Hana Moll breaks own outdoor CR at Mt. SAC; Rosemary Longisa runs 2nd fastest collegiate 1500 at Bryan Clay...
Moll opened with a first attempt make at 14-7.25 (4.45m), then missed her first attempt at the next bar of 14-11 (4.55m).
With Cal's Ali Sahaida clearing the height on her first attempt, Moll passed to 15-3 (4.65m), making the bar on her first attempt, while Sahaida, the last one in contention, missed all three tries at the height to give Moll the win.
She then took the bar up to 15-9 (4.80m), one centimeter above her outdoor collegiate record set at last year's NCAA championships in Eugene, clearing on her first attempt.
With that make, she put the bar up to 16-1.75 (4.92m), a mark that would have overtaken twin sister Amanda's personal best of 16-1.25 (4.91m) and put her fourth on the all time US list behind Jenn Suhr, Sandi Morris and Katie Moon.
Twin sister Amanda was seventh at 14-3.25 (4.35m), while Husky teammates Sara Borton tied for eighth at 13-9.25 (4.20m), and Veronica Vacca was tenth at the same height.
The Huskies swept the elite sections of the pole vault, with Jimmy Rhoads winning the men's competition with a mark of 18-8.25 (5.70m). Alum Scott Toney was seventh at 17-6.5 (5.35m).
Washington's Alex Rhodes became the first Husky to break 45 seconds in almost eighteen years to break 45 seconds with his third place finish in the men's 400, running 44.94.
Rhodes' mark is the third fastest in school history behind only Jordan Boase's 44.82 set in 2008 and Ja'Warren Hooker's 44.78 set in 2000.
In other action, Washington alum Gianna Woodruff was fourth in her heat of the women's 400, running 52.46. Western Washington's Bec Bennett ran 53.44 to finish seventh in her heat.
After her race, Bennett left Hilmer Lodge Stadium to make the eight-mile drive to Azusa Pacific to run on Western's 4 x 400 relay team at the Bryan Clay Invitational.
In the men's 400 hurdles, Washington's Bodi Ligons was third in his heat in 51.29. In a separate heat, Western Washington's Maurice Woodring finished fourth in 51.30.
LONGISA RUNS THE SECOND FASTEST 1500 IN COLLEGIATE HISTORY AT BRYAN CLAY...
In Azusa, Washington State's Rosemary Longisa (Paul Merca file photo), who took some time off after competing for Kenya in the 800 meters at the World Athletics Indoor Championships in Torun, Poland, took the victory in the top section of the women's 1500 on the final day of the Bryan Clay Invitational at Cougar Stadium on the campus of Azusa Pacific University Saturday night.
Longisa, who was expected to have BYU's Carmen Alder, Northern Arizona's Hayley Burns, and Washington's Chloe Foerster as her primary challengers, took the bull by the horns past the 400 meter mark, and never looked back, winning decisively in 4:02.55, the 20th fastest time in the world so far this season, and the fastest collegiate time in 2026.
It's also the second fastest collegiate mark outdoors in history, with only Jenny Barringer of Colorado's 3:59.90 set in 2009 topping the list (Wilma Nielsen of Oregon's 4:01.60 was set indoors in February).
Alder was second in 4:07.29, while Burns was third in 4:08.14, and Foerster fourth in 4:08.64.
In the first section, the Huskies' Mia Cochran won in 4:09.95, while Jenica Swartz was eighth in 4:16.71.
In the top section of the men's 1500, Washington's Reuben Reina finished sixth in 3:37.32, as Sam Gilman won in 3:34.65.
Washington alums Sam Ellis (3:39.34), Ronan McMahon-Staggs (3:39.74) and Joe Waskom (3:43.36) were 10th, 12th and 13th in the heat. Washington's Thomas Diamond was 14th in 3:49.60.
In the second section, Washington's Tyler Bilyard won, running 3:37.99.
With the 1500s the focus on the final night of competition at the Bryan Clay Invitational, here's some highlights from the elite sections:
In heat 1, Washington's Martin Barco was third in 3:40.01, while Cashmere native Rob McManus of Montana State was ninth in 3:42.36, and the Huskies' Jamar Distel 11th in 3:43.45.
In heat 3, Washington freshman Josiah Tostenson won in 3:41.47, while Washington State's Kutoven Stevens was 11th in 3:44.55.
Washington State's Evans Kurui was seventh in heat 5 in 3:44.22. Teammate Vincent Koech was sixth in heat 7 in 3:45.22. Gonzaga's Logan Schwartz was third in heat 9 in 3:44.99.
In the women's elite sections, Washington's Josephine Welin was third in heat 8 in 4:18.54, while Washington State's Zenah Cheptoo was ninth in 4:23.04.
D2 FIREWORKS HIGHLIGHT AFTERNOON SESSION AT BRYAN CLAY...
Before the 1500s took to the track Saturday night, there were some fireworks on the Cougar Stadium track involving all four Washington Division II teams in the afternoon session of the Bryan Clay Invitational.
Elise Hopper of Central Washington broke the GNAC conference record in the women's 400, running 53.04 in a second place finish. The old record belonged to Western Washington's Bec Bennett, who ran 53.11 last year. It's the number 5 mark in Division II this season.
Hopper also extended her lead in the 200, running a personal best 23.53.
The Wildcats ran 3:42.69 in the women's 4 x 400 relay to win their section and put themselves inside the D2 top ten. In the following section Western Washington's team of Casie Kleine, Jayda Darroch, Kennedy Cook and Bec Bennett broke their own GNAC record, running 3:39.00 to take the victory over U-Mary, a both Central and Western will see at the NCAA D2 championships.
Bennett, who ran in the invitational 400 at Mt. SAC earlier in the day, had her boyfriend drive the eight mile distance from Walnut to Azusa to get her to the meet in time for the relay.
Western's Ari Nguyen dipped under 60 seconds for the first time in the 400 hurdles, running 59.79 to win her heat and finish eighth overall.
Central set a season best in the women's 4 x 100, running 45.83.
Saint Martin's Ryan Doidge took the GNAC lead in the men's pole vault with a third place finish, tying his all time personal best with a clearance of 16-2.75 (4.95m).
Western Washington's Nolan Mickenham finished second overall in the men's 200 in 21.13 to take the GNAC lead.
Seattle Pacific's Tawaf Aboudou finished second overall in the men's triple jump with a best of 47-0.25 (14.84m).
BEACH INVITATIONAL RECAP...
In Long Beach, Western Washington's Liam Wall threw the discus 188-4 (57.40m) to finish seventh, and extend his GNAC conference lead on the final day of competition at the Beach Invitational, hosted by Long Beach State University.
Former Husky Kaia Tupu-South, now a grad student at Louisville finished third in the women's shot put, throwing 55-0.25 (16.77m).
NOTE: The sports information offices of the University of Washington, Washington State, Western Washington, Mt. San Antonio College, Long Beach State University, and Azusa Pacific University contributed to this report.
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