Gilbert Takes NCAA Lead With Record 3,000-Meters

Saturday, January 28

Seattle, Wash.

9:00 AM

University of Washington

UW Invitational

January 28, 2017 | Track & Field

Complete Results PDF UW Invite Pentathlon Grid UW Invite Heptathlon Grid Dual Team Scores

By: UW Athletic Communications

Complete Results

SEATTLE – All-American Colby Gilbert continued the torrid start to his track season today, gliding around the purple Dempsey Indoor oval to break his own 3,000-meter school record in emphatic fashion, the big highlight that capped the two-day UW Invitational. Gilbert, the junior from Vancouver, Wash., held off several pro runners to win in a time of 7:45.71, taking over the top spot in the NCAA this season and running the sixth-fastest time in the world thus far in 2017.

Along with Gilbert's record run, the Huskies also closed out the evening with a school record in the women's 4x400-meter relay, as Carolyn Birkenfeld, Laura Anuakpado, Hannah Derby, and Whitney Diggs made their first run together a memorable one, as they won by more than seven seconds and posted the new Husky record of 3:42.58. Adding Kennadi Bouyer's 200-meter record from Friday night makes for three new UW benchmarks in one weekend's work.

"I think this weekend was a way better meet for our group than our opener two weeks ago," said Head Coach Greg Metcalf. "Kennadi Bouyer is having as good a start to a season as any woman sprinter we've ever had at the University of Washington. To be the first girl on our campus ever to run under 24-seconds indoors, I think is a preview of what Kennadi is capable of the next few months. Then our 4x4, it's just fun to see two new additions in Laura Anuakpado and Whitney Diggs come right in and I think they feel great about where they are. I think they can still run lots faster."

"Colby Gilbert, that's just a monster effort; 7:45 is just fast," said Metcalf. "Smashes his own school record. He's had a great start and has left the cross country season in the rearview mirror, and he's been incredibly purposeful and determined."

The Pac-12 Champion at 5,000-meters last year and school record-holder at that distance outdoors, Gilbert ran a 3:58.96 mile PR two weeks ago at the UW Indoor Preview that still ranked fourth in the NCAA heading into this weekend, but he looked even better tonight running the 3k, where he was eighth at the NCAA Indoor meet a year ago. Down the homestretch, Gilbert pulled away from two members of the 2016 Canadian Olympic Team, including Nathan Brannen, a 1,500-meter finalist in Rio. His new mark broke his own previous record of 7:49.25.

A look at the end of Colby's stunning 7:45 3k!! pic.twitter.com/JiJeLlj2z4
— UW Track (@UWTrack) January 29, 2017

"Honestly I didn't feel amazing coming in, I felt pretty normal," Gilbert said. "When it came to the last kilometer, I was really glad that (2nd-place finisher Charles Philibert-Thiboutot) moved and took the lead because I knew it wasn't because I was slowing down, he just took it so I was like by all means take it. Then on the last lap they told me I came through in 6:46, so I knew if I just ran a 60 that would be really fast, so I stayed patient and went to pass him at about 100-meters (to go). It was really cool, because it was a mixture of running really fast and also practicing high-level tactics. That was perfect and great practice for NCAAs."

While Gilbert has posted some great times in his career thus far, the difference in seconds can still be quite significant.

"Last year I was out for two months in the middle of the cross season and this time last year I had only been running on the ground for four weeks. So although cross season didn't go the way I wanted this year, I still did all the training, and had 10 plus weeks at 85, 90 miles a week, so the training was really good and now I'm using it to move on to bigger and better things."

The women's 4x4 had to break the school record virtually in a time trial, as they wound up winning the top heat by more than seven seconds. Junior Carolyn Birkenfeld, a member of the last group to set the school record in 2015, led off and gave the Huskies a small lead, which senior transfer Laura Anuakpado then built into a huge gap with a 53-second split. Hannah Derby doubled back from a strong 800-meters earlier in the day to keep things rolling and another newcomer, Whitney Diggs, finished off the win. Anuakpado joined UW from UNLV and Diggs from Portland State this season and both wasted little time getting into the recordbooks.

A photo posted by UW Track (@uwtrack) on Jan 28, 2017 at 6:09pm PST

In the fast heat of the women's 3,000-meters, Pac-12 cross country champ Amy-Eloise Neale ran a PR of 9:17.97 to move into the Husky top-10 list in that event at the No. 9 spot. Freshman Kaitlyn Neal would be the new No. 11 if the list expanded one more spot, as she ran a strong time of 9:21.79. Also in the men's 3k, sophomore Fred Huxham set a personal-best of 8:05.23.

The jumps and vault crew had an overall strong day starting with a second straight PR for junior Mayson Douglass in the high jump. She got over 5-feet, 7-inches today to get into a tie for ninth-place on the Husky top-10 list. In the men's high jump, freshman Bryce Fausset had a first attempt clearance of 6-8 ¾, moving up from his season opener. Over in the triple jump, junior Casey Burns opened his season with a solid 49-9 runner-up showing.

In the men's pole vault, sophomore Chase Smith made it over a lifetime-best of 17-3, which would tie him for 22nd nationally thus far. Freshman Zach Shugart cleared a PR as well, making 16-9 ¼. On the women's side, junior Kaitlin Zinsli cracked the 13-foot barrier for the first time indoors, going 13-0 ¾, a height also matched by Elizabeth Quick.

Freshman Jose Padilla had a good series in the shot put today, throwing 52-6 ¾ on his second attempt and then extending that to 53-2 ¾ on his next toss. Junior Josh Gordon was on the verge of a very strong heptathlon, sitting third going into the pole vault, but a no-height there derailed his shot at a personal-best score.

In the sprints, Eric Simpson reached a second straight final in the 60m hurdles, finishing third overall today in 8.15 seconds, just off his PR. Sophomore Sarah Stavig was a 60-meter dash finalist, running a best time of 7.59 in the first round. Freshman Khalil Winfrey had the top 60m time of the day for the men, going 6.92 seconds, with Lucas Strong posting a 6.93. Sophomore Imani Apostol led the women in the open 400-meters with an indoor PR of 56.85 seconds.

Hannah Derby is two-for-two in winning her heats now as she won her section of the 800-meters today in 2:09.25, just two tenths of a second off her indoor PR. She also had a win in her 600-meter heat in the season opener. In the mile, Emily Hamlin came through in 4:57.21 and Grace Hodge also got under the five-minute mark at 4:59.94, while Mahmoud Moussa had a personal-best mile of 4:12.70.

Among the elite performances from pros was a pair of Dempsey Records for training partners Kate Grace and Brie Felnagle. Grace, the 2016 U.S. 800-meter Champion and an Olympic Games finalist, rabbited Felangle to a facility record 4:27.27 mile, breaking the previous record by another 2016 U.S. Olympian Shannon Rowbury. Grace then doubled back not long after and took down the 800-meter Dempsey Record that had stood since 2011, crossing in 2:02.29. Grace also set the Dempsey 3,000-meter record two weeks ago at the UW Indoor Preview. Another longstanding record fell in the women's pole vault, where Oiselle pro Megan Clark cleared 14-feet, 11-inches, to better the old mark of 14-9 1/2 that had stood since 2006. Former Huskies and DMR teammates Baylee Mires, now running for Brooks, and Eleanor Fulton, running for Skechers, came up with PRs as well. Mires went 2:04.85 in the 800-meters and Fulton ran a 4:35.72 mile time.

Anticipation now builds for the Dawgs as they get set to host the Husky Classic on Feb. 10-11, traditionally the marquee meet of the indoor campaign.