WEEKEND RECAP: Beasts' Kidder and Loxsom earn gold for Team USA at World Relays...

While the focus of the past weekend was on The Dual between the University of Washington and Washington State University in Seattle, there was other action:

In Nassau, Bahamas, Brannon Kidder and Cas Loxsom (left/photo by Kirby Lee, Image of Sport) of the Brooks Beasts ran the first and third legs of Team USA’s 4 x 800 meter relay team that won the gold medal at the IAAF/BTC World Relays at Thomas A. Robinson Stadium.

Kidder ran most of Team USA’s first leg behind 2014 world U20 champ Alfred Kipketer of Kenya, then made a burst in the final 100 to give the Americans the lead heading into the second leg, run by Erik Sowinski.

Sowinski lost the lead on his leg, but gave Loxsom a chance to keep it close, finishing his leg about a half-step behind Kenya’s Timothy Kutum as they handed the baton for the anchor legs, run by Ferguson Rotich and Clayton Murphy, the Olympic bronze medal.

Murphy brought home the win in the final straightaway, as Team USA clocked 7:13.16 to Kenya’s 7:13.70.

In the mixed 4 x 400 relay, Rainier Beach HS grad Michael Berry ran the opening leg for the USA, as they finished second to the Bahamas in 3:17.29.

Complete results from the IAAF World Relays are available here.

The latest USTFCCCA national computer rankings were released Monday, and the University of Washington women’s team, fresh off its victory over Washington State in The Dual, dropped 12 spots to #24.

The rankings mark the first time this season where pre-season marks are not factored in the computations.

The national top five are Texas A&M, Oregon, Arkansas, LSU, and USC.

Other Pac-12 teams in the national top 25 include #14 Stanford, and #21 Arizona State.

The top five men’s teams are Texas A&M, Florida, Georgia, Texas Tech, and Alabama.  

#7 USC, #13 Oregon, and #18 UCLA are the only Pac-12 men’s teams ranked in the top 25.


NOTE:  USA Track & Field, the IAAF, and the USTFCCCA contributed to this report.

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