Culpepper Sets Freshman Record In Raleigh
Raleigh Relays
Thursday - Saturday, Mar. 25-27 | Paul Deer Track, Raleigh, N.C.
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RALEIGH, N.C. – The Husky men once again showed off their mid-distance depth today, even without a collegiate record-holder running. On day one of the three-day Raleigh Relays hosted by North Carolina State, the Dawgs had five men under 3:48 in the 1,500-meters including the new No. 4 mark in school history by Mick Stanovsek and a Freshman Record from Cruz Culpepper.
Washington's distance runners got their first feel for the outdoor season today, having rested up from the double dose of indoor track and cross country which wrapped up just ten days ago. Today's events included the men's 1,500- and 5,000-meters, and the women's 10,000-meters. Friday will be the reverse of that, with the women doing the 1500m and 5k and the men going long.
Culpepper, the Niwot, Colo. native who had not raced since running a sub-four-minute mile at the Dempsey indoor season opener back in January, opened up just as impressively outdoors today. His time of 3:41.29 shattered the Husky record for a freshman, which was 3:42.84 set by Nick Harris in 2014.
It was the second-straight day that a Husky set a Freshman Record, after Kathleen Horn broke the women's javelin mark on Wednesday at UCLA with a toss of 162-3.
Culpepper's time was also the sixth-fastest in school history. But the new No. 4 time was also run today, by All-American Stanovsek, who got to don the Husky singlet in an official race for the first time since the 2019 NCAA 1,500-meter final where he placed 10th. Today Stanovsek ran his fastest time as a Dawg, going 3:40.95 to lock up a place at West Prelims later this season.
But there was more depth behind those top two times. Redshirt freshman Joe Waskom won his heat with a PR time of 3:45.08. Freshman Leo Daschbach had a solid first track race of his collegiate career, going 3:47.26. Senior Julius Diehr crushed his PR by seven seconds with a time of 3:47.54. And redshirt freshman Daniel Maton came through in 3:51.72.
In the men's 5k, indoor All-American Andrew Jordan shook off whatever rust could have accumulated in less than two weeks, and he took sixth-place with an easy West Prelim qualifying time of 13:46.41. Junior Isaac Green also clocked another sub-14 5k, running 13:56.23. Luke Houser ran 14:10.27 today.
In the women's 10k, in spite of suffering from a cramp with more than a mile left to go, redshirt freshman Andrea Markezich battled to a time of 35:15.79. Hannah Waskom was 28th overall in 35:45.39.