Jumpers Go Long, Thomas Impresses At UW Invite

Friday, January 30

Seattle, Wash.

10:00 AM

University of Washington

UW Invitational

Ava Washburn in the long jump in the Dempsey in 2026

January 30, 2026 | Track & Field

By: UW Athletic Communications

Live Results | Mile City Live Stream

SEATTLE – Two victories and three new top-10 marks across three events made for an impressive UW Invitational for the Husky jump squad, with a lot more action still to come on Saturday. Wins in the long jump from Ava Washburn and Teko Cates, and a career-best high jump make from Leland Lieberg had the Dempsey jumping, and the women's distance crew turned in multiple PRs targeting the 3,000-meter distance.

Washington played host to a long day of competition today and Saturday will be another marathon, but a marathon of only miles on the track. It's Mile City on Saturday, with every race from 9 a.m. until the evening going that distance. The four top-seeded mile races are scheduled for 1:45 p.m. Meanwhile, there will still be field event action on Saturday, as the top flights of the pole vault and triple jumps will be highlighted.

Jumpers Take Flight

The first big PR breakthrough of the day came from the senior Leland Lieberg in the high jump. On his third attempt, he was able to clear 6-feet, 11-inches (2.11-meters) to finish second overall but more importantly he breaks into the UW top-10 for the first time at the No. 9 spot.

In the men's long jump, Cates, the redshirt freshman multi-eventer, took only two attempts but both were massive PRs. It was his first collegiate long jump competition after missing all of 2025 with an injury, and his old high school best was 22-10. Today he went 23-8 1/4 on his first jump then 24-5 3/4 on his second attempt, which would win the overall event. That puts Cates all the way to No. 6 on the Husky indoor list.

In the women's long jump, junior Ava Washburn soared all the way up to No. 2 in school history with the first 20-foot indoor mark since 1984. Washburn went 20-0 1/2 on her very first jump, and also had a round three mark of 19-9 that was also better than her old PR. She would win the competition by more than a foot.

Thomas Leads Bevy Of 3k PRs

Senior Chloe Thomas raced on the track for the first time since Dec. 6 when she shattered the Husky 5k record, and for the first time since running at the World Cross Country Championships earlier this month for Team Canada, where she placed 31st overall. In her home Husky debut, Thomas posted the second-fastest 3,000-meters time in school history, powering to a third-place finish in the night's marquee heat with a time of 8:51.27. Only Amina Maatoug's time of 8:46.20 set just last year sits ahead of Thomas's time tonight.

Senior Julia David-Smith also dropped her indoor 3k PR down to 9:01.29 as she came in fifth overall. That moved David-Smith up from 10th to No. 8 on the 3k top-10 list.

In earlier 3k action, Josephine Welin turned in a PR of 9:18.62, and Maeve Stiles posted a 9:25.21. Abby DeVeau had a new PR of 9:27.16, and another PR came from Isabel Olson in 9:31.47. Gioana Lopizzo clocked a 9:56.13, and Annika Carlson ran 9:56.31 for another PR.

Rhodes Makes Strong Sprint Debut

Junior Alex Rhodes, an NCAA Division-III Champion at University of Puget Sound, made his anticipated Husky debut tonight in the 400-meters, and took second overall in a time of 46.90 seconds. That puts Rhodes up to No. 7 in school history just one race in.

Jonathan Frazier was seventh overall in the 400-meters in 48.24, and that was after he took third overall in the 60m hurdles in 8.24, after running 8.19 in the prelims.

Freshman Chloe Symon was the top Husky in the women's 400-meters, as she dropped down from her usual 800-meters to run a time of 55.71. Freshman Sena Pittman ran 58.18 and senior Rhonda Newton clocked 58.52.

In the women's 60m hurdles, freshman Sara Nordlund was 17th overall in 9.19 seconds and Adri Edwards ran 9.81 for 30th overall. In the dashes, Sophia McHenry ran 8.19 in the 60m and 26.80 in the 200m.