Performances At Final Dempsey Indoor Meet Continued To Shape NCAA Leaderboard

By Mark Wang for DyeStat

Photos by Zeth Peterka

SEATTLE -- Oklahoma State's Taylor Roe and Utah's Simone Plourde both broke program records in a fast  women’s 3,000 meters on Friday that were part of a wave of significant performances from 800 meters on up at the Washington Husky Invitational at Dempsey Indoor. 

Roe, a senior who went to high school at nearby Lake Stevens, came on late to win in a time of 8:56.94. Plourde ran 8:57.12. And a total of 13 women ran under 9:10.

“I was about halfway in, like 'Okay, this is not looking pretty.” Roe said. “Sometimes you just have to deal with what you have on that day and work with it. I think it played out in my favor that people felt that early pace catch up to them.”

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Arkansas' Lauren Gregory led the race until the final 75 meters when Roe's persistence paid off. She caught Gregory on the final turn and was followed closely by Plourde as they kicked to the finish. 

“I just learned with my first 3k this season to kind of be patient.” Plourde said. “So I stayed like mid-pack and when it was time to go with two laps to go I just felt good and I felt like my legs could go with the front pack. I didn’t really know what was going on, I was just sprinting and trying to get to the finish line.”

The men's 3,000 saw two sets of teammates go 1-2 in the two top heats. First, Brodey Hasty and Theo Quax from NAU in the sixth heat ran 7:49.61 and 7:49.89, respectively,. Then in the seventh heat, Fouad Messaoudi and Ryan Schoppe from Oklahoma State went even faster, going 7:41.63 and 7:41.99 respectively, for the third-fastest and fifth-fastest times in the NCAA this season.

Duncan Hamilton of Montana State was third in 7:44.90 and Luke Houser of Washington was fourth in 7:48.81. 

The top 12 in the event ran personal bests, all under 7:55.

“That’s what we preach at NAU.” Hasty said. “It’s about finding your teammate, letting them carry you or having them help you.”

New Mexico's Amelia Mazza-Downie overtook Utah's Emily Venters to win the women's 5,000 meters in 15:18.84. Venters ran 15:20.37. Those times are Nos. 4 and 5 in the NCAA this year. 

When action resumed Saturday morning the sprints heated up. Donte Sol of Multnomah followed up an astounding prelim where he got the second-fastest time in the NAIA with a 6.65-second clocking, and then followed it up with a time of 6.61 to take over the NAIA lead. 

“I knew if I just kept with my race I could either replicate it or run faster.” Sol said. “That 6.65 was just a symbol of the work that I’ve done and I knew that in finals if I kept it up I was gonna run a faster time.”

Another highlight Saturday arrived in the men's 800 meters. Sam Ellis of Washington, running unattached, won with a time of 1:46.77.

Perhaps even more impressive was sophomore teammate Nathan Green coming in second with a time of 1:46.99, which broke the school record and elevated him to No. 11 on the NCAA list. New Mexico's Ethan Brouw ran 1:47.21 for third and move to No. 13 on the national list. 

“It’s something we’ve been going for a while now, as an off shoot of the mile.” Green said. “My previous best before this was 1:49 from last year, so it's definitely something crazy to do that.”

What made it even sweeter was Green's family was in attendance at the Dempsey to watch his performance.

“It’s really sweet, home field. All my friends were in that corner, all my teammates. It’s really nice. Nothing really beats family being there for your biggest moments,” he said.

Washington's Carley Thomas (2:03.68) and Anna Gibson (2:04.47) finished 1-2 in the women's 800 meters. 

Their teammate, Sophie O'Sullivan, won the women's mile in 4:33.23. 

Seattle Pacific's Vanessa Aniteye, who was 11th overall, ran an NCAA D2 leading time of 2:07.53. 

High school standout Will Floyd from GLS Speed TC (Seattle Prep) won the men's 400 meters with a time of 46.81 for a US#1.