On the whole, the Dawgs come home with a second Wheel in Philly...
 |
| Washington's (from L to R) Rhys Hammond, Nathan Green, Ronan McMahon-Staggs & Martin Barco (photo courtesy Penn Relays) |
PHILADELPHIA--One of the most legendary quotes attributed to 1920's entertainer WC Fields wrote as a fictional epitaph was, "On the whole, I'd rather be in Philadelphia".
While W.C. Fields said that in jest as a joke about his home town, being in Philadelphia was the attitude that the Washington Huskies took over the last three days of competition at the famed Penn Relays at Franklin Field.
On a rainy and windy afternoon after 1 pm local time, the Washington men won their second Penn Relays Wheel of the weekend, capturing the 4 x 1 mile relay in a time of 16:24.61, overcoming the challenge of runner-up and hometown favorite Villanova, third place North Carolina, and fourth place Virginia.
The pack stayed together through the first two legs, with the Huskies in fourth after the leadoff leg by Ronan McMahon-Staggs, who ran 4:08.90.
Martin Barco, the Indiana freshman for the Huskies, ran a split of 4:07.81, before passing the baton to Rhys Hammond.
Hammond, who received the baton in sixth place, moved up to fourth with the fastest split of the quartet at 4:01.81, before handing off to closer Nathan Green.
The final leg was a tactical affair between Washington, Villanova, North Carolina and Virginia.
The Tar Heels maintained the lead with Villanova sitting on the outside shoulder, while Washington and Virginia were just behind both of them.
With 300m to go, Washington surged on the outside to pass Villanova and UNC, but UNC, with Ethan Strand on the carry responded, returning to the lead on the final curve.
At the end of the final curve, Green of Washington passed Strand as form began to falter. Villanova's Liam Murphy managed to pass UNC in the final 50 meters but could not catch Washington, as Washington won their first Relay wheel in the event, stopping the clock at 16:24.61.
Villanova finished in 16:24.92, with North Carolina third at 16:25.19, and Virginia fourth in 16:25.40.
"We saw it start to rain and we were like 'ahh, let's go!'" Green said post-race. "Doing this today is a cherry on top. We came here to just compete really hard and be our best selves, and that's what we were. I knew that the guys were going got put me in the right position to get up there and compete hard … I didn't know where I'd be in that top four, but I knew it was going to be me, Ethan, Liam, and Gary. We knew it was going to come down to us four, so with the first lap being slow it let me come back in, settle for a second, and I just tried to move up accordingly and use tactics I knew are advantageous for myself."
Courtesy of the Penn Relays and Flotrack, here's the race in its entirety:
The Washington women ran the eighth fastest time in meet history in the 4 x 1500 relay, running 17:10.88, but finished second to Providence, who ran 16:59.65.
The Friars built their lead on the second leg with Shannon Flockart, and never looked back, building up a lead of over 100 meters by the time their anchor broke the finish line.
Mia Cochran, Amina Maatoug, Sophie O'Sullivan, and Chloe Foerster were the order today, with Foerster bringing the Dawgs from fourth to second on the anchor.
The women returned to the track just over an hour later to defend their Penn Relays Wheel in the 4 x 800 won last year.
Despite a great effort from Claire Yerby, Chloe Foerster, Maggie Liebich, and Sophie O'Sullivan, the women settled for third in 8:22.10. Yerby split 2:08.07 on the opener but Foerster then had the fastest split of anyone in the field with a 2:01.35 to bring UW up to third.
Liebich split 2:07.60 to pass off in third to O'Sullivan. She was three seconds back when she got the baton and caught up to the leaders going into the final lap, but couldn't hold on when they made their last moves. O'Sullivan split 2:05.09 which was the fastest anchor leg split.
It was a rough day for Washington alums Luke Houser and Sam Ellis in the Ben Franklin Mile.
Houser finished eleventh in 4:02.54, while Ellis was disqualified.
COUGAR CLASSIC RECAP...
In Pullman, it was pretty much a intrasquad meet at the Cougar Classic at Mooberry Track on the campus of Washington State University with a few events contested Friday, and the majority of the meet held Saturday.
Over the two days of competition, the Cougars picked up 21 wins.
Competition highlights:
--The Cougars' Mason Lawyer picked up two wins, taking the 100 in 10.19, and the 200 in 20.76. Brooke Lyons was a double winner for the Cougs, winning the 100 in 11.69, and the 200 in 23.46.
--Paris Olympian from Ecuador and WSU alum Maribel Caicedo won the women's 100 hurdles in 13.41;
--Oregon alum Shelby Moran won the women's hammer with a throw of 230-4 (70.21m);
--Washington State's Blake Sturgis won the men's javelin, throwing 223-11 (68.25m);
--The Cougars' NCAA indoor qualifier Tatum Moku won the women's pole vault, clearing 14-0.5 (4.28m), while the Cougs' Nana Gyedu, who is competing unattached, won the women's shot with a throw of 56-0 (17.07m).
ADIZERO ROAD TO RECORDS RECAP...
In Herzogenaurach, Germany, Seattle resident Sam Prakel, who competed in Des Moines, Iowa on Tuesday at the USATF Road Mile championship race, flew across the Atlantic to run in the Adizero Road to Records mile on the adidas campus.
Prakel finished ninth in 4:02.48, while Washington alum Joe Waskom was eleventh in 4:07.50.
Kenya's Emmanuel Wanyonyi took the victory in 3:52.45, just off the current world road mile record of 3:51.3 set bu Great Britain's Elliot Giles.
ALLEN EIGHTH IN 300 HURDLES IN WANDA DIAMOND LEAGUE SEASON OPENER...
Washington State alum CJ Allen finished eighth in the 300 hurdles at the Wanda Diamond League season opening meet at Egret Stadium in Xiamen, China Saturday night.
Allen ran a personal best 34.96 in an event that he's not competed in since 2013, when he ran 37.28 at the Washington state high school championships in Tacoma.
The 300 hurdles in Xiamen was won by former Olympic champion Karsten Warholm of Norway, who ran a world best of 33.05.
The fastest time recorded by the end of the season will be recognized as the world record, after World Athletics approved the 300 hurdles as a world record event.
The Wanda Diamond League resumes next week with the Shanghai meeting on May 3rd.
ZAGS BREAK SCHOOL RECORD IN DMR AT DRAKE RELAYS...
 |
| The Gonzaga DMR team at the Drake Relays (from L to R): Ireland Robertson, Ellie Armbruster, Willow Collins, Rosina Machu (photo courtesy Gonzaga Athletics) |
In Des Moines, Iowa, Gonzaga's distance medley relay team of Willow Collins, Ellie Armbruster, Ireland Robertson, and Rosina Machu finished fifth at the Drake Relays in 11:21.23, setting a new program record.
Collins led off for the Bulldogs in the 1200m leg, finishing in 3:26.64 before handing the baton to Armbruster, who ran a 55.93 in the 400m leg. Robertson carried the torch for the 800m leg with a 2:10.23, passing it to Machu for the final 1600m leg. The top five teams remained in contention throughout the final four laps, but Utah would pull away late for the win.
Machu finished her leg in 4:48.44 to complete GU's 11:21.23, improving the previous record set last year at the same Drake Relays event.
NOTE: The sports information offices of Gonzaga University, the University of Washington, Washington State, and the Penn Relays, Drake Relays, adidas, World Athletics, and the Wanda Diamond League contributed to this report.
paulmerca.blogspot.com may receive a commission for any purchases made from links clicked. Please support this site and our sponsors by clicking on the links. You can also support the site by clicking the yellow "Buy Me A Coffee" link below.
Comments