Houser, Thomas, Artis Help Dawgs Soar In Dempsey Opener

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The first home Dempsey meet of the season is often highlighted by Husky debuts or breakthroughs from young Dawgs looking to make their marks. There was plenty of that today at the UW Indoor Preview, but it was several established veterans that grabbed the early season spotlight by finding new ways to wow the crowd. NCAA mile champion Luke Houser ran the fastest 3,000-meters in UW history and the fastest ever clocked in the Dempsey. Carley Thomas, the 800-meter All-American and School Record-holder, moved up to the mile and took the NCAA lead with the second-fastest time in school history. And Pac-12 scorer Prestin Artis soared into the NCAA top-five in the long jump with a career-best leap.

There were many more top-10 marks tallied in the Husky records today, along with dominant UW showings in the men’s and women’s pole vaults, the men’s 400-meters and horizontal jumps.

Winning their first home meets as Dawgs were Kunle Akinlosotu in the triple jump and Mathis Bresko in the pole vault.

Thomas put down the first stunner of the day in the top heat of the women’s mile. Battling a loaded field of several top rivals from Oregon and multiple pros, Thomas calmly went to the lead on the final lap and powered away from the field to cross the line in 4:30.38, the new NCAA-leading time. It was a six-second PR for Thomas and puts her up to second in school history, the closes anyone’s come to Katie Flood’s time of 4:28.48 in 2012. The Australian standout, who broke 2-minutes in the 800-meters last summer for the first time, then later doubled back to win another race, taking her section of the 600-meters in 1:29.80.

Artis, in his second year on the squad, fed off the home crowd around the long jump runway, grabbing a big personal-best on his sixth and final attempt. He went 25-10 for the victory, a PR by nearly five full inches. That puts him up to No. 2 in school history, just ahead of true UW legend and former World Record-holder Phil Shinnick, trailing only Norris Frederick. Artis ranks fifth nationally, with his sights set on the top-16 at season’s end.

Luke’s House ??

Luke Houser opened his track season in electrifying, historic fashion, breaking the Dempsey Facility Record ?? the Meet Record ?? and the Husky School Record ?? for 3,000-meters in 7?:4?0?.4?0?#GoHuskies // @NCAATrackField pic.twitter.com/z3G3f0P7Uv

— Washington Track & Field and…