Don't blink, or else you might miss the distance medley relay Friday at the Husky Classic!

If you blink, you might just miss perhaps one of the top events of this weekend's Husky Classic at Dempsey Indoor on the campus of the University of Washington in Seattle, and that's the men's and women's distance medley relays. 

The two-day Husky Classic gets underway on the track Friday at 1:45 pm with the men's invitational distance medley relay (1200-400-800-1600), followed by the women's invitational distance medley relay fifteen minutes later.

If you're wondering why one of the meet's premier events is going off early, it's to accommodate some teams and athletes who are also competing the next day at the Don Kirby Elite meet in Albuquerque, one of the top sprints/jumps/throws meets in the country. 

Several teams who are entered in the distance medley relays have individuals who will be in Seattle to help their squad out, then fly to Albuquerque to race at the Don Kirby meet the next day. 

The men's DMR features entries from Cal, Stanford and three entries from the University of Washington.

On paper, Washington's men's team, which has nine runners who have broken four minutes in the mile this season (not to mention three who have run 1:47 or faster for 800 meters), depending on who they run on their "A" team, could make a run at the collegiate record of 9:16.40 set by Oklahoma State in 2023, and/or the American collegiate (all American citizens) record of 9:18.81 set by the Huskies last year.

The only one who remains on the Huskies from that team is Nathan Green, who ran 3:50.74. Green ran the 800 leg on last year's DMR team.

Kyle Reinheimer (photo courtesy UNC Athletics) was an All-American in this event for North Carolina, but is now competing for the Washington Huskies. His Tar Heels were fourth at the NCAA indoor championships last year, and he was on the UNC team that ran 9:17.92 at Notre Dame, which was the second fastest time of 2024.

Stanford could possibly give the Huskies a run, led by twins Leo and Lex Young, and probably Zachary Ryan on the 400 leg and Zane Bergen on the 800 leg.

The Golden Bears of California are projected to send a team with miler Garrett McQuiddy, who became the 300th man to break 4 minutes in the mile at Dempsey last year, and Justin Pretre, who ran a 4:02.30/7:53.44 mile/3000 double at the UW Invitational two weeks ago.

As the Huskies and other teams with top times during the regular season have found out, being one of the nation's top twelve teams doesn't necessarily equate to a podium finish in the distance medley. 

At the NCAA championships, especially if team members are entered in individual events like the 800 and the mile where there are heats, the time schedule is as much an opponent as the other racers.

The real fireworks could happen in the women's DMR after the men's DMR finishes.

The Huskies hold the women's collegiate record at 10:43.39, set at last year's Boston University Terrier DMR Challenge meet.

In that same race last year, Brigham Young was third in 10:44.67, and Stanford was fourth in 10:47.03.

In studying the rosters of all three teams, Washington returns Chloe Foerster, who ran the leadoff 1200 leg, along with Anna Terrell, who ran the 400.

BYU returns three of the four runners from last year's race at BU: Sami Oblad, Meghan Hunter, who was third in the 800 at the NCAA indoor championships, and anchor Riley Chamberlain.

The Cougars, who won the NCAA championship in the DMR, substituted Carlee Hansen in Hunter's place at the nationals in order for Hunter to concentrate on her individual event.

Stanford returns Olympian Juliette Whittaker, who ran the anchor 1600 leg, and Roisin Willis, who ran the 800 leg.

Do not discount Northern Arizona's team, which has Maggie Congdon, Alex Carlson, who was a Big Ten scorer in the 800 for Rutgers, and Karrie Baloga, who was a scorer for the Lumberjacks in the steeple at the NCAAs.

I'd also not discount New Mexico, led by a pair of Kenyan freshmen in Judy Rono, and NCAA cross country runner-up Pamela Kosgei. If her teammates keep it close through the first three legs, Kosgei could surprise some people.

The coaches of the various teams are keeping the actual lineups and orders of their teams close to the vest, so fans in attendance won't know who is running for their favorite squad until close to post time at the Dempsey.

I'll preview the rest of the meet in my next post, so stay tuned.

NOTE: The sports information offices of the University of Washington and the University of North Carolina contributed to this report.

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