University of Washington
Pepsi Team Invitational
Huskies Win Nine Events At Pepsi Team Invite
April 10, 2016 | Track & Field
Complete Results
EUGENE, Ore. – The Husky track and field squad paid a visit to Hayward Field for the first time this year, and walked out with an impressive nine victories at the Pepsi Team Invitational. Against a field that included Oregon, USC, and Penn State, Washington had one of its most successful days at Hayward, including winning every distance race from 1,500-meters up.
A crowd of 5,423 fans at the Hayward season opener saw the Huskies cross the line first in six races, along with three wins in the field events. The team battles were close throughout, with the Oregon women getting the win with 173 points, Penn State second at 166, and the Huskies third with 164, ahead of USC, fourth at 134. Penn State and Oregon tied for the men's title with 181.5 points, with the Husky men third with 168 ahead of USC with 94.
The ninth and final individual win of the day for the Dawgs was a big one, as sophomore All-American Colby Gilbert opened his outdoor season with a flourish in the 5,000-meters. Running in a field that featured Oregon's 13-time NCAA Champion Edward Cheserek, Gilbert took the lead with three laps to go and Cheserek sat right behind him as they pulled away from the rest of the field. With 200-meters to go, Gilbert put on a burst, and Cheserek did not make a push to respond, with Gilbert pulling away to win in a new career-best of 13:44.96. That time moves him to No. 4 in the NCAA this season, and is the second-fastest in UW school history behind the 13:40.61 of David Bazzi from 2001.
“I knew I just had to get grinding early, he's got a massive kick,” said Gilbert of Cheserek. “I don't know if he really let loose on me, but if I want to beat him I've got to go early and drag it out a bit, and I've got a decent kick, too. I was hoping it was good enough, and it was today. I've been training really hard … and to be building and be able to compete at this high level against him is awesome.”
Nobody expected Colby would be the one dropping the hammer today! Check out his winning sprint in the 5k: https://t.co/JBDD1MVLWV
— UW Track (@UWTrack) April 9, 2016
One of the marquee events of the meet was the men's 1,500-meters, which featured senior Izaic Yorks and junior Blake Nelson against a pair of Oregon runners that finished top-five in the mile final at NCAA Indoors, and a multiple All-American from Penn State, Robby Creese. But it was Yorks that went to the front immediately, 10 meters behind a rabbit, and Yorks never gave up the lead. He went wire to wire, making a big move with about 200-meters to go to open up space and put away the field, running a PR of 3:41.56. Nelson also came up late to grab fourth, running a PR for himself as well in 3:43.19. Yorks moves to No. 3 on the Husky 1,500m list and Nelson climbed to seventh. This season, Yorks goes to third nationally and Nelson goes to 10th.
Right after the excitement of Yorks' win, the Huskies had three women in the mix in the women's 1,500-meters. Anna Maxwell, Maddie Meyers, and Amy-Eloise Neale were in the middle of the pack early on, as a trio of Ducks held the lead. The three Oregon runners still were at the front on the backstretch of the final lap, but Meyers led a charge around the outside. With Meyers coming up on the outside, Maxwell ducked inside to the rail, and had the biggest kick in the field, passing Oregon's Annie Leblanc on the inside to take the win, while Meyers edged Leblanc on the outside for second. Maxwell won in a time of 4:19.84, and Meyers went 4:20.06. Neale also ran well in fifth in 4:20.90.
Here is Anna trying to catch her breath and recap her 1500m win at the same time https://t.co/Xj6vV6ckhX
— UW Track (@UWTrack) April 9, 2016
The first three track events of the day all went to the Dawgs, starting with the women's 5,000-meters. Junior Katie Knight was in a battle with runners from Penn State and Oregon, running second for most of the race, until she moved into the lead with a couple laps to go, and continued to confidently widen the lead. Knight closed out the win in 16:04.28. Freshman Emily Hamlin was fifth in her first 5k in 16:38.20, and Kaylee Flanagan was sixth in 16:44.72.
“It was fun, you kind of forget how the 5k goes out there so it's always good to get the first one done,” said Knight. “You're working hard during practice in the week so you never go into a race feeling perfectly fresh, so it's about managing being sore and working hard and then going out and having a good race that is indicative of how hard you're working.”
Next came a dominant win from Andrew Gardner in the men's steeplechase. He turned a close race into a blowout with a big move with two laps to go, and he turned in a six-second PR of 8:53.27 to win and earn himself a victory lap. Gardner moves to 18th nationally with that win.
“The race started pretty fast, and Oregon had a pacer for us which was really nice,” said Gardner. “When he dropped off I took over and it was comfortable. We've been doing a lot of stuff with the hurdles and the running, getting fit, but we haven't done any work in the water pit and I came in landing on) both legs at some points, but that's something I can work on and get better as the season goes. The most important part for me was getting to West Prelims from here and I knew I was capable of doing that, and I think that will get me in, so I can now focus on other things.”
Two more victory lap photos! pic.twitter.com/iy3FET32w9
— UW Track (@UWTrack) April 9, 2016
The third consecutive Husky victory was a one-two sweep from freshman Charlotte Prouse and sophomore transfer Izzi Batt-Doyle in the women's steeple. Prouse and Batt-Doyle were basically 1-2 the entire race, chased by Oregon's Frida Berge, the Pac-12 runner-up in the steeple last season. On the final lap, the two Huskies had more left to hold off Berge and post a pair of career-best times. Prouse finished in 10:00.67, and Batt-Doyle went 10:02.00. Both times were under the old meet record, which was held by former Husky All-American Mel Lawrence who went 10:07.78 in 2013. Prouse and Batt-Doyle also moved to second and third in Washington school history with those times, and Prouse goes to No. 3 in the NCAA this season, and Batt-Doyle goes to 5th.
The first field event win of the day came from junior Elizabeth Quick who won the women's pole vault at 12-11, with Kaitlin Zinsli getting fourth at 12-5 ¼. Quick also scored third-place points with a high jump make of 5-5 ¼, but senior Jaleecia Roland had a great high jump, equaling her PR, with a make of 5-7 ¼ to take second in that event, giving UW 13 points in the event. Sophomore Carson Murray got into a good rhythm in the men's high jump, as he had five consecutive first attempt clearances, and then had a second-attempt make at 6-11, a season-best, and good for third-place today.
Jax Thoirs gave the Huskies a sweep of the pole vault titles, as he cleared 17-2 ¾ to lead a UW sweep of the top four spots. Freshman Chase Smith was second at 16-10 ¾, with Chris Williams and Blaise Black each making 15-11.
The final field event victory was a second straight win for senior Carson Fuller, who took the javelin with a best toss of 232-8 on his first throw of the competition. He also had a 227-11 throw before shutting it down with two attempts left.
Another big mark in the throws came from senior Frank Catelli, who became the first Husky since Ben Lindsey in 2000 to go over the 60-foor mark in the shot put. Catelli threw 60-3 ¼ on his fifth toss to finish third behind a pair of Trojans, and he moves to No. 9 in school history. Also getting a PR in the men's hammer was sophomore Carey Campbell who was fifth at 181-9.
Gina Flint returned to action for the first time this year and was fourth in the discus at 153-11, and eighth in the shot put at 47-11. Onyie Chibuogwu had a discus PR of 149-5, and was third in the hammer throw going 179-6. Carolyn Gravelle also added five inches to her hammer PR at 161-5.
In the women's sprints, junior Kennadi Bouyer posted a 100-meters PR of 11.70 to take fourth, and go to fifth on the Husky top-10 list. Cydnicia Wade matched her PR in the 200-meters, earning fifth-place points with a time of 24.59 seconds.
Senior Quadelle Satterwhite opened up in the 200-meters today, where he was a Pac-12 finalist last year, and he took fourth in 21.52 seconds. Sophomore Jacopo Spanò earned a second-place finish in the 400-meters with a PR of 47.66 seconds, while Chris Williams was second in the 110-meter hurdles, but was off his season-best with a time of 14.39 seconds. Eric Simpson took third in the hurdles in 14.72 and Kaid Tipton got fourth in the 400m hurdles in 54.80.
Senior All-American Baylee Mires opened in the 800-meters for the first time outdoors this season, and finished second behind NCAA Champion Raevyn Rogers of Oregon, posting a West Prelims qualifier of 2:05.95. Redshirt freshman Hannah Derby was fifth in the race in 2:10.59. In the men's 800-meters, Derrick Daigre got his season-best down to 1:50.14, placing sixth, with Mason Fletcher running a two-second PR of 1:50.44.
The Dawgs got another new top-10 mark late in the day from Savannah Burr, who continued her breakout senior season with a third-place finish in the triple jump, going past the 40-foot mark for the first time. She went 40-6 ¾ on her third attempt, breaking into the outdoor top-10 list at No. 9.
Closing out the day, the Huskies ran two strong 4x400-meter relay times, starting with the men's group, which broke the 3:10 mark with a second-place time of 3:09.59. Andrew Brown led off, then passed to Jacopo Spanò, then Ryan Croson, and Andrew Prentice closed it out. The women's 4x4 of Hannah Derby, Alexis Ford, Morganne Hill, and Baylee Mires also ran a 3:41.77 time that ranks seventh in school history.
The Mt. SAC Relays will be up next for a select group of Huskies before UW takes a full squad to Pullman for the UW-WSU Dual Meet on Apr. 23.
