UW women in USTFCCCA outdoor top 25 for first time this season; Beasts to highlight Oregon Relays...
NEW ORLEANS--Thanks to a nation-leading mark in the 1500 meters by Chloe Foerster (Paul Merca photo), the University of Washington women's track team finds itself in the top 25 of the USTFCCCA Division I Women’s Outdoor Track & Field National Rating Index, released Tuesday morning by the coaches' association.
Washington is ranked number 19 in the index, after Foerster battled to the line with Georgetown's Melissa Riggins Saturday night at the Bryan Clay Invitational, getting nosed out in a photo finish at 4:07.951 to 4:07.955. Both marks are noted in the NCAA descending order list as 4:07.96.
The Huskies got top 20 marks at Bryan Clay from Wilma Nielsen (2:02.55, #11) and Samantha Friborg (2:03.23, #18) in the 800 meters.
The nation's top five women's teams are in order: LSU, Texas A&M, Arkansas, Illinois, and Oregon.
Number 23 USC is the only other Pac-12 team in the women's national top 25.
On the men's side, the Huskies are on the outside looking in, ranked number 26 after being ranked number 18 in last week's index.
The only national top 20 performance at last week's Bryan Clay Invitational came from Nathan Green, who ran 3:34.79 for 1500 meters, which is the number 4 performance in NCAA history during the collegiate season.
The nation's top five men's teams are in order: Texas A&M, Florida, Alabama, LSU & Texas Tech.
Pac-12 teams in the national top 25 include number 7 USC, number 15 California, number 16 Arizona State, and number 25 Arizona.
In Division II no teams from the Great Northwest Athletic Conference are in either the mens' or women's national top 25, after both Central Washington and Western Washington's women's teams dropped out of the top 25.
The Division II women's top five are in order: Adams State, Pittsburg State, West Texas A&M, Grand Valley State, and Minnesota State.
On the men's side, the national top five are in order: Pittsburg State, Missouri Southern, Grand Valley State, West Texas A&M, and Harding.
PRO NOTES...
The Oregon Relays, which is being contested April 19-20 at Historic Hayward Field on the campus of the University of Oregon, announced that world champion Josh Kerr (Paul Merca photo) of the Seattle based Brooks Beasts, will open his 2024 outdoor campaign Saturday in the pro men's 800 meter challenge.
Kerr will be joined by Brooks Beasts teammates Isaiah Harris, who placed second in the 800m at the 2023 USATF Outdoor Championships and more recently competed for Team USA at the World Indoor Championships, and Brandon Miller, who was a two-time NCAA DI Indoor champion in the 800m while running at Texas A&M University.
Other notable contenders in the men’s 800m field include Sam Prakel, who finished fourth in the 1500m at the 2023 USATF Outdoor Championships, and former Princeton University and University of Washington All-American Sam Ellis. Both continue to train in Seattle under Husky head coach Andy Powell as part of Powell's pro group.
In the women's pro 800 on Friday, Olympia native and Oregon alum Brooke Feldmeier, and Valery Tobias of the Brooks Beasts will contend against a field that includes Tokyo Olympic bronze medalist and Oregon alum Raevyn Rogers.
The Brooks Beasts will also take a shot Friday night at the distance medley relay national and world record.
The Seattle-based contingent will include American middle distance standouts Brannon Kidder, Isaiah Harris, Brandon Miller, and Henry Wynne, with the group going after the world record of 9:15.50 set at the IAAF World Relays on May 3, 2015.
NOTE: The USTFCCCA, Pac-12 Conference, University of Washington, and RunnerSpace.com contributed to this report.
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