SEATTLE, February 14–15 — A Washington’s men’s distance medley quartet, running at home, raced 9:14.10 for a 2.30 demolition of the prior indoor best, 9:16.40 by Oklahoma State in ’23 and the absolute best, 9:14.58 by a Brooks Beast team last year.
With middle distance depth on his campus including 10 milers who broke 4:00 in a single meet this winter (plus a sub-4:00 frosh who is redshirting) and four sub-1:48 men at 800, Husky men’s coach Andy Powell entered three teams in the Husky Classic distance medley, pitted against former Pac-12 rivals Cal and Stanford.
The Husky C team, with Cornell transfer Rhys Hammond on the carry, led the way through the first 800 of the opening 1200 leg before stepping off the track — begging the question of how far the C group ever intended to go. The two remaining Washington squads, with senior Ronan McMahon-Staggs on the A team and transfer-from-Texas Cole Lindhorst on the B squad, were almost even through the first exchange, with McMahon-Staggs handing off to true frosh Bodi Ligons, and Lindhorst passing to soph Jonathan Frazier. Both unofficially split 2:50.8.
There was a slight change in the order going into the third leg, with Frazier a step ahead of Ligons, as both split 46.9 on the 400 leg.
Frazier handed off to senior Justin O’Toole, while Ligons handed off to grad-transfer-from-North Carolina Kyle Reinheimer for the 800 leg. O’Toole led the first lap of the 307-meter oval before the Washington coaches yelled at Reinheimer to take the lead. Both Husky teams were even entering the final exchange, splitting 1:46.0 before handing off to 3:50.74 junior miler Nathan Green for the A team, and Australian frosh Thomas Diamond on the B team. Diamond took the lead and maintained it for the first 1000 of the 1600 leg, with Green no more than a step behind.
With about 600 meters to go, Green tapped Diamond on the shoulder as if to say, “I’m going now”, before passing him with 400 left. At that point, Diamond swung wide and ceded the inside, pulling off the track and leaving Green by himself 8:18 into the race. No B team finish either.
Green, running solo, finished with an unofficial split of 56.1 for the final 400 and 3:50.4 for his 1600, crossing the line in 9:14.10, well under Oklahoma State’s CR from the ’23 Arkansas Qualifier, and under the absolute WR of 9:14.58 a Brooks Beast unit set at last year’s Oregon Relays.
In an ironic twist, several members of the Brooks Beasts record team —leadoff Brannon Kidder, 800 meter runner Isaiah Harris, and 1600 anchor Henry Wynne—were training on the Dempsey track before the meet began, in preparation for the USATF Indoor Championships.
With McMahon-Staggs an Irish citizen, the mark will not qualify for WR purposes. Nonetheless, it’s the fastest distance medley relay ever run with any conditions and tracks.
After the race, Reinheimer said, “The whole plan was to work with Justin, and close the best we can to put Nathan in the best position we possibly can.” When asked if Green knew what his split was, he said, “It doesn’t matter. All that matters is that we got this DMR qualified for nationals.
“We’re four guys, but really, this was a 9-man effort”.
Green said that the difference between this team and previous Washington DMR quartets he’s been part of was that this particular foursome wanted it more and that the other runners were willing to sacrifice personal accomplishments in order to succeed.
“One of the great performances in Husky track & field history,” said coach Andy Powell. “Obviously it’s not every day that you set a World Record. We had the team and the track to do this here tonight without having to travel around the country to find the right race. Whether it gets ratified or however long it lasts we’re going to remember it.”
A Collegiate Record fell in the women’s DMR that followed. Stanford started hot with Paris Olympics 800 finalist Juliette Whittaker running the leadoff 1200 and former NCAA indoor champ Roisin Willis on the 800 leg to give the Cardinal a sizable advantage for anchor Amy Bunnage.
However, defending NCAA champion BYU with Riley Chamberlain, Northern Arizona with Maggi Congdon, Washington with Amina Maatoug, and Utah with Erin Vringer, all worked together on the 1600 leg to chip away at Stanford’s lead. At the bell, Bunnage had a 2-second lead over Chamberlain and Congdon, with Chamberlain passing Bunnage 100 meters later. Congdon also passed Bunnage, but Bunnage overtook Congdon on the final straightaway. BYU got the win in 10:37.58, followed by Stanford at 10:38.93.
The Cougar quartet’s time, though not a record due to the oversized nature of the track, bettered Washington’s CR from 2024, 10:43.39, and came up just 0.03 short of Harvard’s absolute CR, also run last year.
Five squads in all secured or strengthened positions at the top end of the women’s DMR’s all-time schools compilation.
HUSKY CLASSIC HIGHLIGHTS
800: IX–1. *Colin Sahlman (NnAz) 1:46.40; 2. Justin O’Toole (Wa) 1:46.44; 3. John Rivera’ (PR) 1:46.56;
4. Kyle Reinheimer (Wa) 1:46.58; 5. ***Tyler Mathews (BYU) 1:46.62; 6. ***Martin Barco (Wa) 1:47.30.
Mile: I–1. Nico Young (adidas) 3:50.89; 2. Jude Thomas’ (Aus) 3:51.19; 3. Kieran Lumb’ (Can) 3:51.89; 4. Joe Waskom (adidas) 3:52.48; 5. *Aidan McCarthy (SLO) 3:52.83;
6. Henry Wynne (BrkB) 3:52.86; 7. ***Thomas Diamond (Wa) 3:55.53; 8. Brian Fay’ (Ire) 3:56.07; 9. Lucas Bons (BYU) 3:56.45; 9. **Habtom Samuel’ (NM-Eri) 3:57.09.
3000: VII–1. Samuel’ 7:39.39; 2. Young 7:39.53; 3. ***Ishmael Kipkurui’ (NM-Ken) 7:40.06; 4. Matt Strangio (Port) 7:40.09;
5. Sahlman 7:40.41; 6. Acer Iverson (Wa) 7:41.02; 7. Casey Clinger (BYU) 7:41.05; 8. David Mullarkey’ (NnAz-GB) 7:41.21;
9. Drew Bosley (NnAz) 7:41.47; 10. Jack Rayner’ (Aus-Aus) 7:42.57; 11. **Evan Jenkins (Wa) 7:46.17.
5000: 1. ***Evans Kurui’ (WaSt-Ken) 13:17.16; 2. *Thomas Boyden (Stan) 13:21.92; 3. ***Shadrack Kiptoo (Ok) 13:22.14; 4. **Evans Kiplagat’ (NM-Ken) 13:34.24.
DisMed: 1. Washington 9:14.10 (a-c: 1 W, C) (a-c in/out: 1 W, C) (old indoor best 9:16.40 Oklahoma State ’23) (old absolute best 9:14.58 Brooks Beasts ’24) (McMahon-Staggs’, Ligons, Reinheimer, Green);
2. Cal 9:32.81; 3. Stanford 9:33.38.
HUSKY WOMEN
800: 1. *Juliette Whittaker (Stan) 1:59.44 (a-c: 3, 3 C);
2. Laura Pellicoro’ (Port-Ita) 2:00.92; 3. Teagan Schein-Becker (BrkB) 2:01.64.
Mile: I–1. Maggi Congdon (NnAz) 4:27.77; 2. Anna Camp-Bennett (adidas) 4:27.83; 3. **Amy Bunnage’ (Stan-Aus) 4:29.09;
4. Alex Carlson (NnAz) 4:29.14; 5. *Carlee Hansen (BYU) 4:33.04; 6. Jenn Randall (unat) 4:33.75;
7. Sadie Sargent (Nike) 4:34.03; 8. Maggie Liebich (Wa) 4:34.63; 9. Madison Mooney (unat) 4:34.68.
II– 1. *Kaiya Robertson (Boise) 4:33.69; 2. *Nikita Moore’ (NnAz-Aus) 4:33.83.
3000: 1. Lexy Halladay-Lowry (BYU) 8:40.60 (a-c: 3, 3 C);
2. *Riley Chamberlain (BYU) 8:40.89 (a-c: 4, 4 C);
3. Elise Stearns (NnAz) 8:41.07 (a-c: 5, 5 C);
4. **Sophia Kennedy (Stan) 8:42.53; 5. Amina Maatoug’ (Wa-Neth) 8:46.20; 6. *Jenna Hutchins (BYU) 8:52.31; 7. **Karrie Baloga (NnAz) 8:52.33;
8. **Erin Vringer’ (Ut-Can) 8:54.92; 9. **Fleur Templier’ (Port-Fra) 8:56.87; 10. Alyson Churchill (NnAz) 8:59.29; 11. *Mia Cochran (Wa) 8:59.65.
5000: 1. *Jenna Hutchins (BYU) 15:31.41; 2. *Zofia Dudek’ (Stan-Pol) 15:44.13.
DisMed: 1. BYU 10:37.58 (a-c: 2W, 1C) (Alder’, Hunter, Buswell, Chamberlain);
2. Stanford 10:38.93 (a-c: 3W, 2 C) (Whittaker, Peters, Willis, Bunnage’);
3. Northern Arizona 10:39.44 (a-c: 4W, 3C) (McTighe’, Reigh, Carlson, Congdon);
4. Washington 10:40.44 (a-c: 7W, 4C) (Foerster, Terrell, Yerby, Maatoug’);
5. Utah 10:42.56; 6. New Mexico 10:53.48.
HUSKY CLASSIC HS
Mile: IV–8. Tayvon Kitchen (Crater, Central Point, Or) 4:05.65
VI–6. Josiah Tostenson (Crater) 4:02.71.
VIII–3. Owen Powell (Mercer Island) 3:57.74 (2, 2 a/c HS indoor/7, 8 a/c HS).
3000: 3. Kitchen 7:55.48 (a-cIn: 1,1 HS);…6. Tostenson 7:57.42 (a-cIn: 2, 2 a/c HS). ◻︎
