Another busy weekend of indoor track and field awaits, led by UW Invite/Mile City...
All eight Washington Division I and II schools, along with a handful of pros are in action in yet another busy weekend of indoor track and field action around the country.
We start in Seattle, where on Friday and Saturday, the University of Washington hosts the UW Invitational and Mile City meets.
Friday's UW Invitational begins at 10 a.m. and will last until around 7 p.m., and Saturday's Mile City meet gets going at 9 a.m. and runs until approximately 6 p.m.
The UW Invitational will feature a full slate of running events with the key exception of the mile races, which will be the focal point of Saturday. Saturday it will be all miles, all day long on the track. The four top-seeded invitational mile heats on Saturday will start at 1:45 p.m.
A few key field events will take place during Mile City on Saturday: the men's and women's top flights of the pole vault, and the triple jump. Those events will all feature multiple Huskies, including NCAA champions Hana and Amanda Moll (Paul Merca photo) in their 2026 season debuts in the women's pole vault, and collegiate leader Jimmy Rhoads in the men's pole vault. All other field events will be held on Friday, including B-flights of the pole vaults and triple jumps.
Some key events on Friday to watch (subject to change):
--Men's 60 (10:50 am prelims/12:40 pm finals): Washington State alum Emmanuel "Ray-Ray" Wells was probably disappointed with his season opening 6.71 at the UW Preview after opening at the same meet last year with a 6.55. He looks to get the USATF indoor championships qualifying standard of 6.59;
--The women's top section of the 3000 (5:10 pm) is headlined by Canadian steeple Olympian Regan Yee. She faces Erin Vringer of Utah, Washington State's Zenah Cheptoo, and the UW duo of Julia David-Smith and Chloe Thomas;
--The top section of the men's 3000 (5:20 pm) features former NCAA cross country champ Justyn Knight and Duncan Hamilton of Nike Swoosh TC against Wake Forest All-American Luke Tewalt, along with Yakima native Jonas Price of the University of Portland;
--In the men's long jump (2 pm), Washington alum Prestin Artis looks to find the magic that got him on the run two years ago that included qualifying for both the NCAA indoor and outdoor meets, winning the final Pac-12 long jump title, and qualifying for the US Olympic Trials.
On Saturday, the invitational miles at Mile City naturally headline the day of miles for the entire community, starting at 9 am with the seeded men's miles and the women's seeded miles at 11 am, and going until almost 6 pm.
The women’s top section at 1:45 pm is headlined by pros Eleanor Fulton and Claire Yerby, both of whom are Washington alums, Washington’s Chloe Foerster, Mia Cochran and Jenica Swartz, Utah’s Erin Vringer and Brianna Rinn, Washington State’s Rosemary Longisa and Boise State’s Kaiya Robertson are also in the field.
In the men’s top section at 2 pm, Seattle resident pros Sam Prakel, Brannon Kidder, Joe Waskom and Sam Ellis, along with Thomas Ratcliffe will race collegians Evan Jenkins, Jamar Distel, Thomas Bilyard, Owen Powell, Josiah Tostenson, Rueben Reina Jr. and Thomas Diamond of Washington and Chris Caudillo of Cal Poly. Nathan Green, last year's NCAA 1500 meter champ, who was nominated as a 2025 Seattle Sports Star of the Year candidate will rabbit.
Section two also features a compelling line-up with pros Grant Grosvenor and Garrett MacQuiddy along with Washington alums Acer Iverson, Rhys Hammond, Ronan McMahon-Staggs, Leo Daschbach and Julius Diehr. Cal Poly’s Spencer Pickren and Carson Smith, Portland’s Jonas Price and Washington's Nathan Neil round out the field.
The women's invitational pole vault at 11 am features the 2026 season debut of twins Amanda and Hana Moll, whose 2025 season ended in mid-September with a tie for sixth place at the Tokyo world championships.
They'll face teammates Veronica Vacca, Sara Borton and Avril Wilson, along with two-time NAIA champ Sonya Urbanowicz of the University of British Columbia, and NCAA qualifier Lexi Evans of Cal Poly.
The men's invitational pole vault at 2 pm is just as stacked, led by the Huskies' Jimmy Rhoads, who broke the Dempsey Indoor facility record when he cleared 19-1 (5.82m) to break the old record of 19-0.75 (5.81m) held by current UW associate head coach Toby Stevenson set in 2004, the year he earned the Olympic silver medal in Athens.
In the process, Rhoads broke the school record formerly held by two-time world champion Brad Walker.
Rhoads, a grad transfer from Penn, will have some competition from former Huskies Scott Toney, last year's Big Ten indoor champ, who like Rhoads, was a grad transfer from Penn. Also in the field is Washington alum Mathis Bresko, and current Dawg Eli Gault-Crabb. Sanford alum and US Olympic Trials finalist Olen "Trey" Oates is also in the field.
The link to live results is available here. Media partner RunnerSpace.com ($) will stream both the UW Invitational and Mile City.
Friday and Saturday, Washington alums Amina Maatoug and India Weir are entered in the invitational sections of the John Thomas Terrier Classic, hosted by Boston University.
Maatoug is entered in the invitational mile, while Weir is in the invitational 3000. Both races are on Friday night.
Saturday, former Husky and two-time New Zealand Olympian Sam Tanner, and 2024 UW grad Luke Houser are in the top section of the invitational mile, while 2024 grad Eric Gibson goes in the top section of the invitational 3000. Brian Fay is entered in the top section of the invitational 5000.
Tanner is coming off winning another New Zealand national mile title last week. He'll face a field that includes his training partner and 16-year old teen sensation Sam Ruthe.
The link to the start lists are available here. Flotrack ($) will stream both days of the John Thomas Terrier Classic.
Saturday in Spokane, Eastern Washington, Gonzaga and Saint Martin's throws group will compete in the Inland Northwest Invitational at The Podium, with action beginning at 9 am on both the track and the field.
Media partner RunnerSpace.com ($) will stream the meet. The link to live results is available here.
Also Saturday, a small group of runners from Gonzaga's men's squads are headed to Columbia, Missouri for the Rick McGuire Invitational at the Hearnes Center, hosted by the University of Missouri.
Hayden Roberts will run in the men's mile, while the Zags have six entries in the 3000, including Logan Schwartz, Logan Law, Bryce Cerkowniak, Ryan Mitchell, Gus Clevenger and Caden Swanson.
MILLROSE GAMES CAPS OFF THE WEEKEND...
Capping off the weekend is the annual running of the Millrose Games Sunday at The Armory in New York.
Josh Kerr (Paul Merca photo) of the Seattle based Brooks Beasts, who injured himself in the semifinals of the Tokyo world championships, opens his season, where he'll run the two mile against a stacked field that includes Grant Fisher, Graham Blanks, Cooper Teare, Ethan Strand, Geordie Beamish, Olympic 1500m champ Cole Hocker, and fellow Brit Jake Wightman.
At this meet two years ago, Kerr set the world record in this event, running 8:00.67.
Washington alum Nastasja Campbell makes her Millrose debut in the women's pole vault, where she'll face former world and Olympic champion Katerina Stefanidi, along with Chloe Timberg, Emily Grove and Gabby Leon.
Kerr's Beasts teammate John Rivera is entered in the men's 600 where he'll face Isaiah Jewett and high school phenom Cooper Lutkenhaus, who made the US team in the 800 for last year's world championships in Tokyo.
NBC Sports and Peacock will televise the meet starting at 1 pm Pacific time Sunday.
LAGAT NAMED USATF GENERAL MANAGER OF YOUTH PROGRAMS...
In his new role, Lagat, the second fastest 1500m runner in history, will oversee USATF’s diverse menu of youth initiatives including Junior Olympics, Youth National Championships and U20 championships. Lagat will also lead the charge to launch new youth offerings including camps and mentor programs.
”I’m truly honored to serve as General Manager of Youth Programs at USATF,” said Lagat. “Track & Field has been a defining part of my athletics journey, and I’m excited to now bring leadership, experience and share my passion for youth development from grassroots participation to national-level elite programs, including para-athletics.”
Lagat most recently worked for the University of Arizona as the head cross country coach and assistant track and field coach. He also served as a member of USATF’s Board of Directors.
NOTE: The sports information offices of the University of Washington, Eastern Washington University, Gonzaga University, and Boston University, along with the Millrose Games and USA Track & Field contributed to this report.
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