University of Washington
NCAA Outdoor Championships
Three Top-10 Finishes For Women Close The Year
June 12, 2016 | Track & Field
NCAA OUTDOOR CHAMPIONSHIPS
Eugene, Ore. - Hayward Field - June 8-11
Complete Results
Day One Recap: Thoirs Takes Fifth, Yorks To Final
Day Two Recap: Three Dawgs Make First NCAA Outdoor Finals
Day Three Recap: Yorks Is NCAA Runner-Up In 1500m Final
EUGENE, Ore. – The 2016 track season reached the finish line today at Oregon's Hayward Field, with the conclusion of the NCAA Women's Track & Field Championships, following the finish of the men's competition on Friday. The Huskies had three women place in the top-10 on the final day, led by the First Team All-America effort of senior school record-holder Baylee Mires, who took eighth in the final 800-meters of her UW career.
Mires was the final Husky competitor of the week, the first Husky woman ever in the NCAA Outdoor 800-meter final. The Spokane native was the eighth seed out of the eight runners, but put herself right in the mix and was running sixth or seventh for most of the race but close behind the leaders in a loaded field. Mires would come across in the eighth spot in the end, running 2:03.92, just .01 seconds off her school record and career-best 2:03.91 she set at the Pac-12 meet.
Mires was able to savor the chance to be in her first individual final as a fifth-year senior, which earned her the fifth All-America honor of her career. “I went out there and I looked at the crowd and I smiled to myself. I'm so appreciative of my time, it was just a blessing to be there,” Mires said. “Maybe I got a little complacent with it, but I really wanted to go in there and try to beat some bodies. I stayed in it and I was competitive but I know there's some more in there. I'm excited as to what this opens up next for me … It was such a blessing to be able to be All-American, so I'm excited.”
Neale had not run competitively in a year and a half when the 2016 indoor season began, yet she found herself on the starting line in the finals at the NCAA Outdoor Championships today, completing a remarkable six month comeback.
As she had in the semis, Neale was in the back for most of the first two laps, surviving some jostling and contact on a few occasions. Neale was 11th going into the final lap, but started driving with 300 meters to go and moved up into 10th and looked to have a few more places to catch down the homestretch, but she ended up finishing right behind a pack of five runners, taking 10th in 4:16.19. Seventh-place was exactly one second faster, and fifth-place was less than 1.5 seconds away.
Amy-Eloise Neale running in the 1,500m finals today, finishing with the second-fastest time of her career in 4:16.19
Freshman Charlotte Prouse was the third top-10 finisher of the day for the Dawgs, running in the steeplechase final to cap an outstanding first collegiate year. Prouse was conservative early, but made a move with a mile to go to climb from 12th in the field up to ninth-place on her own. Prouse spent the last two laps trying to close the gap on the next group of runners to get into the top-eight, but she ran out of real estate and crossed in ninth in 10:00.82, her third time this year between 9:59 and 10:00.
Prouse was the second-highest finishing freshman in the field, and was also the only Pac-12 runner to reach the final, as she earned her first All-America honor on the Second Team.
“It's bittersweet, not exactly what I wanted,” said Prouse. “Ninth-place just is the worst. I didn't realize I was in ninth until about 600 meters to go, and I was trying to get there, but I think I went out a bit too conservatively and that kind of set me up for that.
The Canadian finishes the season already second in school history in the steeple. “Freshman year, I can't complain, other than a broken bone or two (in her wrist), everything has gone great. Just to make it through to here and make the final is still great and I'm excited to see what I can do next year and the years after.”
Charlotte Prouse took ninth in the steeplechase final and was second among all freshmen in the field.
Head Coach Greg Metcalf talked about how close the women were to having a great week in Oregon. “Our women had a number of near misses, but at this level there is so little room for error,” said Metcalf. “Our one senior, Baylee Mires, makes her first NCAA final in her fifth year, and runs 2:03 so it's a great effort and she leaves as a five-time All-American. Charlotte makes a final and she's one spot away from being on the podium. Amy-Eloise gets to the final and she was one second away from being seventh-place today. Liz Quick a couple days ago she's a bar away from being on the podium herself. We return six of these seven women and hopefully can add to the ranks so I think the future is very bright.”
Metcalf also looked back on the season for the men which included top-20 finishes at all three NCAA Championships. "The men, in the grand scheme of thing, they finish 18th, they were eighth in the fall and sixth indoors and I think will end up fourth in the Program of the Year rankings so that is a tremendous year. Izaic Yorks, what more can you say about him? He took a shot and ran with lots of heart and determination and stayed true to himself so to be second was an awesome run. Then Jax Thoirs we'll obviously miss the heck out of him, and he won so many meets for us and had his best outdoor finish this week. Quinn Hale, Aaron Nelson, Tyler King, it wasn't the finishes they wanted but I think they will be proud of all they accomplished at Washington.
"So we lose some great athletes on the men's side, but Coach Licari always finds the next great vaulter and Colby Gilbert will be back next year with a vengeance. He had a phenomenal year and is only a sophomore. Carson Fuller is planning to return, Andrew Gardner and Blake Nelson got their first taste of nationals so we'll look forward to being back here a year from now to see some new faces try and make that podium."
Washington Track & Field
NCAA Outdoor Championships
Day 4 of 4 – June 11, 2016
Eugene, Ore. – Hayward Field
Women's Results
800m Final: 8. Baylee Mires, 2:03.92
1,500m Final: 10. Amy-Eloise Neale, 4:16.19
3,000m Steeplechase Final: 9. Charlotte Prouse, 10:00.82
Players Mentioned
