UW alum Luke Houser breaks open 4x8 relay to help Atlanta TC set world record...

In Philadelphia, a USA team consisting of Atlanta Track Club members (left to right) Clay Pender, Luke Houser, Luciano Fiore and Sean Dolan (photo courtesy World Athletics) took a second off the world short track record in the rarely contested 4 x 800m relay with winning time of 7:10.29 at the Penn Classic.

The quartet took down the old record of 7:11.30 set by a US squad on February 25, 2018 in Boston.

That team consisted of Joe McAsey 1:49.03, Kyle Merber 1:47.11, Chris Giesting 1:47.43, and Jesse Garn 1:47.73.

The race was close in the early stages as the University of Pennsylvania’s home team led for the first leg with Joseph Socarras reaching the first exchange in 1:49.06, ahead of Pender (1:49.69).

On the second leg, Woodinville native, two time NCAA indoor mile champ and world indoor 1500m bronze medallist Luke Houser, then took up the running for the US team and gained the lead on the second of his four laps. 

Houser completed his leg in 1:47.47, building up a two-second lead and giving his team a shot at breaking the record.

Luciano Fiore extended their lead on the third leg thanks to his 1:47.35 split. By the time Sean Dolan took the baton for the final leg, the US quartet had a six-second lead. The NACAC U23 silver medallist extended that to 12 seconds, thanks to his 1:45.79 anchor leg, bringing the team home in 7:10.29.

The Penn Quakers finished second in 7:22.43.

The Penn Classic continues Saturday, as Washington alum Aidan Ryan is entered in the men's invitational mile.

Day 1 results of the Penn Classic are available here.

EARLY ACTION FROM THE RIVERFRONT INVITATIONAL AND IDAHO TEAM CHALLENGE...

With most of the meet to be contested Saturday, the most significant action at the Riverfront Invitational and Multis Friday at The Podium came in the women's 200 meter dash.

Elise Hopper and Ashlyn Nielsen of Central Washington recorded NCAA Division II marks in that event in two separate sections.

In the first section, Nielsen held off a late charge by Washington State alum Ashley (Willems) Hollenbeck, winning 24.19 to 24.23.

The second section saw Hopper win going away in 24.07, a time that, pending the outcome of other meets around the country this weekend, puts her at number 4 on the D2 descending order list, and number 2 on the GNAC performance list behind only Simon Fraser's Emma Cannan at 23.54.

In the men's heptathlon that concluded Friday, Saint Martin's Hugh Ruttledge (4042 points) and Reid Crumley (3322 points) finished seventh and eighth.

The Riverfront Invitational concludes Saturday.

Results of Friday's action and a link to live results are available here.

In Moscow, Idaho, a small group of field event specialists from Eastern Washington competed at the Idaho Team Challenge at the Kibbie Dome hosted by the University of Idaho Friday.

The most significant highlight of the day came from horizontal jumper Dieumerci Migani, as he picked up the only win on the day, taking the long jump at 23-9.5 (7.25m).

He doubled back to finish second in the triple jump with a mark of 48-4.75 (14.75m).

Complete results of the Idaho Team Challenge are available here.

NOTE: World Athletics, The Podium, and the sports information offices of Eastern Washington and the University of Idaho contributed to this report.

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