Huskies Hang Ten New Marks In Top-10 Lists At West Coast Relays
CLOVIS, Calif. – The more than 13 hours of competition were well worth it for the Husky track and field team, which had its best all-around single day of the outdoor season to date with dozens of personal bests and several marks ranking in the top-10 of the NCAA this season at the West Coast Relays, hosted by Fresno State at Veterans Memorial Stadium.
All told the Huskies put 10 new marks in the UW Top-10 lists from just this one day's work.
Throwing Events
The throwing events started the day at 10 a.m., and UW was ready to go, as the men's javelin crew had the top-three collegiate finishers, led by Dalton Sugg who had the second-best mark of his career at 216-1. Zach Annanie threw for the first time this season, and opened right up with a PR of 11 feet, as he went 214-0 for second. Brady Gockel took third with another PR of 199-3.
All-American Elijah Mason got the victory in the men's discus and had a new micro-PR of two centimeters, as he threw 199-0 to move up to No. 5 in the NCAA this season. Fellow All-American Jonah Wilson was third in the discus at 184-0 and Jayden White and Sam Van Peursem both had PRs as well, White going 167-11 and Van Peursem 162-3. Wilson also won the shot put today at 60-0 ¼.
That all came on the heels of the one event that was held on Thursday, the men's hammer throw, which White won with a PR of 217-2, a mark that moved him to No. 3 in school history. The men's throwers were the top collegiate finishers in all four throws events at the meet.
For the women, Beatrice Asomaning had a big PR to take second in the discus, as she threw 170-10 to move all the way up to No. 6 in school history. MaKayla Kelby took second in the shot put at 50-11 ½.
Distance Events
The evening session opened up with some blistering 1,500-meter races. In the men's invitational, which was run in near darkness due to a power outage, Sam Tanner led the Dawgs with a time of 3:38.58 that goes to No. 2 on the UW outdoor top-10 list. Mick Stanovsek also ran a new PR of 3:39.49 that puts him third in school history. In earlier heats, Joe Waskom had a big PR of 3:43.12 that now sits just one spot outside the Husky top-10, and Dustin Nading notched a career-best as well in 3:43.75. Freshman Cruz Culpepper had a 3:45.03 and Leo Daschbach ran 3:48.17.
Anna Gibson ran a new lifetime-best of 4:15.04 in the women's 1,500m invite and Madison Heisterman also took a couple seconds off her PR in 4:17.74.
In the 5,000-meters, Haley Herberg cruised around the track to a new career-best time, running 15:36.32. That makes Herberg just the fifth Husky ever to go under 15:40, as she moves to No. 5 in school history. Allie Schadler also had a season-best 5k run of 15:52.58 and freshman Naomi Smith broke 16-minutes for the first time in 15:58.43. Earlier heats saw another big personal-best from Andrea Markezich who ran 16:38.60, and Camila David-Smith set an outdoor PR of 16:43.42.
The men got some huge personal-bests in the 5k as well, as redshirt freshman Luke Houser ran 13:43.33 to go to No. 5 in school history, and 10k school record-holder Tibebu Proctor had a 14-second PR as he ran 13:46.81, coming in just ahead of Andrew Jordan who ran 13:47.26. Proctor is now seventh in school history in the 5k.
Even with all the new top-10 times, one of the biggest highlights of the day was the return of Carley Thomas, who ran her first 800-meters since the 2020 indoor season and since suffering a broken leg during a boating accident in the summer of 2020. The indoor school record-holder and former World Championships competitor took a big first step on the road back as she ran 2:07.46 for the 800-meters today, and also came back and anchored the 4x400-meter relay.
The steeplechases closed things out tonight. On the women's side, Katie Rainsberger proved that she can be a contender in the event, as she took 10 seconds off her PR in just her second time in the event, running 9:49.79. That puts her at No. 7 in the NCAA this season and moved her past Emily Hamlin for third on the Husky top-10.
On the men's side, Julius Diehr went under 8:50 again, finishing in 8:49.29, while Sam Affolder crossed in 9:04.65.
Sprint Events
Aaliyah Wilson and Olivia Ribera both climbed the Husky charts today in the short sprints. Wilson had a major PR in the 100-meter dash, as she took second overall in 11.62 seconds. That puts her up to sixth in school history. Ribera finished fourth in the 200-meters in 23.73, a PR by .18, and the new No. 4 mark in school history. Wilson also took sixth in the 100m hurdles in a time of 14.04 and Ribera also ran the 400-meters in 55.33.
Victoria Gersch doubled as well, going 55.89 in the 400-meters and 24.46 in the 200-meters. Hannah Rusnak ran 24.91 in the 200m and 14.35 in the 100m hurdles.
Kemuel Santana clocked a 10.71 in the 100m and took fourth in the 200m in 21.38.
Sophomore Cass Elliott had the best race of his 2021 campaign today as he took second in the 400-meter hurdles in 50.91 seconds, just the second time he's gone under 51-seconds in his career. That puts Elliott up to No. 23 in the NCAA this season. Julian Body was close behind in 51.80, and freshman Jonathan Birchman had a PR of 52.86. Body also was second in the 110m hurdles in 14.16.
Senior Darhian Mills continues to sharpen up in the 400m hurdles as she took third today in 58.82.
Both Husky 4x400m relay squads had season-best times. The women went with Ribera, Gersch, Mills, and Thomas and posted a time of 3:41.67. The men had Elliott, Body, Santana, and Birchman post a 3:13.89 time for second.
Jumping Events
In the men's pole vault, senior Chase Smith made 16-11 on his first attempt before passing up to 17-7 but that height eluded him today. Now competing as a Nike pro, Olivia Gruver broke the stadium record with a clearance of 14-6 ¾ while Makenna Barton had an outdoor PR of 13-2 ½.
Lyndsey Lopes had a big season-best in the long jump and was just off her career-best, as she went 19-8 ¾ to take fourth. Other notable marks for the multi-eventers included a shot put of 43-7 ¾ for Ida Eikeng and a 40-11 throw for Hannah Rusnak.