Huskies off to Philadelphia for third straight Penn Relays appearance...
Since taking over the University of Washington men's and women's track and cross country program in the 2018-19 school year, Andy and Maurica Powell have led the Huskies to the famed Penn Relays in Philadelphia the last three seasons.
At last year's meet, the Huskies brought home their first Penn Relays Wheel in winning the women's 4 x 800 relay with the team of anchor Chloe Foerster, Wilma Nielsen, Samantha Friborg, and Marlena Preigh (above/photo courtesy UW Athletics) running a then NCAA record 8:17.28 in perhaps one of the more bizarre finishes in meet history.
Foerster and Providence's Shannon Flockhart entered the final straight neck and neck. Flockhart 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, giving the Huskies the win in a collegiate and Penn Relays record time of 8:17.28.
Wilma Nielsen entered the transfer portal after last season, while both Marlena Preigh and Samantha Friborg graduated, but the Huskies go into Philadelphia with a better team on paper.
The Dawgs will have Foerster, plus Irish Olympian Sophie O'Sullivan, Claire Yerby, and Amina Maatoug on their team, which runs on Saturday.
Foerster's run 2:00.52 this season, while O'Sullivan ran 2:00.28 last summer in Lignano, Italy in her buildup to the Olympics.
Yerby ran 2:04.47 last week at the Bryan Clay meet in Azusa, while Maatoug ran 2:04.08 indoors at the Big Tens.
Maatoug, Foerster, and O'Sullivan are also scheduled to run in the 4 x 1500 on Saturday with Mia Cochran.
On Thursday, Cochran, Yerby and Maggie Liebich are entered in the women's 1500, while Maatoug, Julia David-Smith and Maeve Stiles are in Thursday's 5000. For Stiles, who graduated from Penn last season, this is a homecoming to Franklin Field.
In Friday's open section of the 5000, incoming grad transfer Chloe Thomas from UConn is in the field, competing unattached.
Paris Olympian and former Brooks Beast Nia Akins, who moved back to Philadelphia, is in the Olympic Development women's 800, while Bellevue native Katie Burnett competes in the Olympic Development women's 5k walk. Both events happen Saturday.
Thursday's opening session of the Penn Relays only has one Husky competing, as Bodi Ligons goes in the men's 400 hurdles.
On Friday, three of the four runners on the Husky team that set the all conditions world best in the distance medley relay of 9:14.10 in Seattle in February--Ronan McMahon-Staggs, Ligons, and Nathan Green on the anchor, will team with Justin O'Toole on the 800 leg.
They'll face a field that includes NCAA indoor champ Virginia, and two other teams that finished ahead of Washington at the NCAA indoors.
Washington has teams entered in Saturday's 4 x 800, and the 4 x mile.
Saturday, alums Sam Ellis, and Luke Houser are entered in the Benjamin Franklin Elite men's mile.
Ellis competed at the USATF Road Mile Tuesday night in Des Moines, Iowa, where he ran 3:54.95 to finish second and qualify for Team USA at the World Athletics Road Mile championships later this year (originally scheduled for San Diego in September before World Athletics pulled the event).
Houser finished third in the 1500 meters at the world indoor championships in Nanjing last month.
Washington incoming grad transfer Tyler Bilyard from the University of Birmingham in Great Britain, will run for his school in both Friday's distance medley relay and Saturday's 4 x 800.
Flotrack ($) will stream all three days of the Penn Relays.
NOTE: The sports information offices of the University of Washington, the Drake Relays, and the Penn Relays contributed to this report.
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