Dawgs Return To Dempsey On Saturday

Saturday, January 12

Seattle, WA

9:00 AM

University of Washington

UW Indoor Preview

Photo by: Red Box Pictures

January 10, 2019 | Track & Field

By: UW Athletic Communications

UW Indoor Preview
Saturday, Jan. 12, 2019
Dempsey Indoor

Heat Sheets | Final Schedule | 60 Dash/Hurdles Auto Advancers

IMPORTANT PARKING INFORMATION
On Saturday, from 2-6pm, there will be a memorial service and reception for a prominent UW donor taking place in the Alaska Airlines Arena and Conibear Shellhouse. Attendance is expected to be between 5,000-7,000 people. We are encouraging everyone to arrive to the meet and park by 12pm. For teams that use shuttles, please keep in mind that traffic after 12pm will increase significantly. Memorial service attendees will be parking and walking past the Dempsey to enter the Arena.

As a new season begins in the Dempsey, Head Coach Andy Powell would like to share the following:

Dear Athletes and Coaches,
We are excited to host the 2019 UW Indoor Preview this weekend. Our staff has worked hard to make it an ideal experience for each student-athlete. The UW Preview will serve as rust buster for many collegians, and we will be fortunate to see the debuts of many professional athletes from teams like the Nike Oregon Project and the Brooks Beasts. The Dempsey is a truly unique setting, where World Champions and Olympic Medalists line up with NCAA Champions at the same venue in early January. Our future meets (with include the UW Invite on January 25-26, the Husky Classic on February 8-9, and our newest meet, the UW Last Chance on February 15) will continue to serve as the ideal place for collegiate athletes to compete and qualify for the NCAA Indoor Track & Field Championships. In an effort to create optimal qualifying opportunities for our participants we've invested in a quality pool of pacers for our meets in late January and February.

The Dempsey facility will look much the same, with a few subtle changes. Please note, we are now encouraging all coaches and athletes to use the North entrance for access in and out of the Dempsey In order to alleviate congestion on the first turn. Please pay attention to the event time schedule as we have made some adjustments in order to create a more spacious area on the infield for athlete warm-up. We are encouraging all coaches to utilize the infield area and to help limit athlete warm-up on the track during races. We've added more bleacher seating for athletes and will continue to use the Touchdown Terrace facility in Husky Stadium as a comfortable place for teams to set up camp. Thus, we will be discouraging team camps on the Dempsey infield. There are a few other changes that are explained in greater detail in the meet notes.

A special thanks to our Director of Operations, Stephanie Bohannon, who will also serve as the Meet Director for all of our home meets. Also, thanks to our Assistant Coaches, Officials, Jason Drake, our Olympic Sport Interns, our Facilities staff and Administration for the many hours they continue to put in to make our meets run as smoothly as possible. We believe that the Dempsey will continue to be fastest track on the west coast and we are eager to watch the results unfold.

Best of luck,
Andy Powell

SEATTLE – Washington track and field greets the new year with a new season of the best indoor track action in the NCAA, as the Dempsey opens up this Saturday with the UW Indoor Preview. After months of training, it's time to put the uniform on and see what the clock says and what the laser reads for the Husky sprinters, throwers, vaulters, jumpers and the mid-distance crew as they shake off the rust and get back to competition.

The meet starts at 9 a.m. on Saturday and will be streamed live on Flotrack.org for those with a FloPro membership.

Joining Washington for the season opener will be large contingents from Pac-12 powers Stanford and Oregon, smaller squads from Washington State and Oregon State, along with many other squads from around the Pacific Northwest including Portland, Gonzaga, Seattle U., Western Washington, Western Oregon, Simon Fraser, Trinity Western, Seattle Pacific, and Alaska Anchorage among others.

Adding some major firepower to the meet will be a number of professional groups featuring some of the world's elite track athletes. The Nike Oregon Project will pay a visit to the Dempsey as will the Brooks Beasts group. The NOP contingent features Ethiopian World Champion Yomif Kejelcha, entered in both the 1k and the mile, as is American Clayton Murphy, the Olympic Bronze Medalist in the 800m from 2016. Craig Engels of the NOP will be in the men's 3k and U.S. Olympian Shannon Rowbury is in the women's 3k. Another Nike Oregon Project athlete, German Konstanze Klosterhalfen, is entered in the 1k and the mile. Just 21 years old, she owns German national records in the 3k of 8:36.01 indoors and 8:29.89 outdoors.

A number of former Husky All-Americans will be back once again in this first meet as they look to start their seasons off strong. Brooks athlete Izaic Yorks, coming off a runner-up finish at USA Outdoors last year, is entered in the top heat of the 3k. Fellow Brooks Beast Katie Mackey, who was eighth in the 3k at the 2018 World Indoor Championships, is in the fast section of the women's mile, as is Oiselle's Mel Lawrence, coming off a third-place finish in the steeplechase at USA Outdoors. Former UW All-Americans and DMR teammates Eleanor Fulton and Baylee Mires are also entered in the 3k and 1k, respectively.

Also from the Brooks group will be Drew Windle, the World Indoor silver medalist at 800-meters last year, Josh Kerr, the NCAA 1,500m record-holder and multiple NCAA Champion, and distance standouts Brannon Kidder and Henry Wynne on the men's side and Allie Buchalski for the women.

Washington's Outlook
Sprinters set to kick off their seasons on Saturday in individual events as well as potential 4x4 legs include Imani Apostol (400m), Chisom Eke (600m), Assa Kaba (60m, 200m), Carly Lester (600m), Olivia Ribera (60m, 200m), Sarah Stavig (60m), and Raquel Tjernagel (600m), and the 60m hurdles will include Morganne Hill, and freshmen Karlee Stueckle and Aaliyah Wilson.

On the men's side, expected to suit up for the sprinters is Oscar Herrera (600m), Kevin Liu (200m), Evan Mafilas (200m), Jason Palmer (600m), Sam Richmond (60m), Kemuel Santana (200m), Khalil Winfrey (60m), and Christian Young (200m) with Aiden Basco and Cass Elliott stepping all the way up to 800-meters.

The pole vaults will each be marquee events in the field, highlighted by Huskies Olivia Gruver and Chase Smith, although both will likely compete unattached this week. Gruver is on the Bowerman Watch List as the two-time NCAA Outdoor Champion and one of the highest vaulters in NCAA history who joined Washington from Kentucky this past fall. Smith is a two-time All-America Second Teamer in the vault indoors. Also vaulting for the Dawgs will be BlaiseBlack, Zach Shugart, and Joey Weiler for the men and Makenna Barton, NCAA Prelim qualifier Annika Dayton, Allyson Ely, and Kim Kramers for the women. Washington State's defending Pac-12 Champion Sander Moldau will vault along with post-collegiates Garrett Starkey and Audie Wyatt. The women's field features Nike athlete Katie Nageotte the reigning U.S. Indoor Champion and Stanford's Kaitlyn Merritt and Erika Malaspina who were second and third at Pac-12s last year.

In the jumps, sophomore Jelani Heath will lead the way in the women's long jump and Pac-12 scorer Jaylen Taylor opens up his season in the men's triple jump, with Sam Richmond long jumping as well.

Two Dawgs will have an especially busy day, as multi-eventers Hannah Rusnak and Parker Kennedy, in his first season competing in the multis, will make several stops around the Dempsey. Rusnak is in the 200m, 60m hurdles, long jump, and shot put. Kennedy is entered in the 400m, long jump, and shot put.

In the throws, Angel Nkwonta will compete in both the shot and the weight while senior Onyie Chibuogwu, the hammer throw school record-holder, returns to action in the weight throw after a redshirt year. Zoe Roberson is entered in the weight throw, while Makayla Kelby and Ginny Mehl are also entered unattached, Kelby in both events and Mehl in the shot.

In the men's throws, look for redshirt freshman Elijah Mason to suit up in uniform for the first time as he tries out the weight throw for the first time, competing along with Connor Jost. In the shot put, sophomore Jonah Wilson and junior Jose Padilla are ready to step into the ring for the first time this year.

The distance runners got the spotlight during the fall with top-10 finishes for both cross country teams at the national meet, and many of them will get right back into action on Saturday, although a few Dawgs will wait to make their season debuts until the UW Invitational in two weeks.

Members of the mid-distance group ready to race for the first time this year are Mikelle Ackerley, Hannah Derby, and transfer Nicole Goecke, who are all in the 600-meters, along with cross country All-American Katie Rainsberger, and freshmen Kelly Makin and Ashley Sande. Another "off event" at this meet, the 1,000-meters, will have sophomore Allie Schadler and Erica Schroeder and freshman Madison Heisterman and redshirt freshman Shona McCulloch.

All-American Lilli Burdon is slated to run the mile on Saturday, with Rainsberger entered there as well along with freshman Olivia O'Keeffe. In the 3k, Sarah Carter, Kiera Marshall, Anna Maxwell, and Hannah Waskom are all entered.

On the men's side, NCAA Prelim qualifiers and Pac-12 finalists Devan Kirk and Connor Morello are both entered at 800-meters alongside Brooks athlete and NCAA 1,500m record-holder Josh Kerr, plus future Husky Daniel Maton, a signee for the 2019-20 class.

At a thousand meters, Nate Beamer, Alex Slenning, and Mick Stanovsek are entered along with Husky volunteer assistant coach Sam Prakel, a USA Outdoor finalist last summer. Slenning is also entered at one mile, along with Nick Laccinole. The men's 3,000-meters has Chase Equall and Isaac Mohn in the mix.