University of Washington
Husky Classic
Husky Records Make It A Memorable Classic
February 15, 2015 | Track & Field
» Complete Results By Heat | Complete Results Compiled
SEATTLE – Hundreds of the nation's top track athletes traveled from all corners of the country to compete in the Dempsey this weekend, but Washington made sure the Husky Classic was packed full of outstanding performances from the home team, as the Dawgs came out of the two-day meet with 21 new marks to write into the recordbooks. Two performances topped the charts this evening, as redshirt freshman Colby Gilbert burst into the national picture with a blistering 3,000-meters, and the women's 4x4 group took down the relay record as well to cap things off.
Gilbert, the Vancouver, Wash. native and Pac-12 Cross Country Freshman of the Year, nearly pulled out the win against perhaps the most talented field in the meet, moving from the back of the 16-runner field early on to the lead group, where he would battle down the stretch for the win. Kemoy Campbell of Arkansas, the 2013 NCAA runner-up in the 3k, would get the win in 7:48.13, followed by professional runner Garrett Heath, but Gilbert crossed in third in 7:49.25, breaking by nearly four seconds the school record set in 2011 by Colton Tully-Doyle.
The time should all but guarantee a bid to the NCAA Indoor Championships in Fayetteville for Gilbert, as it ranks him fourth in the NCAA this season. He knew that to get to the national meet, the school record would have to fall as well.
“I went out the first few hundred meters and it felt right even though I was in the back, I was hitting 64-second laps on the first three, so I just kept the same pace up until about a kilometer to go, and I just started rolling from there,” Gilbert said. “It was awesome, I was coming in wanting to qualify for nationals, and I knew that to do that I'd basically have to break the school record. I thought that was in me, and me and Coach Metcalf were talking about running that exact time, but I just went out to compete. That's pretty much the best track race I've ever run.”
Although the new school record time of 3:43.13 from Krista Armstead, Baylee Mires, Carolyn Birkenfeld, and Gianna Woodruff in the 4x400m relay won't put them into NCAA contention, it was a big step that represented a fitting end to an excellent overall weekend for the sprints crew. After posting four new top-10 marks in the 200-meters last night, the sprints group had five more on Saturday, including the relay.
Early in the day, junior Chris Williams got a breakthrough performance that he'd been looking for in the 60-meter hurdles. Coming into the day, Williams had run five times between a 7.95 and an 8.06, and he hit 7.95 seconds again in the prelims today. But in the final, Williams powered over and through the barriers and leaned across in 7.84 seconds, getting the win and breaking the 7.92 PR he set his freshman season. That time moves him up another spot to No. 2 on the Husky top-10 list, just .02 seconds behind Dana Hall's record. He also now sits 19th in the NCAA this season.
In the 60-meters, freshman Sierra Peterson had consecutive season-bests in the prelims and final. In the prelim she clocked 7.61 seconds, then lowered that to 7.54 to finish fifth overall and move to No. 8 all-time. Senior Haley Jacobson also had a 60-meters PR of 7.64 seconds. On the men's side, Quadelle Satterwhite followed last night's 200m win with a season-best of 6.87 seconds in the 60m, and he was joined in the final by Lucas Strong and Jacopo Spano, who each had bests of 6.90 on the day.
In the 400-meters, Woodruff had an indoor career-best of 55.92 seconds, the No. 8 time in school history. Sophomore Andrew Brown then had a new PR by four tenths of a second, running 47.56 to take third on the men's side, and grab the No. 10 spot all-time.
Just before Gilbert ran his school record, junior Maddie Meyers also duked it out in an outstanding women's 3,000-meter field mixing top collegiates and professionals. Meyers was calm and collected throughout a run that wound up being the second-fastest in Husky history, as she finished seventh overall, and fifth among NCAA athletes, in 9:07.31. That time has never not qualified for the NCAA Indoor meet, which takes only the top-16 in every event.
In the fast heat of the women's mile, Eleanor Fulton broke the 4:40 mark for the first time, taking eighth in the heat in 4:39.95, and moving up to No. 7 on the top-10 list. Joelle Amaral also had nearly a four-second PR in a time of 4:46.82, and senior Liberty Miller had a PR of 4:52.33. Kelly Lawson ran a career-best 9:40.41 in the 3k and Erin Johnson took nearly 20 seconds off her previous 3k best, running 9:43.99.
Another top-10 mark came from freshman Rose Christen, who made her 800-meter debut and ran 2:10.03, moving into ninth-place. Baylee Mires appeared to tweak her ankle a bit late in her 800-meter race, running 2:07.48 after setting the school record two weeks ago, but she was back to run on the record-setting 4x400m relay.
On the men's side, DMR All-American Blake Nelson led the way in the mile with a season-best 4:05.72, and Keith Williams cut six seconds off his mile best, going 4:07.13. Izaic Yorks was running well in the fast mile heat, but tripped and fell and was unable to finish. Earlier, junior Andrew Prentice had a strong PR in section two of the 800-meters, as he picked up the heat win in 1:52.15. Michael Thomas also ran 1:54.92 in the first heat. The Dawgs got a great debut from Meron Simon in the second of the five 3,000-meter heats, as the Federal Way product got the victory out of 18 runners, crossing the line in 8:13.14.
The jumps provided plenty more fireworks, with several event victories and new top-10 marks as well. Yet another new Puerto Rican national record was provided by Diamara Planell Cruz, as the senior cleared a new career-high of 14-feet, 2-inches. An NCAA Indoor qualifier last season, Planell Cruz solidified her place on the pecking order this year, moving up to eighth, and that improved her own No. 2 mark in UW history. She took three unsuccessful tries at 14-4, which would have been the new school record. Kristina Owsinski also matched her indoor PR with a make of 13-6 ¼ and Elizabeth Quick cleared 13-0 ¼.
On the men's side, redshirt freshman Lev Marcus continued his breakout year with a new PR of 17-11 ¼. That bumps him up a couple valuable places in the national list as he looks to make the top-16 cut for NCAA Indoors. Marcus got the win, with Jax Thoirs going 17-5 ½, and J.J. Juilfs matching that clearance. That was a big season-best for the senior from Eugene.
Lev Marcus reacts to his 17-11 1/4 clearance in the pole vault.
The Huskies swept the wins in the men's and women's triple jumps. Freshman Casey Burns continues to make a strong early contribution, as he went 48-2 ¾ to win, and sophomore Alanna Coker got her first 40-footer, going 40-0 ½ to win while climbing up to a tie for sixth on the Husky top-10 list.
High jump highlights included Chase Walker and Carson Murray both matching their indoor PRs at 6-8 ¾, and freshman Mayson Douglass had a season-best make of 5-2 ¼ for the women.
UW also saw continued progress from a number of shot putters today, led by another long toss from junior Frank Catelli. The Western transfer broke into the top-10 list two weeks ago, but he climbed another spot today up to sixth with a toss of 59-10 ½ on his fifth attempt. Sophomore Dan Boyden had a big PR as well at 52-1, and senior Brian Hutchison checked in with a solid 52-3 ¾.
Gina Flint led the women's group once again, placing fourth overall with a mark of 48-11 ½ coming on her third attempt. Freshman Lyndsay Leatherman from Arlington, Wash. made big strides with a PR of 45-1 ½ that was the best out of flight one's sixteen entrants.
"There were some events where I thought fields would produce some faster results but for our team, there were lots of highlights," said Head Coach Greg Metcalf. "The big records from Aaron Nelson and Colby Gilbert were awesome. The sprinters, Chris Williams, Andrew Brown, Gianna Woodruff, all had big weekends, and the 4x4 sets the school record. Diamara and Lev solidify their spots in the vault. Frank Catelli gets a little closer. I thought Maddie Meyers ran fantastic and Eleanor had a great run too. All in all I was very proud of our team and it was a positive Husky Classic for our group."
Other highlights around the Dempsey included the men's 60-meter final, where the Dempsey Record went down for the third meet in a row, as Ryan Bailey took the record back from his training partner Joe Morris, running 6.50 seconds, the second-fastest time in the world this year … Dominique Scott of Arkansas ran the fifth-fastest 3,000-meters in NCAA indoor history with her meet record of 8:52.57 … in the mile, Cristian Soratos came in as the NCAA leader in the mile and left with an even faster time, as the Montana State product ran 3:55.27, making him the No. 2 miler in Dempsey history … six total four-minute miles were clocked in the top heat, bringing the Dempsey total to 125.
Players Mentioned
