WEEKEND WRAPUP: Huskies win first ever Penn Relays wheel & set NCAA record in 4 x 800, plus more...
Apologies for the delay in publishing the recap of Saturday's action from the state's nine Division I and II teams and pros, with the Desert Heat meet in Tucson ending late combined with an early morning wakeup call and flight back home to Seattle.
Nonetheless, there was plenty of great action around the country from the state's teams, and we'll start it off in Philadelphia at the Penn Relays at Franklin Field, where a dramatic and bizarre ending gave the Washington Huskies' 4 x 800 meter relay team (photo courtesy UW Athletics) the victory, a new collegiate record, and the school's first Penn Relays wheel.
The Huskies' Marlena Preigh got the squad off to a solid start, running 2:07.94 on an overcast afternoon, but found themselves almost two seconds behind Providence in third place.
NCAA indoor 800 All-American Wilma Nielsen gained one place, as she overtook Clemson's number two runner, running a split of 2:05.06, but lost a second to Providence, as second runner Kimberley May ran 2:02.46.
Washington started gaining ground on the Friars on the third leg, as Samantha Friborg produced the fastest split of any runner in the competition, cranking out a 2:02.12 to hand the baton to anchor Chloe Foerster with a 1.36 second deficit behind Providence.
Foerster started gaining on Friar anchor Shannon Flockart, when the Husky tried to go past her with 200 meters to go.
Flockhart, who was on the rail at that point, veered to the outside of lane 1 and made contact with Foerster.
As they exited the final turn, Flockhart again tried to swing outside to force Foerster, who was positioned in lane two to go wider. In the process, the two made contact, and Flockhart, who was holding the baton in her right hand, lost control of the baton with less than 50 meters to go.
Flockhart broke the tape first, but the baton never made it to the finish line, thus giving the Huskies the win in a collegiate and Penn Relays record time of 8:17.28, breaking Villanova's record of 8:17.45 set eleven years ago, while Providence was disqualified for not finishing the race with the baton.
Courtesy of Flotrack, here is the complete race footage:
To round out the Penn Relays, the Huskies placed seventh in the 4x1500 Championship of America. The team of Haley Herberg, Julia David-Smith, India Weir, and Ella Borsheim ran 18:04.26.
In the women's Olympic Development 1500, Penn graduate Nia Akins of the Brooks Beasts finished fifth in 4:10.32, while teammate Marta Pen Freitas was ninth in 4:16.48.
Complete results of the Penn Relays are available here.
In Des Moines, Iowa, the Gonzaga men's distance medley relay team of Jacob Alfonso, Carp Mukai, Sam Geiger, and Wil Smith finished third in a school record time of 9:44.59 to finish their weekend at the Drake Relays.
The Zags' women's DMR squad of Ellie Armbruster, Alicia Anderson, Willow Collins, and Kristen Garcia finished fourth in a school record time of 11:24.48,
Notre Dame, anchored by Woodinville native Olivia Markezich, won in 10:54.50, ahead of Utah, which had Eastlake HS grad Brooke Manson on the 1200 leadoff leg. Utah finished in 11:04.57.
In the Olympic Development women's 400 hurdles, Washington alum Gianna Woodruff finished sixth in 56.56.
In Tucson, Arizona, Caitlyn "Egypt" Simmons (Paul Merca photo) finished fifth in the women's long jump with a personal best of 20-5 (6.22m) and seventh in the triple jump with a best of 41-3.25 (12.58m) to highlight Eastern Washington's trip to the Desert Heat Classic hosted by the University of Arizona.
Javelin thrower Ryan Rieckmann had the best placing on the men's side, finishing fourth with a throw of 225-10 (68.83m).
In Clovis, California, Chandler Ault fired the best throw by a Husky in the javelin in 13 years, and No. 2 toss ever, becoming just the second Dawg to surpass 250-feet at the Fresno State Invitational Saturday.
Ault went 251-1 (76.54m) on his third attempt, just two feet shy of the school record of 253-5 set by three-time All-American Kyle Nielsen in 2011. Ault now climbs up to seventh in the NCAA with that toss. Ault's second-best today was also beyond his former PR, as he went 245-10 (74.95m)in round two.
Ault's best gets his a US Olympic Trials qualifying mark.
In the women's discus, Beatrice Asomaning moved up to second at UW with a new personal-best of 186-0 (56.69m) that she connected on her sixth and final attempt.
In the women's pole vault, the Huskies went 1-2-3-5-6, led by reigning NCAA indoor champ Hana Moll, who cleared 14-9.5 (4.51m).
Nastassja Campbell was second at 14-1.75 (4.31m), and Sara Borton third at 13-9.75 (4.21m). Amanda Moll was fifth at 13-3.75 (4.06m), and Avril Wilson sixth at 12-10 (3.91m).
UW alum Jacob Englar won the men's pole vault with a leap of 17-7.75 (5.38m), followed by the Huskies' Max Manson and Simon Park in second and third. Manson cleared 17-3.75 (5.28m), while Park cleared 17-0 (5.18m).
For the second time this season, the Huskies had a 1-2-3 finish in the men's 400-meter hurdles. Freshmen Jonathan Frazier and Boden Hanley each posted personal-bests, Frazier going 51.63 for the win and Hanley running 52.06 in second, with Matthew Wilkinson taking third in 52.66. On the women's side, freshman Kapiolani Coleman took second-place, dipping under 60-seconds for the second time, at 59.88.
In Corvallis, Oregon, Washington State picked up eight wins on the final day of competition Saturday at the Oregon State High Performance meet at the Whyte Track & Field Center.
The Cougs won all four relay events on the afternoon, while Micaela De Mello (women's 100m hurdles, 13.58), Parker Duskin (men's 110m hurdles, 14.49), Maya McCabe (women's 400m dash, 55.50), and Nana Gyedu in the women's shot (52-8.75/16.07m) also picked up first-place finishes.
Central Washington's E'lexis Hollis continued her winning ways, taking the women's 100 in 11.85.
In Herzogenaurach, Germany, Seattle resident Sam Prakel, the former world record holder in the men's road mile, finished sixth, while Washington State alum Paul Ryan was seventh at the adidas Adizero Road to Records on a course inside the adidas world headquarters Saturday.
Prakel ran 4:02.20, while Ryan finished in 4:04.98.
Kenya's Emmanuel Wanyonyi took the victory in a new world record of 3:54.56.
The Adizero Road to Records featured men's and women's races over 800 meters, the mile, as well as 5k and 10k on the adidas campus.
In Bellingham, heavy rains marred the start of the Ralph Vernacchia Invitational at Civic Stadium hosted by Western Washington University, but it didn't deter the Vikings from picking up fifteen event wins at their own meet.
Hurdler Jaden Edwards was a double winner for Western, winning both the 110 (15.46) and the 400 (55.51) hurdles.
Katie Potts was a double winner for the Viking women, winning the shot put (45-6.5/13.88m) and the discus (152-5/46.47m).
Seattle Pacific got a win in the women's pole vault, as Lizzy Daugherty cleared 12-6.25 (3.82m). For Saint Martin's, their best finish on the day came from Andrew Schulz, who placed second in the long jump at 22-1.75 (6.75m).
Monday, the Great Northwest Athletic Conference begins its championship meet with the combined events at Civic Field in Bellingham.
Western Oregon's JJ Walker is the highest returning finisher in the decathlon from last year's championship meet, while Seattle Pacific's Hannah Chang, the fourth place finisher, is the top returnee in the heptathlon.
NOTE: The Penn Relays, Drake Relays, World Athletics, and the sports information offices of Gonzaga, Washington, Washington State, Western Washington, Oregon State, and Fresno State contributed to this report.
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