Husky Classic Starts Three-Day Dempsey Weekend

Friday, February 10

Seattle, WA

2:30 PM

University of Washington

Husky Classic

February 09, 2023 | Track & Field

By: UW Athletic Communications

THIS WEEK IN HUSKY TRACK & FIELD

Husky Classic
Friday-Saturday, February 10-11
Heat Sheets | Final Schedule | Meet Information | Accepted Entries
Live Results | Live Video Via Runnerspace

UW High School Invitational
Saturday-Sunday, February 11-12
Mandatory Participant Waiver (All participants in the UW High School meet, must bring a completed waiver to packet pick up.) | Final Schedule | Accepted Entries | Meet Information
Live Results | Live Video Via Runnerspace

SEATTLE – Washington returns to the Dempsey after a week away with one of the biggest and best indoor meets in the country, the Husky Classic. Friday and Saturday, Feb. 10-11, the No. 2-ranked men and No. 5-ranked women will mix it up with some stellar competition, looking to send more athletes up the national ranking lists.

This weekend also marks the return of the UW High School Invitational for the first time since 2020. That meet will begin with some distance races on Saturday night after the conclusion of the Husky Classic, with most of the schedule set for Sunday.

Friday's Husky Classic session starts at 3 p.m. and should conclude around 8:30 p.m. Saturday picks up at 9:15 a.m. and the final heats of the men's 4x400m relay start at 2:50 p.m. to wrap things up. All the weekend action can be live streamed via Runnerspace.com.

Traditionally one of the top meets every year for producing NCAA Indoor qualifiers in the distance events, the fields for this Husky Classic certainly reflect that, with many of the nation's top distance running programs coming to town.

A few of the programs sending groups to the Dempsey this weekend include Arkansas, Boise State, California, Colorado, Colorado State, Gonzaga, Iowa State, Kentucky, New Mexico, Northern Arizona, Oklahoma State, Oregon, Oregon State, Portland, SMU, Utah, Utah State, Washington State and Wyoming.

Last week saw the Huskies send athletes to four different meets around the country, with incredible results. The women's DMR of Sophie O'Sullivan, Marlena Preigh, Carley Thomas, and Anna Gibson set the NCAA Record in Boston. This week, O'Sullivan is entered in the mile, while Preigh, Thomas and Gibson are all in the 800-meters.

Ida Eikeng broke the School Record in the pentathlon last week in Nebraska. She is entered in four more of the five pentathlon events this week, scheduled to get work in the 60m hurdles, high jump, shot put, and 800-meters. Newcomer Bruno Comin Pescador also jumped to No. 2 in school history in the heptathlon last week and he will go in the pole vault and shot put.

Beatrice Asomaning improved her No. 2 mark in school history in the weight throw at New Mexico last week. She'll go again in the women's weight on Friday, as will Jayden White on the men's side, looking to get up into NCAA Indoor qualifying position for a third-straight year.

Also in New Mexico, the men's sprinters ran the fastest 4x400m relay by a Husky team in 17 years, going 3:07.63. From that group, Anthony Smith and Daniel Gaik will run the open 400-meters on Saturday.

Of the eight Huskies who made news with sub-four miles at the UW Invitational, five will be racing again this week. Nathan Green and Sam Ellis will drop down to run 800-meters. Going the other direction, Luke Houser and Aidan Ryan will run 3,000-meters Saturday night. Just one, Aaron Ahl, will be going in another mile, as Ahl looks to improve upon his 3:57 time from two weeks ago.

The pole vaults will be highlighted again by several Huskies either currently in NCAA qualifying positions or trying to break into the top-16. Jacob Englar leads the men's field as he has won his first two meets as a Dawg and made 18-feet for the first time. Nastassja Campbell and Sara Borton look to remain sharp and set more PRs as NCAAs draws nearer, with Sarah Ferguson, Avril Wilson, Ashleigh Helms, Holland Pilukas, and Delaney Ezeji-Okoye also vying for PRs.

Two weeks ago saw a long list of long jump PRs led by newcomer Prestin Artis, who had his second-straight 25-foot-plus result. Artis highlights the long jump field again on the men's side, along with Tim Luebbert, while in the triple jump Luebbert goes for the men, and Lauren Heggen and Rachel Bir compete for the women.

MaKayla Kelby and Kaia Tupu-South have been consistent in the 52-53 feet range in the women's shot put. They'll try to take that even farther in Saturday's competition.