Volunteer Coaches Excel At USAs, Prakel To Worlds

SEATTLE -- Husky volunteer assistant coaches Sam Prakel and Olivia Gruver both turned in fourth-place finishes at last weekend's USA Indoor Championships, held in Spokane. Prakel, who took fourth in the 1,500-meters, has been named to Team USA for the upcoming World Indoor Championships held in Belgrade, Serbia.

Prakel has worked with the Husky distance runners while training under Head Coach Andy Powell since completing his collegiate career at Oregon. He ran to fourth at The Podium in Spokane with a time of 3:39.92, less than a second off the winning mark. Due to the winner opting out of Worlds, and another athlete not having the World Indoor standard, Prakel earned a spot on the U.S. squad.

The World Athletics (formerly IAAF) Indoor Championships will take place in just a couple weeks, from March 18-20.

Also in action in Spokane was Gruver, in her second season as a Husky volunteer coach after completing her record-setting collegiate career for the Dawgs in 2020. Gruver, coached by Husky Associate Head Coch Toby Stevenson, cleared a height of 14-9 at USA Indoors for fourth.