19-04-2025
Washington school record sets tone for outdoor track & field season
Washington school record sets tone for outdoor track & field season
Fresh off a bevy of program-best finishes in the indoor season, the Washington Huskies track & field team got off to a blazing start in their first widely-attended outdoor meets of the year.
With two meets in southern California - the Bryan Clay Invitational and Mt. SAC Relays - happening concurrently, the Huskies had plenty of chances to fly up the school leaderboards.
Indoor All-American Kyle Reinheimer set the foundation for the week with a school record in the 800m at the Bryan Clay Invitational, swinging all the way into lane 3 around the final corner en route to a 1:46.09 finish. Reinheimer charged across the line in first place after entering the final turn in fifth, breaking Nathan Green's program record and putting himself at No. 4 in the NCAA this season in the process.
Paris Olympian Sophie O'Sullivan spent the indoor season in Australia because she lacked another season of collegiate indoor eligibility, but she donned a UW uniform again on Thursday to kick off her final outdoor season as a Husky. The Irishwoman took on an elite field of 800m runners at Bryan Clay, finishing in third in 2:00.61 and matching Reinheimer at No. 4 in the NCAA this season. Behind O'Sullivan, Clair Yerby set a personal best in 2:04.47, the No. 8 time in school history.
Late in the California night, distance men Acer Iverson, Evan Jenkins, Jamar Distel, Leo Daschbach, and Tyrone Gorze were split among three heats of the 5,000 meters. Iverson and Jenkins finished third and fifth in the first heat with times of 13:33.67 and 13:35.03 to set new No. 4 and No. 5 marks in program history. Distel won the final heat, closing at 11:30 pm Thursday night, in a personal best of 13:37.54 to catapult himself into No. 7 in school history.
Just down the road at Mt. SAC, heptathlete Sofia Cosculluela matched Reinheimer and O'Sullivan's standings in the NCAA this season with a total of 5,817 points. The 2024 Spanish national champion set a personal best in the javelin and put the rest of the NCAA on notice in her first major meet as a Husky.
Cincinnati transfer Leonie Troeger made her Husky debut as well, landing at No. 7 in program history with a javelin throw of 161-10. Jack Olsen won the men's javelin with back-to-back throws of 216-3.
On Friday, Washington doubled back with their stable of milers leading the way. Chloe Foerster continued her strong season after a dominant showing at the Stanford Invitational, breaking a Bryan Clay meet record in the 1500m previously held by Shelby Houlihan, a former US champion, with a 4:05.75. That time also lowered her personal best by almost two full seconds, solidifying her hold on the No. 2 spot in school history and moving her into No. 5 on the NCAA all-time list and No. 2 in this season's NCAA standings. (O'Sullivan's school record of 4:00.23 does not count for the NCAA all-time leaderboards because she ran it at the Olympics, not an NCAA event.)
Washington put five other women under 4:15 in the event - O'Sullivan finished third in the race in 4:08.69. Maggie Liebich rocketed to No. 8 in school history in 4:12.35, while Mia Cochran and Amina Maatoug tied for No. 10 in program history in 4:12.65. Yerby ran a personal best of 4:14.78, while Julia David-Smith clocked 4:17.33.
It was a Husky 1-2 in the men's you count alumni. Nathan Green ran his first race since the indoor season, outpacing Washington alum Sam Ellis 3:35.52 to 3:35.57. Green also held off Georgetown's Abel Teffra, who nicked Green at the line at the NCAA Indoor Championships to break Washington's streak of titles in the event. Teffra was third in 3:35.81.
Ronan McMahon-Staggs, Rhys Hammond, and Martin Barco all went under 3:40 as well, with McMahon-Staggs at 3:38.23 and Hammond at 3:38.24 earning the no. 5 and 6 spots in school history.
At Mt. SAC, the headliner was freshman Bodi Ligons, who won the 400m hurdles with a personal best of 51.10 to set the No. 8 time in program history. Mikayla Gardley (400m hurdles), Ava Washburn (long jump and triple jump), and Rachel Bir (triple jump) all set personal bests as well.
Washington continues their outdoor season next week with the Penn Relays in Philadelphia.
