Houlihan Kicks Into High Gear To Open 2020 With 4:23.68/2:01.82 Double

By Doug Binder, DyeStat Editor

Shelby Houlihan came down to sea level from Colorado Springs and ran one of the best doubles in the world this year at the Washington Indoor Invitational in Seattle. 

The Bowerman Track Club star ran a lifetime best mile of 4:23.68, fastest in the world so far in 2020, and less than an hour later returned to Dempsey Indoor's 307-meter flat track and cranked out a 2:01.82 victory in the 800 meters. That, too, was a PR and the sixth-fastest time so far this year globally.

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"I had to come back quick. I didn't really know what to expect," Houlihan said. "I felt better than I thought I would, but my legs burn for sure."

Houlihan and the rest of the Nike Bowerman Track Club team got the 2020 campaign off to a flying start after training at altitude. 

"I wasn't expecting to run the times that I ran back to back," she said. "I'm pleasantly suprised with that."

Teammate Karissa Schweizer challenged Houlihan on the final lap of the mile and finished second in 4:24.32, the No. 2 time in the world. The former University of Missouri star doubled back to pace the women's 3,000 meters. 

Colleen Quigley broke away from her teammates late to win the 3,000 meters in 8:44.83, good for the No. 4 time in the world so far in 2020. It was Quigley's first flat 3K in five years. 

Kate Grace was next in 8:46.86, Courtney Frerichs was third in 8:47.31 and Vanessa Fraser was fourth in 8:51.39 for a 1-4 sweep for the Bowerman Track Club.

Evan Jager, in his first race in a year and a half, made a triumphant return to the track and won the mile in 3:56.50, surging away from BTC teammate Sean McGorty with a flash of speed and fitness that was an encouraging sign for the 2016 Olympic silver medalist in the 3,000-meter steeplechase. 

Jager has been nursing a foot injury since August of 2018. 

"I had a couple of goals," Jager said. "One, I just wanted to have fun. It's been so long since I raced. Obviously I missed racing and the sport in general. My goal this year is to enjoy everything and have fun and stop putting so much pressure on myself.

"I wanted to break four minutes. That was one of the goals. And just, compete."

Six runners went under four minutes, including collegians George Kusche of Nebraska (3:57.93), Talem Franco of BYU (3:58.09), and Sam Tanner (3:59.01) and Dustin Nading (3:59.77) of Washington.

In the second-fastest section of the men's mile, high school senior Cruz Culpepper of Niwot CO, a Washington recruit, ran 4:01.66 for fourth place. Culpepper, who won the high school-only mile at the New Balance Indoor Grand Prix last week in Boston in 4:11.44, moved up to No. 5 on the all-time prep indoor mile list.

In a re-run of the botched women's distance medley relay from Friday, BYU anchor Whittni Orton caught and then pulled away from Washington's Katie Rainsberger to carry the Cougars to the victory in 10:53.95 -- fastest ever on an oversized track. The time was nearly two seconds faster than the time Stanford posted Friday night at the Razorback Invitational in Fayetteville, Ark. 

Washington also posted an elite time, running 10:56.23.

In the field, Washington's Olivia Gruver cleared 14-9 (4.50m) and then asked the bar to be raised to 15-5 (4.70m). The NCAA leader missed all three attemps at what would have broken her own Dempsey Indoor facility record. 

In the men's 3,000 meters, BTC teammates Marc Scott and Ryan Hill went 1-2. Scott, of Great Britain, won the race in 7:49.65. Hill, a surprise entry, was right behind him in in 7:50.51. Thirteen men ran under 8 minutes. 

In the men's 800 meters, Derek Holdsworth ran a NCAA Division 2-leading time of 1:47.74 that shaved nearly two seconds off the Western Oregon University school record.