Big Names Ready To Line Up At Dempsey With An Eye On NCAAs

By Doug Binder, DyeStat Editor

A big wave of college athletes will compete at the Husky Classic on Friday and Saturday with an eye on qualifying for the NCAA Division 1 Indoor Championships.

Athletes from Oregon, Stanford, Washington, Colorado, Arkansas, Wisconsin, Ole Miss and Penn State are among the schools sending large groups to the Dempsey Indoor in Seattle.

It also could be an emotional outing for the athletes from Concordia of Portland. The NCAA Division 2 school's coaches and students found out Monday that the campus will permanently close at the end of the spring term.

LIVE WEBCAST INFO | ENTRIES

The elite fields in the 3,000 meters and 5,000 meters are set to go Friday in Seattle.

Kim Conley of New Balance, Emily Infeld of the Bowerman Track Club and Rebecca Mehra of Oiselle are on the list released by the University of Washington for the 3,000 meters. Other notables in that event are Erica Birk (unattached/BYU), Carmela Cardama Baez of Oregon, Devin Clark of Arkansas, Adva Cohen of New Mexico, Ella Donaghu of Stanford, Katie Izzo of Arkansas, Gabrielle Jennings of Furman, Jessica Lawson of Stanford, Alicia Monson of Wisconsin and Katie Rainsberger of Washington.

The women's 5,000 that follows includes Georgia twins Jessica and Samantha Drop and post-collegian Jessica Tonn. Monson is among the top entrants listed for both races, but will mostly likely pick one.

On Saturday, the marquee event is the mile. Penn State's Danae Rivers, coming off an 11th-place finish in the Women's Wanamaker Mile last weekend in New York (4:32.95) is among the top names in the field.

In the men's 3,000 meters, Evan Jager is returning to the track after making an impressive season debut in the mile two weeks ago. Bowerman Track Club teammates Lopez Lomong and Sean McGorty are also on the list. The collegians in the field include Oliver Hoare of Wisconsin, Cooper Teare and James West of Oregon, Alex Ostberg and Liam Anderson of Stanford, James Mwaura of Gonzaga and Abdihamid Nur and Ryan Raff of Northern Arizona. 

The men’s 5,000 meters lineup includes Garrett Heath of Brooks, Colorado All-Americans Joe Klecker and John Dressel, Brandon Garnica of the BYU national championship cross country team, and Washington’s Tanner Anderson.

All eyes will be on high school senior Cruz Culpepper in the men’s mile as he tries to crash through the four-minute barrier. Culpepper, of Niwot CO, was close Feb. 1 when he ran US#1 4:01.66 at the UW Invitational. Culpepper is a Washington recruit.

The men’s mile also includes Sam Worley of Texas, Theo Quax of Northern Arizona, Sam Tanner of Washington and Charlie Hunter, who was part of Oregon’s NCAA record distance medley relay team.