Derby's Drops No. 2 800m In UW History At OSU

Saturday, April 29

Corvallis, Ore.

TBD

University of Washington

OSU High Performance Meet

April 29, 2017 | Track & Field

Complete Results

By: UW Athletic Communications

CORVALLIS, Ore. - Hannah Derby has already enjoyed a stellar sophomore season, setting several PRs at the 800-meters, but she still seemed poised for a breakthrough given the right race and conditions. That opportunity presented itself today at the OSU High Performance Meet, where Derby cut more than two seconds off her lifetime-best and posted the No. 2 time in Husky history, running 2:04.79 to highlight a productive day for the Dawgs.

The Huskies wrapped up their trip to Corvallis with eight new personal-bests just on Saturday, plus a pair of wins and seven more top-three finishes at the Whyte Track and Field Center. The throwers had an especially strong day with PRs for three different athletes today.

Derby was in the third of four heats of the 800-meters, and proved she should have been in the top section, as she won her heat by over two seconds. Her time was fourth overall but fastest among collegiate runners. It goes to No. 2 behind 2016 All-American Baylee Mires' school record of 2:02.97, so the Dawgs have produced their top two women's 800m runners over the past two seasons. The Gig Harbor, Wash. native had yet to break 2:07 before today, but now goes to No. 19 in the NCAA this season and No. 4 in the Pac-12.

The men's 800-meter crew put three in the top-seven, led by redshirt freshman Connor Morello's new PR of 1:50.24 for third. Blake Nelson was fifth in a season-best 1:50.66, and Mason Fletcher ran a season-best 1:50.79.

Freshman Emmy Engle had a big PR in the javelin, sending one 146-3, to finish seventh, but also earning her a spot in the Husky top-10 list for the first time. Engle goes to No. 9 all-time. In her second meet this season, junior Gina Flint improved on her season-best in the shot put, going 49-4 3/4 to place second, while freshman Angel Nkwonta went 46-8 1/2 for fourth-place.

Jack Lembcke, competing unattached, had a very strong return to action in the men's shot put, as he went 57-6 3/4, a new career-best, and also had a second-best throw of 57-3, also past his old PR. Jose Padilla went 53-1 1/4 to finish seventh in the shot.

In the discus, senior Dan Boyden was just two inches off his career-best, throwing 169-6, while Padilla upped his PR by nearly five feet with a throw of 169-0.

Junior Josh Gordon grabbed a victory in the long jump, as he went 23-8 on his second attempt, and Gordon then followed with a massive PR in the 400-meter hurdles, an event he's run just a few times in his career, but showed some new prowess at today with a time of 52.87, taking third. Freshman Oscar Herrera ran a 55.79 in the same event.

Another big highlight on the track came from redshirt freshman Darhian Mills, who won the 400-meter hurdles and PR'd for the fourth time this season with a time of 58.84 seconds. Sophomore Carly Lester also laid down a 400m hurdles PR of 1:00.66 to take third. In the 110m hurdles, Eric Simpson ran a season-best 14.47 seconds to finish third. Mills went 14.35 and Lester ran 14.82 in the women's 100m hurdles.

Senior Whitney Diggs was third in the 400-meter dash in 55.88 seconds, while junior Carolyn Birkenfeld was seventh in 57.03.