Huskies Finish UW Invite With Fourteen Top-10 Marks

Saturday, January 26

Seattle, WA

10:00 AM

University of Washington

UW Invitational

Photo by: Red Box Pictures

January 26, 2019 | Track & Field

By: UW Athletic Communications

UW Invitational
Friday-Saturday, Jan. 25-26
Dempsey Indoor

Complete Results | Heptathlon Grid | Pentathlon Grid

SEATTLE – Washington track and field chalked up fourteen new marks for the recordbooks today, several of which will rank among the best in the NCAA through the first month of the indoor season, as the two-day UW Invitational finished up inside the Dempsey. The Huskies already showed major progress from the first meet two weeks back, and added a lot of new pieces to the puzzle this weekend.

The fourteen new Top-10 marks included a new member of the sub-four-minute mile club, as redshirt freshman Talon Hull ran his first individual track race since 2017 and went 3:59.56 to become the seventh Husky ever under the barrier. The Dempsey has now produced 183 such times in its history.

Along with the women's DMR establishing itself as an NCAA contender last night, the Huskies saw outstanding efforts from Katie Rainsberger in the mile (4:36.76), Jonah Wilson in the shot put (63-3 ¼) and Fred Huxham in the 3,000-meters (7:51.82) that will put them up into the top-16 nationally as competitors begin eyeing the national rankings for NCAA Indoor bids.

The Dawgs even had two more would-be Top-10 marks from Olivia Gruver in the pole vault (14-10) and Makayla Kelby in the shot put (49-1 ¾), except they were competing unattached, keeping a possibility of redshirting.

Gruver's victory in the women's pole vault was one of the highest clearances in Dempsey history. The two-time NCAA Outdoor Champion transfer from Kentucky sailed over 14-feet, 10-inches, more than two inches higher than the Washington school record, and a mark that would rank No. 1 in the NCAA this year. As it is, Gruver's clearance is No. 9 overall in the world this year, and she took some good attempts at a potential facility record of 15-4 ¼.

111427 — **Olivia Gruver taking off. She made 14-10 today competing unattached. That mark would be a school record and is No. 9 in the world this year.**

"I thought we had a lot of good things happen across the board. A lot of good national-level marks," said Director of Track & Field Maurica Powell. "The DMR was a big box to check last night so that was a positive on the women's side. Izzi Batt-Doyle in the 3k, who had never in her career run a race in the Dempsey, ran 9:09 which was really good. Katie Rainsberger ran 4:36 in the mile off a slow pace so that was great. Olivia Gruver vaulting unattached and clearing some big bars there was awesome."

"On the men's side, Jonah Wilson is PR'ing every time he touches the thing and had some really big throws in the shot, he's thriving on the competition. Fred Huxham runs probably the best track race of his career today and Talon Hull runs his first individual track race after running on the DMR last night and he breaks four minutes. We went one-two in the 800-meters with Connor and Mick, so just a lot to be pleased with today."

The miles, the 3,000-meters, and the 800-meters provided a bulk of the big marks for the Huskies during the invitational section in the final hour of the meet today.

The women's mile got things rolling as Rainsberger followed up her 4:37.30 mile opener two weeks back with a time of 4:37.76 today even after racing the 1,200m leg of the DMR just last night. That moved her up to No. 4 on the school mile record-list. Allie Schadler, a redshirt freshman indoors, also was impressive in her first ever indoor race, as she powered to a 4:40.89 mile time, less than a second off the Top-10 list herself. Lilli Burdon also ran a 4:42.81 mile after anchoring the DMR last night.

The men's mile saw Hull hang near the back of the pack until two laps to go when he started to climb. The Ogden, Utah native, who was the Pac-12 runner-up in cross country, sprinted across the line in fifth-place, fourth among collegiate, as seven men in total went under four minutes today. Hull's 3:59.56 puts him in the top-10 nationally this year and ranks him seventh in Husky history. Earlier in the mile heats, Nate Beamer also had a solid opener as he was fourth in the second heat in a time of 4:05.26.

111428 — **Talon Hull in his first individual collegiate track race broke four minutes in the mile, running 3:59.56**

Next came the top heats of the 3,000-meters, with Izzi Batt-Doyle making a long-awaited Dempsey debut. Batt-Doyle, a Second Team All-American in the 10,000-meters in 2017, last ran in uniform at the 2017 NCAA Cross Country Championships. She ran a couple PRs on the track last spring coming back from injury and spent the fall of 2018 back home in Australia getting set for a final couple quarters at UW and a last track season. She had yet to run a race in the Dempsey in all her time until tonight, when she finished third among collegians and ninth overall in a time of 9:09.30, the sixth-fastest time in UW history and a current top-10 time in the NCAA this season.

On the men's side, Fred Huxham rolled to a five-second PR in the 3,000-meters, getting a time that he was chasing a year ago. He ran up front for most of the 3k and pumped his fist after crossing fourth overall and seeing the time of 7:51.82 pop up. That jumps him from No. 5 to No. 3 in the records and puts him in a great spot for a possible first bid to indoor nationals. But the Huskies got another top-10 mark in the same heat, as Tanner Anderson opened up his track season with a 3k personal-best of 8:01.93, moving him to No. 8 in school history. Gavin Parpart also ran a solid time of 8:06.62, right at his PR.

The men's standout in the field once again was sophomore Jonah Wilson, who proved that his big PR in the season opener was anything but a fluke, since he topped it four times today, the best coming on his second of six attempts when he put the shot 63-3 ¼, a nearly two-foot PR and a mark that would have been right on the bubble for NCAA qualification last year.

In the women's shot, freshman Makayla Kelby, competing unattached, was the winner of the early flights, as she PR'd by nearly three feet with a toss of 49-1 ¾ that would put her eighth in school history if she'd tossed it in uniform.

Connor Jost had a big weight throw PR for the second week in a row and this one got him into the Husky top-10 list. He added three more feet to his career-best today, throwing 59-10 ¼ to go to the No. 9 spot in school history. Redshirt freshman Elijah Mason also improved in his second time throwing the weight, as he threw 56-3. Jost and Mason were first and fourth in the open section, and Jost's mark was seventh overall today.

111429 — **Jonah Wilson has increased his PR in the shot put by nearly six feet over two meets this season.**

Senior Connor Morello PR'd for the second-straight meet in the 800-meters as he and junior Mick Stanovsek both broke 1:50 indoors for the first time today and Morello got the overall event win as well. Morello won in 1:49.69 and Stanovsek was a split second behind in 1:49.76 as the pair goes to No. 7 and No. 8, respectively, in the Top-10 list. Freshman Cass Elliott made it three straight Dawgs across the line in that heat as he ran a PR of his own at 1:51.12.

In the women's 800-meters, freshman Kelly Makin impressed with a Top-10 time in her first collegiate run at the distance. The Portland, Ore. native ran 2:09.22 to go to No. 9 on the Husky indoor lists. Senior transfer Nicole Goecke also turned in a strong time of 2:10.69 and Hannah Derby ran 2:11.22.

Junior Khalil Winfrey highlighted the work of the sprinters today as he advanced into the 60-meter dash final with a 6.78 time in the prelim that is just .02 off his PR and he was sixth in the final in 6.80. Senior Jordan Lucas also took nearly a tenth of a second off his PR running 6.84 today, and Kemuel Santana broke 7.00 for the first time, running 6.96 in the qualifying round and again in the prelims.

On the women's side, sophomore Olivia Ribera cut down her 60-meter dash PR to 7.65 seconds after coming in with a 7.82 PR. She just missed the final by .01 seconds today. Senior Imani Apostol was sixth in the 400-meters today in 56.28 with Carly Lester eleventh in 56.74 and Morganne Hill 15th in 57.46.

Another top-10 mark came in the heptathlon, where sophomore Parker Kennedy scored 4,899 points in his first seven-event battle to go to the No. 8 spot in school history. Yesterday, Kennedy ran 7.28 for the 60-meters, long jumped 21-7 ¼, threw the shot 32-1 ½, and high jumped 5-5 ¾. Today he ran the 60m hurdles in 9.06, tied for the win in the pole vault at 15-9, and ran the 1,000-meters in 2:44.61.

Along with Gruver, the Dawgs had All-American vaulter Chase Smith jumping unattached today, and he cleared a season-best mark of 17-7 1/4 to take second in the men's pole vault. Senior Blaise Black equaled his career-best indoors as he got up and over 16-11 1/2 on a third attempt to take third.

In the horizontal jumps, sophomore Jaylen Taylor was fourth in the triple jump, tacking on half an inch to his indoor PR as he went 48-2 1/2 today. Sam Richmond improved in his second meet as a Dawg in the long jump, as he finished sixth with a best of 22-9 ¼. On the women's side, Jelani Heath was 10th at 17-7 ½.