Jami Schlueter of Washington sets decathlon personal best at Mt. SAC Relays...

WALNUT, California--
The University of Washington's Jami Schlueter (Paul Merca photo) scored a personal best in the discus and came close in the pole vault en route to a lifetime best score of 7712 points and an eleventh place finish in the elite decathlon at the Mt. SAC Relays Thursday at Hilmer Lodge Stadium.

Schlueter, who started the day in eighth place, ran 14.64 in the 110 hurdles, before launching the discus a lifetime best 135-7 (41.34m).

In the pole vault, he cleared 14-9 (4.50m) before taking three unsuccessful attempts at a personal best of 15-1 (4.60m), 5 centimeters over his best of 14-11 (4.55m).

Schlueter threw the javelin 169-6 (51.67m), then finished the day with a time of 4:45.96 in the 1500.

His final score of 7712 eclipses his previous best of 7545 points set at last year's Pac-12 championships, also at Hilmer Lodge Stadium. The British national was the seventh NCAA D1 finisher in the field.  Pending the results of other meets this weekend, his score puts him tenth on the NCAA D1 descending order list.

Bruno ComĂ­n Pescador of Washington did not start day 2, while Washington State's Mason Mahacek dropped out after the high jump on Wednesday.

Arkansas alum Ayden Owens-Delerme of Puerto Rico won the event with a world leading score of 8732 points.

In the heptathlon, Emerald Ridge HS junior JaiCieonna Gero-Holt, the reigning USA U20 champion finished eleventh overall with a final score of 5240 points.

Gero-Holt, who did not break into the top ten in any of the seven individual events of the heptathlon except for Wednesday's high jump where she finished second, started with a leap of 17-11.5 (5.47m) in the long jump.

She threw the javelin 115-11 (35.33m), then finished the day by running 2:42.82 in the 800.

Her mark, pending the results of other meets this weekend, is the number two score in the world in the under-20 age group.

First day leader and University of Miami alum Michelle Atherley won the event with a final score of 6372 points, currently the best score in the world so far this season.

The only open events on the schedule involving athletes from the state of Washington Thursday were the javelin competitions and the invitational steeplechase.

Walla Walla native Kenneth Rooks opened up his 2024 outdoor campaign by finishing fourth in the steeple in a time of 8:28.33, as Michigan alum Mason Ferlic won in 8:27.17.

In the women's open javelin, Natalie Holmer and Kathleen Horn of the University of Washington were second and third at 146-8 (44.71m) and 146-5 (44.63m), respectively.

In the invitational men's javelin, Jack Olsen of the Huskies was ninth at 213-5 (65.05m).

The women's invitational javelin saw Saydi Orange finish 13th with a best of 139-8 (42.57m), after fouling on her first two throws.

Brice Crider of the Huskies finished sixth in the open javelin with a throw of 195-11 (59.72m).

The majority of Washington's sprints, jumps, and hurdles crew begins competition at the Mt. SAC Relays Friday.


FORMER HUSKY SAM TANNER NAMED TO NEW ZEALAND'S OLYMPIC TEAM...


Former Husky Sam Tanner (Paul Merca photo) was officially named by Athletics New Zealand as one of its initial fifteen members of the federation's team for the Paris Olympic Games this summer.

Tanner, who is currently ranked number 18 in the men's 1500 meters by World Athletics, ran a personal best of 3:31.24 in ChorzĂłw, Poland on July 16, 2023, and has run under the Olympic Games standard of 3:33.50 a total of three times since the qualifying period opened on July 1st.

At last year's world championships in Budapest, Tanner advanced to the semifinals in the 1500, where he finished eighth.

This marks Tanner's second Olympic team, as he was on New Zealand's squad for the delayed 2020 Tokyo Olympics., where he finished ninth in the first round of the 1500.

After the Tokyo Olympics, Tanner gave up his three seasons of eligibility at UW, turning pro and signing with German athletic manufacturer Puma.

During his career at the University of Washington, he finished third at the 2021 Pac-12s in the 1500 in 3:41.19 and qualified for the NCAA championships in the mile indoors and the 1500 outdoors. 

In his lone cross country season for Washington, he competed in three meets, including the 2019 NCAA championships. In the 2020 indoor season which ended once the pandemic hit, he ran four meets, and broke 4 minutes for the first time as a Husky when he ran 3:59.01 on February 1st.

Tanner had the distinction of being the first UW recruit to break 4 minutes in the mile and the first New Zealand high school runner to break 4 when he ran 3:58.41 in March 2019 before enrolling at Washington.


The two-day Oregon Relays, primarily a high school invitational with teams from the state of Oregon, gets underway Friday at Historic Hayward Field on the campus of the University of Oregon.

There are two professional events on the schedule Friday night.

At 7:20 pm, the women's pro 800 features Olympia native and Oregon alum Brooke Feldmeier, and Valery Tobias of the Brooks Beasts. They will contend against a field that includes Tokyo Olympic bronze medalist and Oregon alum Raevyn Rogers.

Thirty minutes later, the Brooks Beasts team of Brannon Kidder, Isaiah Harris, Brandon Miller, and Henry Wynne, takes aim at the world record of 9:15.50 set at the IAAF World Relays on May 3, 2015.

They'll face a field that includes a DMR all star team comprised of three runners from UW coach Andy Powell's pro group--Sam Prakel, Sam Ellis and Kieran Lumb, along with UW alum Wil Laird, and a Wannabeast pick-up group that includes Western Washington alum Mac Franks and Seattle resident David Timlin.

Media partner RunnerSpace.com ($) will stream both days of the meet.


Washington alum Brian Fay is one of the entries in Saturday's season opening Wanda Diamond League meeting in Xiamen, China.

Fay, who competed for Ireland at last year's world championships in Budapest, already owns the Olympic standard in the 5000 meters when he ran 13:01.40 last July, makes his season outdoor debut with a race at that distance.

He'll face a field that includes five men with personal bests of under 13 minutes, including Nicholas Kipkorir of Kenya, the fourth place finisher in the Tokyo Olympics in the 5000, and the reigning Wanda Diamond League champ at that distance, who has a best of 12:46.33.

The Xiamen Diamond League meet will be streamed live on Peacock ($) starting at 4 am Pacific, with highlights shown Saturday from 10-12 am Pacific on CNBC and NBCSports.com.


NOTE: The Mt. SAC Relays the sports information offices of the University of Washington, RunnerSpace.com, and the Wanda Diamond League contributed to this report.

paulmerca.blogspot.com may receive a commission for any purchases made from links clicked. Please support this site and our sponsors by clicking on the links. You can also support the site by clicking the yellow "Buy Me A Coffee" link below. 

Comments