Huskies Make Big Early Strides In Spokane

Saturday, December 9

Spokane, WA

9:00 AM

University of Washington

Spokane Invitational

December 09, 2023 | Track & Field

By: UW Athletic Communications

Complete Results

SPOKANE, Wash. – It was a mix of veterans delivering strong openers, sophomores stepping their games up, and freshmen making instant impacts for UW track today at the Spokane Invitational. Washington saw some great early season marks in the sprints, jumps, vault and throws, setting the stage for the upcoming 2024 Dempsey Indoor season.

As a team the Huskies had six wins and six runner-ups at The Podium. There were three new Top-10 marks posted by the women's team today, sophomore Anna Terrell in the 400-meters, junior Danielle Hunter in the 200-meters, and freshman phenom Hana Moll with a Freshman Record in the pole vault.

Terrell won the 400-meters today in 55.07, going to No. 5 in school history indoors. Terrell's best last year indoors or out was 56.19, so she starts this season over a second faster.

Hunter took second overall in the 200-meters, running 24.44, the new No. 6 mark in school history indoors. She also had a 60-meter dash PR of 7.55 seconds.

Moll, the American U20 Record-holder and World Championships finalist, won her first collegiate competition and wasted no time crushing the UW Freshman Record. She cleared 14-1 ¼ and then passed up to 14-7 ¼, taking three good attempts at it. No Husky freshman had ever cleared 14-feet before, with Moll doing it in her first meet.

It was a top-three sweep in the women's vault for the Dawgs as All-American Nastassja Campbell had a strong opener, clearing 13-9 ¼, and sophomore Sarah Ferguson made 13-3 ½ for third. Avril Wilson also made 12-9 ½ for fifth, while freshman Amanda Moll opened at 12-3 ½ and Delaney Ezeji-Okoye cleared 11-9 ¾.

Daniel Gaik made it a Husky sweep in the 400-meters as he won the men's race in 47.76. Jonathan Birchman was second in 48.10, Matthew Wilkinson was fourth at 48.29, and freshman Jonathan Frazier was sixth in 48.66.

Frazier also opened with a solid 8.21 time in the 60m hurdles. Jami Schlueter took second overall in the hurdles, running a PR of 8.13 seconds in both the prelims and the final. Bruno Comin Pescador had a 8.25-second opener.

Along with Terrell, indoor 400m PRs were set by sophomore Ava McCumber Gandara who ran 57.90, and Rhonda Newton who went 58.49. Freshman Kapiolani Coleman debuted with a 58.22 400-meters to go with a time of 8.88 in the 60-meter hurdles. Sophomore Sophia McHenry had personal-bests in the 60m (8.02) and the 200m (26.08).

Pac-12 fourth-place scorer Prestin Artis grabbed a season-opening win in the long jump, as he got out to 24-3 ¾ with his best leap today. In the high jump, Leland Lieberg had a collegiate-best clearance of 6-4 ¾ to take second overall. Freshman Ava Washburn long jumped 17-7 and triple jumped 35-10 ½ in her Husky debut.

Senior Beatrice Asomaning was the one Husky thrower to make the trip, and she made the most of it, dominating the field in the weight throw to win with a mark of 65-4 ¾. Comin Pescador and Schlueter competed in the shot put, both throwing in the 44-foot range.

The Dawgs closed out the meet with a couple strong 4x400m relay efforts. The men took the win, as Frazier, Birchman, Schlueter, and Wilkinson put together a time of 3:16.47. The women were second, as McCumber Gandara, Coleman, Newton, and Terrell ran 3:50.67.