Rosina Machu of Gonzaga wins 5000 at Drake Relays Thursday night...
In Des Moines, Iowa, Gonzaga's Rosina Machu took the victory in the top section of the women's 5000 at the Drake Relays at Drake Stadium Thursday evening.
For the first part of the race, Machu was in a small group of runners that included freshman teammate Logan Hofstee, before she broke away, taking the win in a time of 15:54.97.
Hofstee finished third in 16:05.90, while the Zags' Jessica Frydenlund was fourth in 16:18.73.
Friday, Gonzaga's Willow Collins runs in the women's 1500 at the Drake Relays, while Wil Smith will be the lone Zag competing on the men's side, as he returns to Stanford to run the 5000 at the Payton Jordan Invitational.
In Philadelphia, Washington's Amina Maatoog finished fourth in the top section of the women's 5000 to highlight the Huskies' first day at the Penn Relays at historic Franklin Field.
Competing in her second outdoor meet of the season, Maatoug finished in a time of 15:51.96.
The Huskies' Julia David-Smith was 13th in the heat in 16:17.10.
In a separate heat, Washington's Maeve Stiles, a grad transfer from Penn, made her return to her old track, finishing 11th in 16:38.46.
In the open Maggie Liebich was second overall in 4:12.64, just a couple tenths of a second off the PR she set last week at Bryan Clay. In fifth-place was Claire Yerby, and she lowered her PR down to 4:13.20. Mia Cochran was close behind in sixth in 4:13.43.
The only Husky on the men's side competing Thursday was Bodi Ligins in the 400 hurdles, who won his heat in 51.37, finishing ninth overall.
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.
Kyle Reinheimer, who was the 800 leg in Seattle, could be available, as he's on the the 4 x 800 team that races on Saturday.
Washington incoming grad transfer Tyler Bilyard from the University of Birmingham in Great Britain, will run for his school in Friday's distance medley relay.
The UW women do not have anyone racing Friday, although incoming transfer Chloe Thomas from UConn will be racing unattached in the open 5000 Friday night.
WHAT'S HAPPENING ELSEWHERE THIS WEEKEND...
In Pullman, Washington State hosts the Cougar Classic Friday and Saturday at Mooberry Track on the WSU campus.
The meet appears to be a low key meet, primarily composed of teams from Idaho and Eastern Washington in the field.
From the preliminary start lists posted, the Cougars are holding out several of their top distance runners, who raced last weekend at Bryan Clay. However, the Cougs are running many of the top athletes in the sprints, jumps, and throws. Likewise, Eastern Washington is holding out several top competitors.
In Bellingham, Western Washington is hosting all of the state's Division II teams for two meets: Friday's Pee Wee Halsell Invitational, and Saturday's Ralph Vernacchia Invitational, in what amounts to a preview of the Great Northwest Athletic Conference championship meet that will be held at Civic Stadium two weeks later.
The Halsell will be somewhat distance-oriented, including the 800, 5000, 10,000, 3000 steeplechase. It also will feature the short (100 / 110) hurdles, the 200 dash, and 4x100 relay.
The Vernacchia on Saturday will have everything from 100 to 5000 meters, both short and long hurdles (no steeplechase), and both relays.
Most field events will be offered both days except for the javelin (men on Friday, women on Saturday) and the triple jump (both genders on Saturday only).
Besides the four Washington D2 schools, Alaska Anchorage is making the trek south, as well as the University of Victoria, Trinity Western, and Simon Fraser University from Canada.
ODDS AND ENDS...
In Tuesday night's USATF Road Mile Championships, we reported that Washington alum Sam Ellis finished second in 3:54.95 to make his first national team.
We neglected to report that Ellis' training partner in UW coach Andy Powell's pro group, Sam Prakel, finished eighth in 3:56.96.
In the women's race, Washington alum Eleanor Fulton was fifth in 4:27.81.
NOTE: The sports information offices of Gonzaga University, the University of Washington, Western Washington, and the Penn Relays contributed to this report.
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