Huskies Set NCAA Track Record In Distance Medley Relay

Friday, February 3

Albuquerque, NM

All Day

University of Washington

New Mexico Collegiate Classic

February 03, 2023 | Track & Field

By: UW Athletic Communications

VIDEO: Washington's NCAA Record-Breaking DMR race footage on Flotrack ($)

Feb. 3-4, New Mexico Collegiate Classic
Albuquerque, N.M. | Albuquerque Convention Center | Meet Schedule | Live Results | Live on Flotrack

Feb. 3-4, Frank Sevigne Husker Invitational
Lincoln, Neb. | Bob Devaney Sports Center Indoor Track | Meet Schedule | Live Results | Live Video

Feb. 3-4, Bruce Lehane Scarlet & White Invitational
Boston, Mass. | BU Track & Tennis Center | Meet Schedule | Live Results | Live on Flotrack

Feb. 4, New Balance Grand Prix
Boston, Mass. | the TRACK at new balance | Brian Fay racing 3,000m at 2:43pm PT live on NBC

SEATTLE – Last weekend the Husky men's track team grabbed the headlines with eight sub-four miles and the No. 1 national ranking. The women's team answered tonight in an historic way, as Washington broke the NCAA Record in the distance medley relay with an amazing time of 10:46.62 at the BU Track & Tennis Center in Boston. It wasn't the only record, as Ida Eikeng broke the pentathlon School Record in Nebraska.

The quartet of Sophie O'Sullivan, Marlena Preigh, Carley Thomas, and Anna Gibson wrote their names into the recordbooks at the Bruce Lehane Scarlet & White Invitational, where they ran essentially unchallenged on their way to the fastest DMR in history.

Celebratory scenes from Boston tonight ??

It's the first @NCAATrackField Record for Washington as a program since Olivia Gruver's outdoor pole vault record in 2019.#GoHuskies // ??@SeanAhearn__ pic.twitter.com/YAmmwTFYPm
— Washington Track & Field (@UWTrack) February 4, 2023

The distance medley relay, an event contested mostly during the indoor season, features four different distances on each leg. The 1,200-meters starts things off, followed by a 400-meter carry, an 800-meter leg, and then a final 1,600-meter carry.

Washington won the NCAA title in the DMR in 2012, and that group's time of 10:55.01 had remained the school record ever since. Tonight the Huskies smashed that record by more than eight seconds, and broke the NCAA record of 10:48.77 by more than two seconds. That previous record was set by Oregon in 2017, a group coached at the time by current UW Director of Track & Field Maurica Powell. The Oregon DMR also featured two athletes who would transfer to Washington when Powell came to Seattle: Lilli Burdon and Katie Rainsberger.

"Each of the four women who lined up tonight is just really on a roll right now, so we walked up tonight with a lot of collective confidence," said Powell. "They just brought it for each other and for their teammates at home, I can truly say there's no place they'd have rather been tonight than on that starting line with a baton."

Unofficial splits for the group were recorded as 3:16.24 for O'Sullivan on the 1,200m leg, 54.21 for Preigh on the 400-meters, 2:01.93 for Thomas on the 800-meters, and 4:34.26 for Gibson on the 1,600m anchor.

It's the first NCAA Record for the Washington Track & Field program, men's or women's, since Olivia Gruver broke the outdoor women's pole vault record in 2019.

Frank Sevigne Husker Invitational

The result in Boston came just half an hour after another record-setting Husky performance was completed in Nebraska, as NCAA silver medalist Ida Eikeng added the UW School Record in the pentathlon to her long list of accomplishments.

Eikeng, who was the NCAA Outdoor heptathlon runner-up last spring but had yet to complete an indoor pentathlon in her career, proved she can handle the five-event, one-day indoor multi just as well as the seven-event, two-day outdoor version.

Starting this morning at the Frank Sevigne Husker Invitational, Eikeng opened with a 8.44 second time in the 60-meter hurdles, followed by a high jump make of 5-6 ½. She went 45-0 ½ in the shot put, and then set a new lifetime-best in the long jump, going 19-10 ¾, a mark which just on its own ranks No. 2 in school history indoors. Finally Eikeng ran the 800-meters in 2:30.88 to give her a final tally of 4,198 points.

That mark was just enough to surpass Eikeng's former teammate Hannah Rusnak's three-year-old record of 4,190 points. It puts Eikeng at No. 3 in the NCAA this season and should secure her a bid to the NCAA Indoor Championships, which would be her first appearance following two top-five outdoor finishes.

The NCAA Outdoor silver medalist ?? has likely earned her first NCAA Indoor trip!

Ida Eikeng breaks the ???????????? ???????????? in the Pentathlon with the third-best score in the NCAA this season ??

Ida now owns both the UW heptathlon and pentathlon ??#GoHuskies pic.twitter.com/oObsV4lOlT
— Washington Track & Field (@UWTrack) February 4, 2023

In the men's heptathlon, freshman Bruno Comin Pescador and sophomore Jami Schlueter got their first day marks posted to set themselves up well for Saturday's final three. Comin Pescador opened with a 60-meters of 7.15 and Schlueter ran 7.28. In the long jump, Comin Pescador went 23-1 ¾ while Schlueter went 21-6 ¾. Comin Pescador then won the shot put with a toss of 47-6 ¼, over two feet farther than the next competitor, while Schlueter went 44-0 ¾ for fourth. Comin Pescador then cleared 6-7 ½ in the high jump and Schlueter made 5-10.

Heading into the second day, Comin Pescador sits third with 3,236 points, just four points out of second, and Schlueter is 14th overall with 2,801. Ollie Thorner was a scratch from competition today.

Three women's vaulters also took to the runway at Nebraska. Nastassja Campbell got the win, going over 14-feet for the third meet in a row. Campbell cleared 14-0 ½, while Sara Borton made 13-8 ½ for second-place. Freshman Sarah Ferguson tied for fourth with a best today of 13-0 ¾.

New Mexico Collegiate Classic

A select group of sprinters and throwers headed to the New Mexico altitude to chase PRs on the first of two days of action.

Weight throw standouts Jayden White and Beatrice Asomaning each had season-bests today. Asomaning's was a lifetime-best, as she threw 67-6 ¼ today, a PR by more than a foot-and-a-half. That improves her own No. 2 mark in school history and moves her into the top-30 in the NCAA this season. White was the top collegiate finisher on the men's side, going 71-0 ¾.

Sophomore Danielle Hunter, the one women's sprinter to make the trip, got herself an indoor PR, as she ran 24.64 today, which converts to a 24.71 due to the altitude.

In the men's sprints, Anthony Smith and Daniel Gaik each had season's-bests. Smith ran 21.19 in the 200-meters, converting to 21.26, while Gaik was the top finisher in the unseeded 400-meters, running a 47.50 that converts to a 47.61.