University of Washington
MPSF Championships
Two Records, Two Titles For Dawgs At MPSFs
February 27, 2016 | Track & Field
MPSF Championships
Dempsey Indoor - Friday-Saturday, Feb. 26-27
Free Admission
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SEATTLE – Chris Williams and Kennadi Bouyer blazed two of the fastest runs in Washington history within just a few minutes of each other today, and a pair of individual titles were claimed by seniors Diamara Planell Cruz and Aaron Nelson on the first day of the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF) Indoor Track & Field Championships. Hosted by the Huskies in the Dempsey, the championship that features 19 of the top track and field squads in the west concludes on Saturday.
Along with the two school records, and pair of titles, the Huskies had seven more new top-10 marks on day one. USC leads the women's standings with 33 points while UW is third with 28.75 out of 19 teams, while BYU has a lead in the men's field with 33 points with the Huskies fourth out of 14 with 24.5 points. The MPSF Championships wrap up tomorrow with a packed day that begins at 10:30 a.m. and should conclude by 3 p.m.
Williams and Bouyer both set new Washington school records that they had been chasing for a long time, Williams shattering the 60-meter hurdles record that he had tied two weeks ago, and Bouyer getting past Husky legend Ashley Lodree in the 60-meter dash records after coming up .01 seconds short of the mark on two occasions this season.
Williams took a full tenth of a second off his 60m hurdles record, running 7.72 seconds in the prelims, and jumping up to a tie for ninth nationally, which should secure his first trip to NCAA Indoors in his senior season. He'll have another run in the finals tomorrow at 11:35 a.m.
Bouyer shaved three hundredths of a second off her PR in the 60-meter dash prelims, down to 7.32 seconds, which broke Lodree's mark of 7.34 set back in 2007. Bouyer also is now right on the bubble for nationals, ranking in a tie for 15th, with one more chance to go even quicker in the finals tomorrow at 12:25 p.m.
Kennadi Bouyer on her way to a school record 7.32 seconds in the 60-meters. She also took third in the long jump at 19-7 1/2.
Planell Cruz got the first MPSF title of the meet for the Huskies, as she took the women's pole vault with a first-attempt make of 13-7 ¾. It's the third MPSF women's vault title in a row for the Huskies after Kristina Owsinski won the past two seasons. Junior Elizabeth Quick was third, having cleared the same bar but on her third attempt.
Senior Aaron Nelson, the Husky school record-holder in the 5,000-meters indoors, took a victory lap of sorts in his final 5k in the Dempsey as a Dawg. The defending MPSF champion, Nelson claimed the title once again with a win in 13:49.93, which was just a second off his season-best. Nelson currently sits 17th in the NCAA standings so he'll need a scratch or two above him to return to NCAA Indoors for a second straight year.
Nelson joins a short list of Husky men to win multiple MPSF titles on the track, and the first to do it in the distance events. Ja'Warren Hooker (55/60m; 1998, 2000-01 and 200m; 2000-01), Ryan Brown (800m; 2007-08) and Jordan Boase (400m; 2008-09) are the only others with multiple individual wins.
Bouyer will be running in the 60-meters final tomorrow, but sophomore Sierra Peterson just missed joining her as she ran a PR of 7.47 seconds to finish 10th overall, and climb a couple spots to No. 5 on the Husky top-10 list. Peterson also ran a 200m PR of 24.71 seconds, remaining No. 8 on that list, while Cydnicia Wade made the 200-meter list for the first time with a PR of 24.81, placing her ninth right behind Peterson.
Travis Marshall and Lucas Strong both had season-bests in the men's 60-meters, Marshall going 6.90 and Strong 6.91 to place 13th and 14th, respectively.
Senior Naivasha Sophusson Smith also just barely missed a spot in the finals of the 60-meter hurdles, as she ran a big PR of 8.62 seconds to finish 10th. That time ties her for 9th in Husky history.
The day wasn't done for Bouyer after her sprint record. She long jumped for the first time all season today, and finished third overall with an indoor PR of 19-7 ½, moving her from 10th up to No. 6 in Husky history in that event. Junior Kate Adler also picked up a team point for the first time in her career, as she finished eighth overall with a PR of 18-5 ¾.
In the men's pole vault, senior Jax Thoirs came up just short of defending his MPSF title, as he settled for second-place with a clearance of 17-9 ¾. Williams doubled back from his hurdles record to finish in a tie for sixth with a clearance of 16-10. Another point came from true freshman Chase Smith, who made 16-10 as well, which got him eighth-place and a point for the Dawgs.
Along with Planell Cruz and Quick in the women's vault, sophomore Tori Franzen had a PR make of 12-8 to finish in a four-way tie for seventh, scoring for the first time at a conference meet. Kaitlin Zinsli also made 12-8 but finished 11th on the tiebreaker.
Aaron Nelson took the lead with four laps to go and pulled away to claim his second straight MPSF 5,000-meter title.
The women's pentathlon saw senior C.J. Smith blow past her previous career-best and earn a point for the Huskies with an eighth-place finish, scoring 3,727 points. That jumps her to No. 4 in school history. Smith had indoor PRs in the 60m hurdles (9.07 seconds), the high jump (5-0 ½) and the long jump (18-1 ½) and she was third overall in the final 800-meters in 2:14.87.
Four of the seven events in the men's heptathlon were completed today, with sophomores Josh Gordon and Cole Jensen sitting fourth and seventh, respectively. Gordon collected several PRs, running 7.01 seconds in the 60-meters, high jumping 6-5, and taking second in the competition with a career-best long jump of 23-11. Taking the long jump mark on its own, it ranks Gordon No. 8 on the indoor top-10 list. Jensen had a shot put PR of 42-3 ¼ and was just shy of his bests in the 60m with a time of 7.11 and the long jump at 21-4 ¼.
The final events on the track were the distance medley relays. Washington's top DMR teams appear safely in the NCAA Indoor field, but the Dawgs still put out a strong effort tonight to score some points. The women ran a group of Amy-Eloise Neale, Carolyn Birkenfeld, Hannah Derby, and Charlotte Prouse, coming in fifth with a time of 11:23.26. The men finished sixth with a time of 9:53.42 to earn three points, running Johnathan Stevens, Andrew Prentice, Derrick Daigre, and Andrew Gardner.
Players Mentioned
