If ever there was a high performance indoor meet, the Brooks PR Invitational fits the bill. On Sunday afternoon fans in Washington will be treated to a competition, which features many of the finest prep runners in the United States. The meet, which will be held at the Dempsey Indoor facility on the University of Washington campus, is noted for its fast times and with the quality of the runners on hand, it should yield some nationally significant times. Last year’s edition marked the origin of what we hope will be a long tradition of quality track and it produced excellent competition & high quality marks. A special and very appreciated addition this year will be the inclusion of more Canadian athletes like Tyler Smith of Alberta, who won the 800M at Simplot last weekend with a scintillating 1:49 at altitude. Jenna Westaway of Calgary will also be on hand after winning her second straight Simplot title last weekend. The Alberta runner finished second in this event last year in 2:11. Facing Jenna will be Savannah Ca macho of California, who is ranked fifth in the US, and Kaela Edwards of Colorado, who is ranked seventh in America this season. Also in the field is Foot Locker National finalist Cami Chapus and Taylor Hatfield of Ohio. Opposing Smith will be Zavon Watkins, a football player from Liverpool New York, who is also the defending Millrose champion plus Nick Hartle of Nevada: both of whom have run 1:49. Local fans will be treated with the inclusion of Will Drinkwater & Nicholas Boersma. Will was one of the captains of the 4A XC champion boys’ team from Gig harbor & placed 4th in the State 800M last year, while Nick placed third at State last spring for Wenatchee. Not to be overlooked is Alex Waddell of South Dakota, who ran 1:56 here last year.
Any question about the speed, that can be generated by the Dempsey facility, should be dispelled by checking out the 7.47 time registered by Hannah Cunliffe of Seattle on the track last year, which is now the national standard for freshman girls. She ran 7.55 in the Brooks meet last year, which was good for third place. Hannah will face Marybeth Sant of Colorado, who not only is ranked fourth in the nation in the event but is coming of a victory at Simplot. As fine as that pair are Shayla Sanders will probably be the favorite in the event given her number one ranking in the 55 Meters & Number two ranking in the 60M. Of course even that is overlooking Myasia Jacobs, who has run 6.85. Gabrielle Gray of North Carolina is another runner, who should not be overlooked. The field of guys is also impressive & it includes Tatum Taylor, whose 6.79 leads the nation. Taylor is from Seattle as well. Marvin Bracy of Orlando and Cameron Burrell of Texas are ranked 1 – 2 in the 55 Meters and will have much to say about the outcome of the race. Bracy earned second in this event in last year’s meet with 6.75. Jerimy Strainge of Florida also returns after taking third last year with 6.80. With the distance the quality of the start is crucial and there is not much separating all the members of the field, who this year will have the advantage of running in preliminary races to qualify as well as get the feel for the track & better warm-up to competition on race day.
The Foot Locker National Championship has been the standard of Cross Country & distance excellence for over 33 years and the Two Mile race alone has a fair number of alumni from that race. Molly Seidel of Wisconsin and Erin Finn of Michigan, who placed third in the event last year, waged an exciting duel in the race in San Diego and they will renew their rivalry on Sunday along with Wesley Frazier of Tennessee, who is the defending Brooks 2 Mile champion, as well as a former Foot Locker runner. Anna Maxwell of California, who has run 10:29, is also a former Foot Locker runner as is Megan Lacy of New Jersey, who may have been the top runner in the Northeast last fall before a groin injury compromised her late season. If she displays her earlier form she will be one to watch, as will be Katie Knight of Spokane. Katie scorched the Pasco course in the Washington State 4A XC meet last for with a time of 17:10 before placing third at NXN & then representing the US in Scotland. Californian Emma Abrahamson placed tenth in the US Junior XC meet earlier this month and should be a factor along with Haley Pierce of Delaware, whose 10:39 is the 2nd ranked time for the season in the US. Pierce was clocked here last year in 10:20 and placed 4th. Sadly both Grace Tinkey & Kendra Weitz are injured & will not be able to run Samantha Nightengale (Mo.), Taylor Manett (Mi.) & Shanoah Souza (ca.) will join the fray on Sunday.
In 2011year the boys’ two mile witnessed a great race, which was finally claimed by Ammar Moussa, who is now running collegiately. It will be a hard act to follow but the field, which will line up on Sunday is of stellar quality & should provide a great race. It is hard to say there is a true favorite with the quality of the field but Darren Fahy and Anthony Armstrong are two runners to watch. Darren is the Foot Lock West Regional champion as well as the California large-school winner and he recently placed seventh in the US Junior meet against a field mostly made up by collegians. Anthony recently zipped through a 3K in 8:33, raced well in NXN and won the Washington State 3A XC title in record time. Andrew Gardner finished 6th at Foot Locker last fall after garnering 4th as a sophomore, while Tony Smoragiewicz of South Dakota & Thomas Graham of North Carolina are also two-time Foot Locker finalists. North Dakota’s Jake Leingang is only a junior yet he placed fourth in this year’s Foot Locker race. Daniel Vertiz of Texas is coming off a 5th place finish at Foot Locker, while Californian Luis Luna & Connecticut’s Connor Rog also were FL finalists. Izaic Yorks placed third in the 3A Washington State meet and then turned around to take fourth at NXN and he continues to improve over a year ago. Sadly Nathan Weitz of Spokane had to pull out due to injury but there is no shortage of quality in this event. Graham placed third here last year with 9:04 and Gardner, Smorgy & Fahy all have the advantage of having participated last year.
Maddie Meyers of The Northwest School in Seattle is one of the few four-time State XC champions in American history & the only member of the club from Washington and she has run 4:41. Maddie is also a two-time Foot Locker national qualifier and a national class steeple-chaser, so her presence alone lends credit to the Girls’ Mile. She will be opposed by Kelsey Margey of New York, who is ranked 4th in the nation with her time of 4:49. Glacier Peak’s Amy-Eloise Neale has already run 2:09 this season in the 800 and the NXN finalist and two-time State XC champion will be formidable as well. Neale secured second in the event last year in 4:49. Added into the mix are Nikki Hiltz, another Foot Locker finalist& Kelly Lawson, who is a Junior Olympic Class champion who has run 4:48. Rachel Paul of NY & Haley Meier of Wisconsin have both run 4:52, while Allison Sturges comes in with a mark of 4:47. Samantha George of North Carolina, Lily Williams of Florida & Heather Bates of Colorado all add an exciting dimension to this field.
Two-time West Virginia champion Jacob Burcham enters the fray in the Boys’ Mile with 4:04 and is a likely favorite, yet he will have his hands full against another fine field, which includes Foot Locker finalists Craig Nowak of Texas (14th), C J Albertson and Billy Gaudreau of California. Gaudreau will head to Harvard incidentally. Marcus Dickson, who won the Portland Track Festival last spring, & Korey Krotzer give the event a local flavor & honest rooting interest, while others to watch are Chris Waschura of California, who has run 4:09, as have Cale Wallace, Trevor Gilley & Justin Brinkley of Texas. Brannon Kidder of Ohio, Luis Gutierez of California & Mike Marsalla of Rhode Island will also challenge.
With five runners with PRs of 47 seconds and change the 400 Meters should be both interesting & very competitive. Aldrich Bailey is at the top of the American list with his mark of 47.05, which was run at Texas A & M, but Michael Newton of Maryland is second with 47.58. Richard Gary placed second at Texas A & M with 47.91 but has a 46 clocking to his credit. Tacoma’s Marcus Chambers (47.05) & Ayrian Evans (47.04) of Georgia have also run times in the past that make them dangerous , as has Najee Glass of New Jersey, who has already run 48.74 this season.
Precious Holmes enters the 400 meters with 55.32 from her race at Yale, which is the number two mark thus far for the season. Amy Weissenbach of California is a runner, who can handle a distance, yet has the speed to run 53.80. Of course Courtney Okolo of Texas was the winner of the event last year with 54.26. Sydnee Oliver of Ct and Felicia Brown of Georgia have all run 53. Ariah Graham of Raleigh & Alexis Franklin have times, which are not far behind, plus Canadian Sage Watson, who placed third here last February, are all capable of winning.
Last weekend Dior Hall ran a stunning 8.3 in a preliminary of the 60 meter Hurdles at Simplot but had trouble with a hurdle in the finals. Look for her to make amends for that in Seattle. Dior placed third here last year in 8.51. She is ranked second in the nation, which places her just ahead of Kendell Williams of Georgia, who is ranked fourth. Of course Kendall has already raced on the Dempsey track before, when claimed this event last year. Daje Pugh, who is also in the race, is 11th in the nation with her 8.81. Canada will be represented in the event by Deshaunda Morrison of Calgary but they will all have their hands full Skylar Ross-Ransom of Texas, Daje Pugh of California, Lateisha Philson of NY & Alexis Franklin of Maryland.
Berea, Ohio’s Donovan Robertson is the top-ranked American prep in the 60 Hurdles with his 7.78, while Junior Olympian Jonathan Jones of Georgia should give him a challenge. Ready to challenge in the event are Devon Allen of Arizona, Dondre Echols of Maryland & Randy Bermea of Texas.
This is but the tip of the talent iceberg, that the Brooks people have brought into play for the weekend. The Brooks meet is a great opportunity for racing fans to see great competition among many of the finest athletes in the nation at this level and will give a glance into the future major stars of the sport down the road. If you one is enticed by current stars there will be a number of them on hand as well to represent Brooks. Leading the way is Desiree Davila, who recently placed second in the US Olympic Trials Marathon. Among others on hand will be Angela Bizzarri, Amy Hastings Fawn Dorr & Katie Mackey. Former Centennial (Gresham) Oregon star Ryan Vale will also be part of the festivities, so there will be much to take in this weekend. Preliminary action in the 60 Meters for girls begins at the Dempsey at 3:30 PM Sunday and will include the boys’ & girls’ 60M hurdles too. The first of the finals will begin at 4:15 with the Girls’ Two Mile and the last event will be the Boys’ Mile at 6:45 PM. The runners received a ‘Golden Ticket” with a chocolate bar with their invitation to this very special event and for fans of track this is your golden opportunity to witness first class prep action in an excellent facility.