Gilbert, Quick Cap Indoors With Podium Finishes

Saturday, March 11

College Station, Texas

12:00 PM

University of Washington

NCAA Indoor Championships

March 11, 2017 | Track & Field

Complete Results

By: UW Athletic Communications

COLLEGE STATION, Texas – Junior Colby Gilbert and senior Elizabeth Quick got the Dawgs on the board with top-eight finishes on the final day of the NCAA Indoor Track & Field Championships today. Gilbert bounced back gamely from a disappointing Friday night 5k to finish fifth-place in the men's 3,000-meters today, while Quick soared to seventh in the pole vault, her best ever NCAA finish.

The indoor track season came to a close today at Texas A&M's Gilliam Indoor. Gilbert's four points in the 3k put the UW men tied for 42nd while Quick's 1.5 points from the vault equaled a 55th-place finish for the women.

Junior Amy-Eloise Neale just missed the podium by one spot and a fraction of a second, as she was ninth in the women's mile final today for Second Team All-America honors.

Quick earned First Team All-America honors for the first time to go with two Second Team honors. Gilbert is now a seven-time All-American, three First Team finishes, three Second Teams, and one in cross country.

Coming off the frustrating 5k from Friday, Gilbert showed he was ready to forget about that by going right to the lead in the 3k today and leading the race for several of the early laps. Oregon's Edward Cheserek took the lead about halfway through the race, but Gilbert stayed right with him as the field strung out. Gilbert tired a bit on the final lap, but fought to the finish to come away with fifth-place in 7:59.41.

It's the second year in a row that Gilbert made the podium in the 3k, after he finished eighth in 2016. Only Izaic Yorks' fourth-place finish from a year ago is higher in Husky history.

Competing in her third straight NCAA finals, two indoors and one out, Quick reached the podium for the top-eight finishers for the first time today. She got there thanks to first attempt makes at 13-3 ½ and 13-9 ¼. She was unable to make the next bar, 14-1 ¼, but wound up in a two-way tie for seventh-place with the clean sheet at the first two heights.

Quick is the fourth Husky women's pole vaulter to score at an NCAA Championship since 2012, joining Diamara Planell Cruz, Kristina Owsinski, and Logan Miller.

Neale once again settled into the back of the pack as she had in Friday's semifinal, but about halfway through the race she was about five meters off the rest of the field as it began to string out. But Neale dug in and her second-to-last lap was the second-fastest in the field as she got back into it. Neale came all the way back to close contact with the main pack but only surpassed one runner to finish ninth overall in 4:35.12. She was less than a second away from fourth-place, as four runners ran between 4:34.27 and 4:34.78.

Washington will now take it outside, as the first outdoor meet of the season is just a week away. Next Friday and Saturday, Mar. 17-18, the Huskies will be in Los Angeles for the Trojan Invitational.

NCAA Indoor Championships
Day 2 of 2 – March 11, 2017
College Station, Texas – Gilliam Indoor

Washington Results

Men's 3,000-meters Final: 5. Colby Gilbert, 7:59.41 (All-America First Team)

Women's Mile Final: 9. Amy-Eloise Neale, 4:35.12 (All-America Second Team)
Women's Pole Vault Final: tie-7th. Elizabeth Quick, 13-9 ¼ (All-America First Team)

Day 1 Results
Men's 5,000-meters Final: 15. Colby Gilbert, 14:20.58 (All-America Second Team)
Men's Pole Vault Final: tie-11th. Chase Smith, 17-6 ½ (All-America Second Team)

Women's Mile Semifinal 1 of 2: 2. Amy-Eloise Neale, 4:35.38 (Advances to Saturday final)