Track Racks Up PRs At Three SoCal Meets

Friday, April 20

Walnut, CA

All Day

University of Washington

Mt. SAC Relays

April 20, 2018 | Track & Field

By: UW Athletic Communications

Mt. SAC Relays - April 20-21
Live Results | Schedule

Beach Invitational - April 20-21
Live Results | Schedule (PDF)

LOS ANGELES – A big night for the Husky distance squad at the Bryan Clay Invitational coupled with multiple PRs by the sprinters at the Mt. SAC Relays and some season-best throws at the Beach Invitational made for one of the best overall days of the season for the Washington track and field team today in Southern California.

Bryan Clay Invitational

Nearly every Husky running at the Bryan Clay Invite hosted by Azusa Pacific was racing the 1,500-meters, but the one person who wasn't made sure he wasn't forgotten about. Freshman Devan Kirk took nearly two full seconds off his career-best 800-meter time, taking fourth overall in 1:48.88, as he broke 1:50 and 1:49 for the first time. That time puts Kirk into the top-20 in the West Region and currently ranks second in the Pac-12 this year.

Once the 1,500-meters got rolling, the Huskies had a string of PRs, and while senior Amy-Eloise Neale did not have a PR tonight, she still showed very fast form to lead the way. Neale was the fourth collegiate finisher in the fastest heat and posted a time of 4:14.39, a time that should put her well inside the top-10 in the West Region once the dust settles on the weekend.

In the heat right after Neale, junior Emily Hamlin got a big five-second PR with a time of 4:21.47. Freshman Allie Schadler took three seconds off her personal-best, going 4:22.45, and junior Hannah Derby finished the first 1,500-meter run of her career in impressive fashion, going 4:23.75. Freshman Camila David-Smith also ran her first 1,500m in 4:34.38.

The top four Husky men today all ran PRs, with Nate Beamer running 3:46.16 and Fred Huxham crossing in 3:46.28. Andrew Gardner ran his third different event of the season, and had a 3:48.58 PR, while Nick Laccinole broke 3:50 for the first time, going 3:49.86. Connor Morello also just missed a PR as he ran 3:50.14.

Senior Johnathan Stevens raced for the first time in 2018 and had a solid debut in 3:51.15, and junior Mahmoud Moussa also had his debut in 3:54.82. Julius Diehr got a PR as well, going 3:54.87, while Keith Williams had a season-best 4:02.42.

Mt. SAC Relays

The Husky sprinters could be found at the Mt. SAC Relays, this year held at Murdock Stadium in Torrance, California.

Freshman Iman Brown had another strong outing today as she got in her first wind-legal 200-meters of the outdoor season, posting a time of 23.71 seconds into a slight headwind. She previously had run 23.43 but with a big 4.0 tailwind. The new wind-legal mark puts her to No. 3 on the Husky top-10 lists, just .01 seconds out of second-place.

In the 100-meter dashes, senior Jordan Lucas picked up a PR with a time of 10.68 seconds, while Khalil Winfrey went 10.74 and Kemuel Santana ran 10.85. Freshman Olivia Ribera crossed in 11.85 seconds.

Junior Morganne Hill had a strong day, posting the top times of her college career in both the 100m hurdles and 400m hurdles. She first ran 14.11 seconds in the 100m hurdles and then took a tenth of a second off her 400m hurdles best, finishing in 1:00.81.

Another PR came from senior Carolyn Birkenfeld, who went one lap around the track in 55.27 seconds. Junior Raquel Tjernagel also had a solid time of 55.87 and junior Imani Apostol had a season-best 56.02.

Freshman Evan Mafilas had the best 400m time for the men, going 49.06. Ryan Croson and Jason Palmer ran 49.27 and 49.59, respectively.

Senior Eric Simpson raced his first 110m hurdles of the season, coming through in 14.64.

The men's 4x100m relay also got a season-best on the board early today, running 40.86 seconds, while the women got the stick around in 46.03.

Beach Invitational

On the first day of the Beach Invitational hosted by Long Beach State, the Husky throwers saw some continued improvement.

Junior Denham Patricelli had a season-best in the javelin, throwing 216-11 while redshirt freshman Jacob Wachtendonk threw 184-3. On the women's side, sophomore Emmy Engle went 140-0 and Daisey Newman threw 136-6. Freshman multi-eventer Hannah Rusnak also had an impressive PR with a throw of 127-4.

Katie Wardsworth and Angel Nkwonta threw the hammer for the second day in a row. Yesterday, Wardsworth had the better throw by a few feet, but Nkwonta won out today. She had a best of 174-0 today while Wardsworth's best was 167-9.