Event: Washington Husky Indoor Invitational
Where: Seattle, Wash.
When: Friday and Saturday, All Day
Who to watch: Sophomore Jonathan Peterson led the Aggie men in the 3,000-meter race at the event last year. He finished eighth with a time of 8:13.90.
This Clovis, Calif. native has proven to be unrelenting as one of the leading male cross-country runners this past fall. He placed 17th in the 10K race at the NCAA West Region Championships.
Did you know? Over half of UC Davis’ runners attending the Husky Invitational are returnees from last year’s invitational.
Preview: 30 members of the UC Davis track and field team will be making their way up to Washington this weekend.
The meet will serve as the Aggies first real competition of the season.
“I think we definitely have a good chance of qualifying some folks for indoor nationals in March,” said coach Jon Vochatzer. “This meet will also serve to get us in to competition mode.”
Senior Sirena Williams, returning conference champion in the 60-meter hurdles, will be competing this weekend.
Leading the Aggie men in the 60-meter hurdles will be Polly Gnepa. He finished first at the Husky Invitational last year with a mark of 8.08 seconds.
Ugo Eke, Davis’ number one quarter-miler for the women, will be competing in the same 400-meter race that she won at the Husky Invitational last year.
Chidinma Onyewuenyi, the top-ranked shot put thrower in the country, returns to the event after taking second place in Seattle last year. Ashley Hearn, who finished ninth at the invitational last year, will throw again as well.
Throwing shot put for the men will be Matt Swarbrick and Ed Orgon, who took second and fourth place in the event last year.
“They’ve been training since Jan. 3 and are ready to finally see some real competition on the track,” Vochatzer said. “Seattle is a great place for competition.”
– Madeline Weeks
