University of Washington
Pepsi Team Invitational
UW Men Second, Women Third At Pepsi Team Invite
April 12, 2015 | Track & Field
EUGENE, Ore. – Matched up against two of the top track and field programs in the country, Washington held its own on Saturday at the Pepsi Team Invitational, claiming five event victories on the day and knocking off Kentucky on the men's side. Oregon came out on top in its home invite on a windy and occasionally wet day at Hayward Field.
The Huskies won both pole vault titles today and got one win apiece from the distance group, the sprinters, and the throwers. But the Ducks defended their turf as the third-ranked men won with 162 points ahead of UW's 115 points, with 24th-ranked Kentucky finishing with 110. The sixth-ranked Oregon women defeated the No. 6 Kentucky women, 138-124, with UW finishing close in third with 119. Only two athletes per team are permitted to score in each event.
“This meet is always a fun one on our schedule, and I thought we competed well today with two of the top programs in the country,” said Head Coach Greg Metcalf. “We had a number of kids get to take victory laps at Hayward Field, which is always a great moment. I thought we had some good efforts all around the stadium today, in less than ideal conditions, and we had a few athletes returning to action for the first time in a while, and some others that showed they can be factors in new events for them.”
Washington's first winner on the track was Meron Simon, who took on the steeplechase for the first time in three years, and gradually worked his way into contention before putting on a late charge to shock the Hayward crowd, and Oregon's Tanguy Pepiot, who thought he had the race won and did not realize Simon was tracking him down until it was too late; Simon crossed just ahead of Pepiot for the win in 8:57.86, a tenth of a second ahead. That was a 15-second PR for the Federal Way native. Andrew Gardner also made his debut in the steeple and went 9:12.95.
The Huskies then picked up a win in the men's 4x100m relay, as Lucas Strong, Quadelle Satterwhite, Jacopo Spano, and Chris Williams combined to run a season-best 40.33 seconds and earn the seven first-place points.
In both of the pole vaults, UW earned the one-two finish, with Kristina Owsinski and Elizabeth Quick getting the maximum points out of the women's vault, and J.J. Juilfs and Jax Thoirs taking the top spots on the men's side, with Lev Marcus in third as well. Owsinski cleared 12-11 ¾ and then moved the bar all the way up to a would-be school record of 14-6, but she missed her three tries. Juilfs got the win back in his hometown, clearing 17-0 ¾, while Thoirs and Marcus each went 16-6 ¾ on a very tough day for vaulting.
Redshirt freshman Gina Flint had her first 50-foot shot put mark of the outdoor season today, and it was good for the victory as well. Flint threw 50-4, which moves her up a spot to No. 7 on the Husky top-10 list. The Bellingham native also was second in the discus at 156-5.
Sophomore Maddie Meyers ran a certain NCAA Prelim qualifier in the 1,500-meters, going under 4:20 for the first time at 4:19.43, a time that ranks seventh in the nation based on marks entering the weekend. That was a nearly six-second PR for Meyers. Sophomore Katie Knight also ran a PR of 4:22.69 that should secure a Prelims qualifier to add to her 5k mark. Freshman Anna Maxwell raced for the first time outdoors as well, running a strong debut of 4:28.74.
A great one-on-one battle emerged in the women's 800-meters between Baylee Mires and Oregon's Raevyn Rogers, though the Duck pulled ahead late, Mires took second in 2:08.37. Freshman Rose Christen was fourth in a tiem of 2:10.49.
Sophomore Kaylee Flanagan battled a pack of Ducks in the 5k and wound up third in 16:57.65, with Jenna Sanders also coming in fifth in 17:11.13. Grace Hodge went 11:03.34 in the steeple, a 12 second PR.
Senior Haley Jacobson had a solid day, taking fourth in the 100-meters in 11.86 and the 200-meters in 24.55, and teaming with Kennadi Bouyer, Gianna Woodruff, and Sierra Peterson for a time of 45.72 seconds in the 4x100m relay. Woodruff ran second in the 400m hurdles, coming through in 59.15 seconds.
Lyndsay Leatherman and Ashley Alexander went two-three in the women's javelin, with Leatherman throwing 137-11 and Alexander a 134-6 toss. Koryn Andrus was also fourth at 125-1. Freshman Onyie Chibuogwu took fifth in the hammer with a best of 150-9 and junior Carolyn Gravelle added points with a sixth-place finish at 149-11.
Top women's jumps marks came from Alanna Coker, who finished fourth in the triple jump at 39-1 ¾, and Bouyer who was fifth in the long jump at 18-3.
In the men's sprints, sophomore Andrew Brown turned in an outdoor PR of 47.83 in the 400-meters, taking second overall. Quadelle Satterwhite ran a 200-meter best of 21.24 seconds for fourth, but it was just slightly wind-aided. Strong and Travis Marshall were third and fourth in the 100m with Strong going 10.85 and Marshall 10.92.
The men's 4x400m relay closed out the day on the track with a second-place finish behind Oregon, running a season-best time of 3:13.35, with Satterwhite, Brown, Michael Thomas, and Andrew Prentice getting the stick around.
Redshirt frosh Johnathan Stevens stepped up to the 5,000-meters for the first time on the track, and finished fourth in a time of 14:17.90 to lead a Husky distance crew that was resting several of its top athletes today. Keith Williams was the top 1,500m finisher in 3:51.66.
Freshman Jack Lembcke finished off a strong series in the discus with a new PR, tossing 169-0 feet to finish second overall. Junior Frank Catelli was third at 164-4, and Dan Boyden had a season-best 155-1 for fifth. Lemcke then came back to toss a season-best in the shot put, going 54-8 for third overall.
Carson Fuller improved on his opener in the javelin, getting out to 214-2 today, finishing fourth in a field that included the top-two NCAA finishers from 2014. Carey Campbell got a third-place finish as well in the hammer throw at 167-3.
One of the day's biggest PRs came from redshirt freshman Carson Murray, who cleared 6-9 ¾ for the first time in the high jump and took shots at 6-11. That was good for third for the Spokane native. Casey Burns wound up fourth in the triple jump, getting a best mark of 48-0 ½, a foot off his season-best from a week ago.
Next week Washington will be back on the road, splitting the squad to send athletes to the Mt. SAC Relays, as well as another group back to Eugene for the Oregon Relays.
Washington Track & Field
Pepsi Team Invitational
Eugene, Ore. – Hayward Field
April 11, 2015
Men's Team Standings
1. Oregon 162; 2. Washington 115; 3. Kentucky 110
Women's Team Standings
1. Oregon 138; 2. Kentucky 124; 3. Washington 119.
Husky Event Winners
J.J. Juilfs, men's pole vault, 17-0 ¾
Gina Flint, women's shot put, 50-4
Meron Simon, men's steeplechcase, 8:57.86
Strong/Satterwhite/Spano/Williams, men's 4x100m relay, 40.33
Kristina Owsinski, women's pole vault, 12-11 ¾
Players Mentioned
