As the UW played host to the year’s first indoor meet on Saturday ­— the UW Indoor Preview — coach Greg Metcalf set his focus on the development of his younger athletes, and they didn’t disappoint.

Freshman Jordan Polk, also a wide receiver on the Husky football team, put forth one of several great efforts by the sprints team, completing the 60-meter dash in the preliminaries with a time of 6.93 seconds, while senior Joe Turner placed fourth in the 60 finals with a time of 6.95 seconds.

“Our men’s sprinters showed a lot of promise and could be a very deep group,” Metcalf said.

The performance of the sprinters was solid and should progress as first-year sprint coach Raul Sheen continues to develop his runners.

Competing in her first event since last year’s NCAA Championships, senior sprinter/hurdler Falesha Anktonalso also had an outstanding day, placing third in the 200-meter hurdles and second in the 60-meter hurdles.

Joey Bywater was another freshman who stepped up big for his team Saturday, finishing third in the 3,000-meter run with a time of 8:16. Senior Austin Abbott placed second in the 600-meter run, finishing just a split second behind recent Husky graduate Ryan Brown, who ran unattached in the event.

The women’s distance runners were given quite a treat as they lined up next to U.S. Olympians Kara Goucher and Amy Yoder-Begley. Goucher, who finished ninth in the 5,000-meter run in Beijing and 10th in the 10,000, took first in the mile and 3-kilometer events. Yoder-Begley, who also competed in the 10k at the Olympic Games, came right behind Goucher in the 3k.

“That’s one of the great things about our facility, is our student athletes routinely get to watch athletes at the pinnacle of the sport compete on the same track where they train on a daily basis,” Metcalf said. “Our women’s distance runners got a great chance today to observe two of the very best … how they prepare and carry themselves.”

Turner, along with redshirt freshman Sam Rucker, sophomore Miles Timpe and junior Jeff Gudaitis, helped the UW close out the day strong, taking first in the 4x400 relay — the meet’s final event.

“There was a lot to be excited about today and we just have to continue to build from this point,” Metcalf said.

The Huskies will compete again Jan. 30-31 as they host the UW Invitational at Dempsey Indoor.

Reach reporter Ben Foutz at sports@dailyuw.com.