and Oklahoma State.
Nonetheless, there will be some firepower in the middle distance events, as Washington's Sophie O'Sullivan (Paul Merca photo) is entered in both the 800 and mile.
BYU brings most of its top middle and long distance talent to the Dempsey on both the men's and women's side, as does Northern Arizona, with athletes from Stanford sprinkled in to boot, including NCAA 5000 & 10000 champ Ky Robinson.
Both the men's and women's 3000 and 5000 appear on paper to have the best fields in the meet.
Some notables competing in the meet include 2022 world championships finalist and former NCAA shot put champion Tripp Piperi, two time US world championships decathlete Harrison Williams, and Tokyo Olympian in the heptathlon Annie Kunz.
Upon the conclusion of the Husky Classic Saturday afternoon, the Dempsey transitions to the UW High School Indoor Invitational, where Mead HS's Dominick Corley, who currently has the second fastest time in the country at 60 meters, is the headliner.
Media partner RunnerSpace.com will live stream both the Husky Classic and the Washington HS Invitational, starting at 1:30 pm Friday and 9 am Saturday. The UW High School Invitational begins at 2 pm Saturday and resumes Sunday at 9 am.
The accepted entries, heat sheets, and time schedules for both the Husky Classic and the Washington HS Invitational are available here.
RunnerSpace will also live stream the Whitworth Invitational starting at 12:45 pm Friday, and resume Saturday at 8:30 am.
PROS OFF TO NEW YORK FOR SUNDAY'S MILLROSE GAMES...
Kerr will open in the men's two-mile, where he'll face a field that includes Americans Cole Hocker, Grant Fisher, and Joe Klecker, along with George Beamish of New Zealand, Morgan McDonald of Australia, and UW alum Kieran Lumb, the Canadian champion at 1500 meters.
Washington alum Sam Ellis is entered in the men's 800m, while Seattle resident Sam Prakel is entered in the Wanamaker Mile, where he'll go against a field that includes Hobbs Kessler, Yared Nuguse, Cooper Teare, and Mario Garcia Romo. Seattle resident Derek Holdsworth is entered as a pacer.
NBC Sports (KING 5 in Seattle) will televise the meet from 10 am to noon Sunday morning, with streaming available on Peacock and USATF.tv.
WASHINGTON'S HANA MOLL & LUKE HOUSER ARE ON THE BOWERMAN WATCH LIST...
Senior Luke Houser and freshman Hana Moll were each added to the 10-person Bowerman Men’s and Women’s Watch Lists this week, their first inclusions on the prestigious list of candidates for college track and field’s highest award.
Houser, the defending NCAA champion in the mile, currently has the fastest mile time in the NCAA without an altitude conversion, and he also ranks number 6 in the 3,000-meters, having run both times at home in the Dempsey, and broken Dempsey facility records in each race. Houser’s mile time of 3:51.73 is the fourth-fastest all-conditions effort in collegiate history.
Houser is the sixth Washington man to be named to the Bowerman Watch List since the award was created in 2009. He joins a list that includes Scott Roth (2011), Jeremy Taiwo (2013), Izaic Yorks (2016), Sam Tanner (2021), and Joe Waskom (2023).
Moll, the current NCAA leader in the women’s pole vault, is one of three freshmen now on the women’s midseason Watch List, the most freshmen ever considered on one edition of the list. Her season-best clearance at the UW Invitational of 15-2.25 ranks her number 5 in NCAA history indoors.
The Olympia native is the fourth Husky women on the Watch List, and the first since Olivia Gruver in 2020. Katie Flood (2012-13) and Katie Follett (2010) were also watch listed in their days.
The Bowerman will be awarded in December at the annual USTFCCCA Convention in Orlando, Florida.
NOTE: The USTFCCCA, Millrose Games and the sports information office of the University of Washington and Whitworth University contributed to this report.
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