Julia David-Smith of UW sets big personal best in 1500 in Dublin...
DUBLIN, Ireland--Building upon the momentum from setting a personal best over the 3000 in Wednesday's Cork City Sports meet, Washington alum Eleanor Fulton ran a season best in a fifth place finish in the 1500 at Friday night's Morton Games in the Irish capital.
Fulton was in the lead group for most of the race, but in the end, former Oklahoma State standout Gabija Galvydyte of Lithuania took the victory in a meet and stadium record 4:00.71.
The first five all went under the meet record of 4:06.73 set by Camas native Alexa Efraimson set in 2017, and the stadium record of 4:05.75 set by Irish legend Sonia O'Sullivan in 1994.
Current Husky Julia David-Smith (Paul Merca photo) finished twelfth in a personal best 4:10.03, which is the third fastest time in UW school history.
Teammate Mia Cochran was one spot behind in 4:15.78.
In the climactic Morton Mile, Dublin native and Washington alum Brian Fay, who was towards the back for most of the race with a slow start, roared all the way to a fifth place finish, running a season best 3:52.98, after going through the 1500 mark in 3:39.07.
Fellow countryman Andrew Coscoran won in a meet and stadium record 3:51.12, leading four other Irish runners across the line.
TOUGH OUTING FOR WOODRUFF AND ROOKS IN MONACO...
At the Herculis EBS meeting in Monaco Friday night, it was a tough go for both Washington alum Gianna Woodruff and Walla Walla native Kenneth Rooks at the tenth stop of the Wanda Diamond League series.
In the women's 400 hurdles, Woodruff, who started the race in lane 8, appeared to get out solidly, but appeared to slow down rapidly coming off the final turn.
She finished in a time of 59.21, as Femke Bol of the Netherlands won in a world leading time of 51.95.
In a race where all three of the Paris Olympic podium finishers were in the field, Rooks, the Olympic silver medalist, just had a bad race.
Rooks was never in contention, as he finished 15th in 8:28.23.
Reigning world and Olympic champion Soufiane El Bakkali of Morocco took the win in 8:03.15, but lost the lead coming off the final barrier, as Japan's Ryuji Miura snuck up on him. The Olympic champ managed to hold off Miura, who ran a national record 8:03.43.
Olympic bronze medalist Abraham Kibiwot of Kenya was twelfth in 8:14.81.
The Wanda Diamond League's next stop in in London on July 19th.
In Wilmington, California, Ridgefield native Trey Knight finished second in the men's hammer throw at the LA Throws Cup at the Colich Throwing Center outside LA.
Knight, who did not qualify for the NCAA championships last month after finishing sixth last year in the hammer, threw 248-0 (75.61m), as American record holder Rudy Winkler won with a best of 264-0 (80.47m).
THE WEEKEND AHEAD...
Saturday, Western Washington' Bec Bennett, who set a personal best in the 400 as well as a school and GNAC conference record last week in Poznan, Poland, races at the Moore Guldensporenmeeting in Kortrijk, Belgium, which is a World Athletics Continental Tour-Bronze meeting.
She'll race at 10:20 am Pacific time (5:20 pm local time).
In Memphis, five athletes with Washington ties are entered in Saturday's Ed Murphey Classic that will be contested at the University of Memphis track complex.
Starting things off early Saturday morning are Cheney native Ryan Rieckmann and Walla Walla's Dash Sirmon in the pro section of the men's javelin at 11:30 am (9:30 am Pacific).
In the main portion of the meet, Washington State alum Maribel Caicedo is entered in the women's 100 hurdles.
The Olympian from Ecuador, who already has the world championships standard, looks to improve upon her season best of 12.70, set at the Music City Track Carnival in Cleveland, Tennessee on May 31st.
Caicedo races at 5 pm Pacific (7 pm local time).
Forty five minutes later, Washington alum Cass Elliott goes in the men's 800, where he'll face two sub 1:45 runners in Isaiah Jewett, and Christian Jackson.
In one of the final events of the meet, fellow Husky alum Luke Houser races in the men's 1500 against a field that includes former Oregon Duck Cooper Teare, and veteran Craig Engels.
USATF.tv ($) will stream the meet.
For distance fans, the big meet of the weekend happens Saturday night at Jack Kemp Stadium on the campus of Occidental College in Los Angeles, as the Sound Running Sunset Tour takes over with one of the best domestic fields.
Seattle's Brooks Beasts will have a large contingent in the meet.
The Beasts will run Brannon Kidder, Isaiah Harris and Valery Tobias in the 800; Waleed Suliman and Henry Wynne in the 1500; and Kayley DeLay and Allie Buchalski in the 5000.
Parker Stokes, Olympian Brandon Miller (Paul Merca photo), and Marta Pen Freitas round out the Beasts' entries in separate sections of the 1500.
Others with Washington ties entered in the meet includes Club Northwest's Mac Franks in section 4 of the men's 1500; Washington alum Julius Diehr in section 2 of the men's steeple; and Olivia Markezich in section 2 of the women's 1500.
In the top section of the meet, Washington alum Aaron Ahl is in the steeple, and Sam Prakel is in the 1500, after taking a fall in the international mile at last week's Nike Prefontaine Classic.
Media partner RunnerSpace.com ($) will stream the meet starting at 5:40 pm.
ROYAL HALEY FINDS A HOME AT SOUTH FLORIDA...
Welcome to the Bay, Royal Haley! Happy to have you plant roots down in the 813🌴
— USF XCTF (@USFXCTF) July 9, 2025
Personal Bests:
200m - 21.30
400m - 46.22#HornsUp🤘 | #ComeRunWithTheBulls🐂 pic.twitter.com/ozNMf02TcS
Washington State sprinter Royal Haley will continue his collegiate track career at the University of South Florida.
During the indoor season, Haley finished third in the 400 at the MPSF championships, and was part of the Cougars' winning 4 x 400 relay team.
Haley, a native of Phoenix, Arizona, set a personal best of 46.22 at the Cougar Classic in late April.
NOTE: European Athletics, World Athletics, the Wanda Diamond League, and the Morton Games contributed to this report.
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