Husky Classic And Indoor Open Meet Information

Friday, February 9

Seattle, WA

All Day

University of Washington

Husky Classic

February 08, 2018 | Track & Field

By: UW Athletic Communications

HUSKY CLASSIC
February 9-10 - Dempsey Indoor
Archived Video | Complete Results by Heats | Complete Results Compiled

UW INDOOR OPEN
February 11 - Dempsey Indoor
Heat Sheets (Final) | Accepted Entries (Final)
Final Schedule | Meet Information | Live Video | Live Results

DON KIRBY INVITATIONAL
February 9-10 - ABC Convention Center
Complete Results

SEATTLE - One of the biggest weekends of track and field action in the state of Washington has arrived, as Washington plays host to the Husky Classic in the Dempsey on Friday and Saturday with over seventy Division I teams coming to compete along with numerous pros of Olympic and World Championship caliber. After the dust settles on the Classic, hundreds more athletes will be back in the Dempsey on Sunday for the UW Indoor Open.

Missing out on the action in the Dempsey but enjoying some warm weather and a 200-meter banked track will be several of the Husky sprinters, as they will travel to Albuquerque, New Mexico for the Don Kirby Invite, also taking place Friday and Saturday.

Flotrack.org will stream the full weekend of track in the Dempsey and will also be streaming the Don Kirby Invitational with a subscription.

The weekend will be big for NCAA qualifying hopes, as after this weekend just one more meet remains for UW between now and the NCAA Indoor Championships. To make it to NCAAs, athletes must be in the top-16 nationally or in the top-12 on a relay. With nationals on the horizon, teams from all over the country are sending athletes to Seattle, many looking for season-bests in the distance events, especially.

Some of the notable teams represented this week in the Dempsey include Arkansas, Michigan, New Mexico, Oklahoma State, Tennessee, and Texas, in addition to many Pac-12/MPSF squads including Arizona, California, Colorado, Oregon, Oregon State, Stanford, Utah, and Washington State.

The schedule for Friday's portion of the Husky Classic begins at 4 p.m. with the 200-meter dashes, followed by the distance medley relays, then the invitational sections of the 5,000-meters, followed by the remaining 5k heats. First sections of men's and women's pole vaults, and the full men's weight throw, will also go Friday evening.

Saturday action picks up on the track at 9 a.m. and the afternoon session that features the sprint finals and the two fastest sections in each distance event will get going at 3 p.m.

The UW Indoor Open schedule also kicks off at 9 a.m. on Sunday and will continue on to approximately 5 p.m.

From the Husky perspective, one of the big races to watch will be Saturday's top section of the women's mile, which will feature is scheduled to feature seniors Amy-Eloise Neale, Maddie Meyers, and Anna Maxwell as all three look to post times that could make the top-16. Meyers currently ranks ninth at 4:39.08 from two weeks back. Neale has not raced since the indoor season opener when she ran a 9:01.96 3k time that still ranks fourth nationally.

A crucial race on the men's side is the fast heat of the 3k, where First Team All-American and school record-holder Colby Gilbert will run that distance for the first time this season, along with Fred Huxham, in a very strong field. Senior Andrew Gardner will also run the 3k in the first invitational section along with Gavin Parpart.

The only other Husky in the invitational sections of the mid-distance and distance races is junior Hannah Derby, as she will go in the top heat of the 800-meters, along with former Husky Baylee Mires of the Brooks Beasts.

In earlier sections on the women's side, Mikelle Ackerley and Katherine Slack will race 800-meters, Briegan Bester will go at a mile, Emily Hamlin, Hannah Waskom, Camila David-Smith, Kiera Marshall, and Madeleine Westerhoff will run the 3k.

For the men, freshman Devan Kirk goes in the 800m, redshirt freshman Nate Beamer runs the mile, while Julius Diehr and David Strome will go in the 3,000-meters.

In the field, highlighting the throws will be another strong men's shot put group with Jack Lembcke and Jonah Wilson in the top flight going against Cal's Pac-12 Champion Peter Simon. Connor Jost will throw the weight for the men. Angel Nkwonta, coming off the No. 2 weight throw mark in school history, will go in the top section of the women's weight while Onyie Chibuogwu will compete unattached and senior Katie Wardsworth will also throw. Freshman Ginny Mehl will do the weight and the shot, while Nkwonta and Gina Flint are in the top shot put section.

The men's pole vault features a number of Huskies looking to break through with a big clearance, led by Chase Smith who ranks 17th now with a 17-7 season-best. Lev Marcus also got over 17-feet two weeks ago and Blaise Black, Jacob Bowler, Taylor Barnes, and Zach Shugart look to join him. The women's vault has Makenna Barton, Tori Franzen, Annika Dayton, Ginger Markow, Candace Ho, Monica Cohen, Allyson Ely and Marissa Taylor all looking to progress. Mayson Douglass and Gabriela Aquilini go in the women's high jump, while the three multi-eventers, Hannah Rusnak, Elinor Jones Toutant, and Ericka Budinich are in the long jump.

A few Husky sprinters and hurdlers will be in the Dempsey rather than ABQ, including Eric Simpson in the 60m hurdles. Sarah Stavig will be in the 60m and 200m at home along with Olivia Ribera. Morganne Hill and Chisom Eke will be in the women's 400m and Hill will also run the hurdles along with the multi athletes. Jordan Lucas, Christian Young, Kemuel Santana, and Kevin Liu will run short sprints for the men.

The sprint crew in New Mexico includes Jacopo Spano for the first time this season in the 200m, with Khalil Winfrey and Evan Mafilas also in the 200m and Winfrey in the 60m. Ryan Croson and Michael Thomas are in the top sections of the 400-meters with Jason Palmer in the earlier flights. The women will have a big group in the Friday 200-meters including Imani Apostol, Iman Brown, Carly Lester, Darhian Mills, Hanna Tarleton, and Raquel Tjernagel. Carolyn Birkenfeld and Lester will be in the 400-meters and Mills and Lester will also run the 60-meter hurdles. Freshman Jelani Heath is also on the trip to run the 60-meters and long jump. Both squads will also be focused on putting down some season-bests in the 4x400-meter relays on Saturday.