Huskies Score Most Points Ever At NCAA Indoors

Saturday, March 12

Birmingham, AL

All Day

University of Washington

NCAA Indoor Championships

Photo by: Washington Athletics

March 13, 2016 | Track & Field

By: Washington Athletics

NCAA INDOOR CHAMPIONSHIPS
March 11-12 • Birmingham, Ala. • Birmingham CrossPlex

Complete Results

An edited version of the championships will be shown on Sunday, March 13 starting at 4 p.m. Pacific time on ESPN2 and also Wednesday, March 23 starting at 7 p.m. Pacific time on ESPNU.

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – Without question, the Husky track and field program completed the most successful NCAA Indoor Championships in school history today at the Birmingham CrossPlex. Washington backed up a terrific first day with five more podium finishes today. The Husky men's team wound up sixth overall, best in school history, while the women finished 13th for their second-best finish. It's the first time both teams have finished top-20 in the same year, let alone top-15.

After scoring 18 points on day one to sit in second-place, the Huskies added six points from Izaic Yorks and Colby Gilbert in the 3,000-meters to finish with 24 points. That point total was highest in school history, and the team finish bettered the previous best of a seventh-place tie in 2007. Scoring for the women today was Diamara Planell Cruz, who was third in the pole vault, and Kennadi Bouyer in the 60-meters and Eleanor Fulton in the mile, both of who finished eighth. That gave the women 16 points, tying the 1988 team for most in school history. That 1988 squad turned the 16 points into an eighth-place team finish, the only year higher than the 13th-place showing this season.

“Our men and women really operated at a very high level this weekend and I couldn't be more proud of each and every one of them,” said Head Coach Greg Metcalf. “This was clearly the best indoor championships I have been a part of, and every one of our individuals and relays exceeded their ranking or matched it in the case of our men's DMR.

Washington had eight seniors competing this weekend, and they stepped up to the challenge in their last indoor championships. “To watch Jax and Diamara both step up huge in their final indoor meets, and Eleanor Fulton be a two-time First Team All-American in her last meet as a Husky was phenomenal,” said Metcalf. “You have Kennadi Bouyer making history as our first ever women's 60m finalist, and the collective effort of our distance group, Izaic and Colby coming back fired up to score again today for the team. I'm ready to start the outdoor season right now.”

One day after Jax Thoirs won the men's pole vault title, Diamara Planell Cruz put herself in the hunt late for the women's vault championship as well. In her final meet as a Dawg as she does not have outdoor eligibility remaining, Planell Cruz saved her best for last. Her only early drama came at 13-9 ¼, the second bar of the meet, as she missed twice before putting it together to clear. After that, the Puerto Rican record-holder made 14-1 ¼ on her first try, and then tied her own indoor school record with a first attempt make at 14-5 ¼, a bar only three women would make.

Joining Planell Cruz on the runway was junior Elizabeth Quick in her first NCAA meet. Quick had an opening make of 13-5 ¼ and then cleared 13-9 ¼ on her second attempt. On her third try, she wobbled the bar but left it standing at 14-1 ¼, just the second time in her career she's gone over the 14-foot mark. Quick had three good looks at 14-5 ¼ but could not quite get it today, and she had to settle for ninth on the makes and misses tiebreaker, though only five vaulters went higher.

Meanwhile, Planell Cruz kept her momentum going with a fourth-straight make, as she cleared 14-7 ¼ to break her own school record and clear the highest bar a Husky has ever made indoors or outdoors. She held the lead at that point with three vaulters remaining, but Megan Clark of Duke and Alexis Weeks of Arkansas both got over the next bar, 14-9. Planell Cruz had two near misses, the second one just wobbling the bar and it fell with a groan from the crowd. She then passed her third attempt up to 14-11, and again had a strong jump, but just caught the bar on the way over. Weeks would set a meet record making 15-2 ¼.

Planell Cruz

Diamara Planell Cruz cleared the highest bar ever by a Husky today to finish third and earn her fourth All-America honor.

The third-place finish for Planell Cruz was the best of her career, topping last season's fourth-place finish, and it was the best by a Husky at indoors since Kate Soma was second in 2005. Planell Cruz will cap her career as a four-time All-American, two First Team and two Second Team honors.

The final event of the weekend for the Dawgs was the men's 3,000-meters, as Izaic Yorks and Colby Gilbert got back on the track after propelling the Husky distance medley relay to a runner-up finish on Friday night. The pair navigated an initially slow pace with Yorks cruising in the middle and Gilbert content at the back early on. With four laps to go, both had worked their way up into the top-six. A crowded final sprint saw the top nine men finish within three seconds of each other, but when the dust settled, Yorks had come across in fourth-place in 8:02.24. Gilbert had some misfortune as he was blocked by another runner's late stumble, potentially costing him a couple spots, but he still grabbed the eighth spot to get on the podium in 8:02.83.

The fourth-place finish by Yorks is the best ever by a Husky in the 3,000-meters. Yorks and Gilbert each add two First Team All-America honors to their cross country All-America honors from the fall.

The first point of day two came from Fulton, who was racing for a third time in less than 24 hours, after running the mile semi and the 800m leg on the second-place DMR yesterday. In her last collegiate race, Fulton ran along the rail for much of the final towards the middle of the pack. With 400-meters to go, the pack kicked it into high gear and Fulton's group lost a little ground on the leaders. She made a move to try and close but came up just a couple seconds behind a big group of five runners, crossing in eighth-place in a time of 4:40.15.

The eighth-place finish meant Fulton scored a team point for the first time as an individual with the finish, in the final race of her college career, and makes her first Husky to score in the women's mile since Katie Follett was second in 2010. Fulton finishes as a four-time All-American, three First Team honors and one Second Team.

One of the biggest surprises among all finalists at the meet had to be junior Kennadi Bouyer, who went from out of the meet to the 16th and last qualifier after a late scratch, then into the final eight with her school record 7.27 60-meter run yesterday. Bouyer was looking to upset a couple more women today but couldn't quite replicate her form from Friday. She finished eighth in 7.46 seconds to earn a valuable team point and make the podium for the first time in her career. She's the first women's 60-meter dash All-American in Washington history.

Fulton

Eleanor Fulton capped her career with an eighth-place mile finish to earn her first individual team point at NCAAs.

NCAA Indoor Track & Field Championships
Day 2 of 2 – March 12, 2016
Birmingham, Ala. – Birmingham CrossPlex

Men's Standings (Top-25)
1. Oregon 62; 2. Arkansas 39; 3. Tennessee 34; 4. LSU 28; 5. Texas 28; 6. Washington 24; 7. Florida 21; 8. Stanford 18; 8. Virginia 18; 10. Texas A&M 17; 11. Syracuse 16; 12. SE Louisiana 15.5; 13. Purdue 15; 14. North Carolina State 14; 15. Virginia Tech 13.5; 16. Houston 13; 16. Colorado 13; 18. TCU 12; 19. BYU 11.5; 20. Wisconsin 10; 20. Texas Tech 10; 20. Akron 10; 23. Southern Illinois 9.5; 24. Ohio State 9; 24. Georgia 9; 24. Oklahoma State 9.

Women's Standings (Top-25)
1. Oregon 53; 2. Arkansas 50; 3. Georgia 45; 4. Texas 44; 5. Notre Dame 35; 6. Michigan 31; 7. Tennessee 30; 8. Kansas State 26; 9. Georgetown 21; 10. USC 18; 10. Oklahoma State 18; 12. Kentucky 17; 13. Washington 16; 14. LSU 15; 14. Florida 15; 16. Stanford 12; 17. Miami 10; 17. North Carolina State 10; 17. Alabama 10; 17. UC Riverside 10; 21. Tennessee State 9; 21. Kansas 9; 21. Duke 9; 21. Wisconsin 9; 25. Vanderbilt 8; 25. Villanova 8; 25. Louisville 8; 25. Virginia Tech 8; 25. North Dakota State 8.

Husky Results

Men

3,000m Final: 4. Izaic Yorks, 8:02.24; 8. Colby Gilbert 8:02.83.

Women

60m Dash Final: 8. Kennadi Bouyer, 7.46

Mile Final: 8. Eleanor Fulton, 4:40.15

Pole Vault: 3. Diamara Planell Cruz, 14-7 ¼; 9. Elizabeth Quick, 14-1 ¼.

Day One Results

Men

60m Hurdles Semifinal (Heat 1 of 2): 6. Chris Williams, 7.86 (12^th Overall; Does Not Advance)

5,000m Final: 11. Aaron Nelson, 14:00.74.

Distance Medley Relay Final: 2. Gilbert/Spanò/B. Nelson/Yorks, 9:28.00