Large contingent of Washington athletes off to Nanjing for world indoors this weekend...
With the NCAA indoor track and field season officially over, there's one more major indoor meet remaining on the calendar, and that's the 21st edition of the World Athletics Indoor Championships in Nanjing, China, which starts on Friday March 21st, and ends on Sunday the 23rd.
Both the Brooks Beasts and the University of Washington will have a significant presence at the world indoor championships. The Beasts will have three runners in the meet, led by Olympian Brandon Miller (Paul Merca photo), along with Valery Tobias on the USA squad. Both finished second at the US national championships in Staten Island.
The newest member of the Brooks Beasts, John Rivera, will also run in the 800, representing his native Puerto Rico, after getting inside the descending order list at the Boston University Last Chance meet on March 2nd when he ran 1:45.19.
Washington State alum Emmanuel "Ray Ray" Wells makes his international debut, as the Rainier Beach HS grad runs in the 60 meter dash. Wells, who got the world championship standard of 6.55 when he won the UW Preview meet in January, was third at the US nationals, but along with second place finisher Coby Hilton (who did not have the standard, but was ranked high enough), both will run at world champs, along with US champ Ronnie Baker.
Baker earned a wild card as the 2020 indoor grand prix champion in the 60 for the world championships that year, which were originally scheduled for Nanjing, Of course, that year's meet was postponed due to the worldwide COVID pandemic, as well as an attempt to fit the meet in both '21 and '23.
The men's 1500 sees two Washington alums and a current Husky in the field, led by Olympian Kieran Lumb from Canada.
Lumb, who continues to train in Seattle under Husky men's head coach Andy Powell, enters the meet with an indoor 1500 personal best of 3:35.80 this season, set in Boston on February 21st, en route to running a short track personal best of 3:52.39 in the same race. Both marks set Canadian national records.
Lumb's training partner under Powell, Oregon alum Sam Prakel, makes his second US world indoor championships team after finishing second at the national championships in Staten Island. Prakel got under the descending order list for world indoors on March 2nd in Boston, splitting 3:36.78 for 1500 en route to running 3:52.77 in the mile.
Washington alum Luke Houser from Woodinville, who had a rocky start to his pro career after leaving the Brooks Beasts just months after signing with the team, finished third behind Prakel at the national championships in Staten Island.
Now training in Atlanta with the Atlanta TC, Houser also got inside the Road to Nanjing descending order list by running 3:35.18 in Boston on March 2nd en route to a mile time of 3:51.14.
Though she hasn't run an indoor race this season, current Husky Sophie O'Sullivan of Ireland ducked under the Road to Nanjing descending order list when she ran 4:06.74 to win the 1500m at the Perth Track Classic in Australia on March 1st.
Current Husky Kaia Tupu-South was the 16th and final qualifier under the Road to Nanjing descending order list in the shot put when she threw 57-9 (17.60m) at the Don Kirby Elite Invitational in Albuquerque, New Mexico on February 15th. Though that mark missed qualifying for the NCAA championships, the New Zealand federation entered her into the world championships.
Former Brooks Beast and 2024 US Olympian Nia Akins is entered in the women's 800, as well as former Husky Wilma Nielsen on Sweden's national team.
CJ ALLEN TO RUN IN INITIAL GRAND SLAM TRACK MEET IN KINGSTON; NCAA D3 RECAP...
Late last week, Grand Slam Track, the home of professional track competition launched by four-time Olympic champion Michael Johnson, announced that Washington State alum CJ Allen (Paul Merca photo) has been added to the field of 48 challengers who will compete in the league's first meet in Kingston, Jamaica on April 4th through the 6th.
Allen, who was on the US Olympic team last year in the 400 hurdles, will race his specialty on the meet's first day, then will run the open 400 on Sunday.
The addition of these challengers, which includes Grace Stark, Dalilah Muhammad, Ackeem Blake, Favour Ofili, and Dominic Lobalu, takes the number of nations represented across the 96 competitors to 22.
Former Renton resident Devon Allen, who was signed by GST as one of the 48 Racers, won't compete in the Kingston meet due to injury.
Josh Kerr of the Brooks Beasts, who was the first male signed by the league in June, will run in the 1500 on Saturday the 5th, then double with the 800 on the 6th.
Over the weekend in Rochester, New York, Alex Rhodes of Puget Sound won the 400 meters at the NCAA Division III indoor championships.
Rhodes, who plans to transfer to the University of Washington this fall, ran 46.71 to take the win by a convincing .71 seconds over runner up Basheer Alramahi of John Carroll.
He then returned an hour later and finished third in the 200, finishing second in his section, 21.456 to 21.457.
Rhodes' 16 points gave the Loggers a three-way tie for tenth place.
Whitworth University's Amblessed Okemgbo finished fifth in the women's shot put.
Okemgbo broke her own school record on her final throw, reaching 46-7.25 (14.20m).
NOTE: World Athletics, USA Track & Field, Athletics New Zealand, Grand Slam Track along with the sports information office of the University of Puget Sound and Whitworth University contributed to this report.
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