Classic Relay Comeback Seals Sweep Of Cougars

Sunday, April 23

Seattle, Wash.

10:00 AM

University of Washington

UW-WSU Dual

April 23, 2017 | Track & Field

Complete Results PDF WATCH: Pac-12 Meet Recap WATCH: Coach Metcalf On The Wins Full Gallery

By: UW Athletic Communications

SEATTLE – The dream dual meet scenario became a reality this evening at Husky Track, as the 98th installment of the UW-WSU Dual all came down to the final race, the 4x400-meter relay, to settle the men's battle. The Cougars opened up a big lead, but in a finish that will go down as one of the best in over a hundred years of the rivalry, the Huskies overtook the Cougar squad with a big third leg from Michael Thomas and Ryan Croson held off the WSU challenge on the last lap to secure the Washington dual meet sweep.

Washington's women's team had already locked up a decisive victory but the men's teams were dead even at 79 points apiece going into the relay. Through two legs, the Cougars held a large lead, but Thomas erased the gap on leg three and passed to Croson who had already won the open 400-meters earlier so he was feeling confident. Croson never looked back and sealed the win, with the entire Husky track team running up and down the straightaways and side to side across the infield during the race, finally celebrating the Dual sweep together at the finish line.

"That was what college athletics is all about," said Head Coach Greg Metcalf. "We had to win the 4x4 to win the meet. Every kid on our team knew it. We had some guys that were cramping but we drug a couple guys on the track. (Lucas Strong and Jacopo Spanò) kept us close, Michael Thomas ran incredible and gave Ryan Croson a shot with a lap to go, and he delivered the goods. That's the way a track meet is supposed to end."

Final tallies were 84-79 on the men's side and a 96-66 win for the Husky women's team. It's the third year in a row that the Huskies have swept both men's and women's dual titles, the longest streak for UW in history since the women joined the fun in 1979. The UW men have also now beaten their rivals five years in a row, the longest streak for the Dawgs since 11 in a row from 1915-32.

The women won 13 of the 19 events today while the men were winners in 11 out of 19. The Huskies won all four of the relays, a 10-0 point swing on both sides. Washington had top-three sweeps in the women's 1,500-meters, the men's pole vault, and the men's long jump, led by Dante Pettis in just his second collegiate track appearance.

Multiple individual winners today included Laura Anuakpado (200m, 400m), Colby Gilbert (1,500m and 3,000m), and Gina Flint, who had not competed all season but made an instant impact by winning the shot put and the discus, the third year in a row Flint has swept those two events in the Dual.

Women's Breakdown
The first event and first win of the day for the Dawgs came via Onyie Chibuogwu spinning and launching the hammer. Chibuogwu, the new school record-holder, had a throw of 193-1 and then another of 193-2 which would be the winning mark. Freshman Angel Nkwonta had a new season-best of 151-3 in fourth. A javelin throw of 136-2 from freshman Emmy Engle earned the Dawgs a point in that early event.

In the first track even of the day, Izzi Batt-Doyle was very impressive as she broke from a pack of four Huskies and won by five seconds in 9:25.89, just two seconds off the meet record. Freshman Kaitlyn Neal was third in 9:31.45. Grace Hodge also scored a point with a third-place finish in the steeplechase in 11:06.06.

Amy-Eloise Neale led a UW sweep of the top-five places in the women's 1,500-meters. She won by nearly seven full seconds in 4:24.79, with Emily Hamlin and Katie Knight taking second and third in 4:31.67 and 4:31.70. Neale doubled back later in the day and was second in the 800-meters, with sophomore Hannah Derby controlling that race from beginning to end and running a strong time of 2:07.89 considering the wet, cold conditions.

In the sprints, senior Laura Anuakpado had a huge day in her first and only Dual Meet. She dominated the 400-meters with a new outdoor PR of 53.72 seconds. Later it was Anuakpado who officially clinched the win for the women as she won the 200-meters in 25.04 seconds into a headwind. For good measure, Anuakpado anchored the 4x400m relay to a win in 3:47.68, with Whitney Diggs, Carolyn Birkenfeld, and Derby on the first three legs. Diggs also took second in the 400-meters in a season-best 55.55.

Redshirt freshman Darhian Mills had a key early win in the 100-meter hurdles, racing to a new PR of 14.08 seconds. Carly Lester also had a PR of 14.81 in fourth. Mills and Lester went 2-3 in the 400m hurdles as well, Mills running 1:00.72 and Lester 1:02.76.

The women's 4x100-meter relay got the ball rolling on UW's relay success as the group of Sarah Stavig, Cydnicia Wade, Imani Apostol, and Kennadi Bouyer smoothly passed the baton and crossed in 45.51 seconds for the win.

Bouyer long jumped for the first time this outdoor season and found her rhythm in no time. She came right out with a 19-0 ¾ jump on her first attempt, then bettered that on her third, going 19-4 despite jumping into a -0.9 headwind. That was enough to secure the win and she passed her final three. Meanwhile senior Kate Adler had her best meet of the year with three separate jumps of 18-5. Her best was 18-5 ¾ which was good for second-place.

Of all the events most adversely affected by the weather, the pole vault suffered the most, but the vaulters fought through it. Kristina Owsinski got one final Dual Meet victory, clearing 13-1 ¾ and then calling it a day. Elizabeth Quick was third at 12-11 ¾.

Flint's return lifted the Husky throws group. She is now 6-for-6 in Dual Meet shot and discus competitions. Her shot put best was 48-3 ¼ while freshman Angel Nkwonta picked up three points in second-place with her best of 45-8 ½. In the discus, Flint won at 148-11 while Chibuogwu had a season-best 144-0 for second.

Men's Breakdown

There was early drama in the men's hammer, as junior Carey Campbell moved from fourth-place to second with a season-best 192-1 in the fifth round, though he would be passed by one Cougar and wind up third to pick up a point.

The Dawgs answered right back with an 8-1 showing in the javelin as senior All-American Carson Fuller stepped up with a big opening throw of 217-feet, and then bettered that in round three going 222-10. Sophomore Denham Patricelli then had one of the biggest PRs of the day in any event, as he hit for 220-feet, 4-inches on his fifth attempt, nearly an eight-foot career-best, to finish second to Fuller.

A big three points early on came from redshirt freshman Julius Diehr, who ran the steeplechase for the first time in his career and took second-place in an event where UW was not expected to score. Diehr ran 9:14.40 in his first steeple.

All-American Colby Gilbert was asked to produce some big points for the second year in a row and Gilbert came through, first winning the 1,500-meters in 3:49.34 and coming back late in the meet to get a much-needed 3k victory in 8:17.70. Johnathan Stevens was third in the 1,500-meters in 3:51.35 and Mahmoud Moussa earned a third-place point in the 3k in 8:21.27.

Connor Morello had one of the most thrilling wins of the day in the men's 800-meters. After some bumps and stumbles knocked out a pair of his teammates, Morello was suddenly outnumbered up front by three Cougars. He was able to close down a five meter gap on WSU's Matthew Swanson and pass on the homestretch for a huge win in 1:52.12, letting out a ton of emotion and holding up the 'W'.

Prior to his memorable final relay carry, Ryan Croson got 5 points in the 400-meters with a win in 48.26 seconds in the rain. Michael Thomas was third in 49.12. Freshman Khalil Winfrey also earned second-place points in the 100-meters in 10.78 into a headwind.

Washington's final relay win wouldn't have mattered much if not for their 4x100m relay win early in the meet. The Cougars had a faster seed time coming in but the quartet of Jordan Lucas, Lucas Strong, Winfrey, and Jacopo Spanò ran the top 4x1 time by the Dawgs this season going 40.41 to win by a quarter of a second.

At one point in the meet, the Cougars had opened up a 20 point lead on the Dawgs, but UW was able to climb back into it thanks in part to a sweep in the long jump led by Dante Pettis, who last jumped in the outdoor opener at USC. Pettis had a third attempt leap of 24-1 ¾ despite going into a -1.5 headwind and got the first win of his college track career. Junior Josh Gordon also had a big season-best jump of 23-11 for second-place, also into the wind, and fellow multi-eventer Cole Jensen went 22-5 ¾ for a new long jump career-best and a third-place point.

The Dawgs were looking for another sweep in the pole vault, and got it despite the rain causing several delays. Four Huskies made 15-5, with the remaining two WSU vaulters going out at that bar. Lev Marcus and Zach Shugart tied for the win, and Jacob Bowler and Blaise Black tied for third, with all four stopping after the Huskies had clinched the sweep.

But the final event where the Dawgs put themselves back in position to win was perhaps the most crucial. In the men's discus, through the first three rounds, the Cougars were sitting in first and second. On his first attempt of the final, freshman Jose Padilla jumped into first-place at 155-6. Then Dan Boyden, competing in his final Dual Meet, had a clutch sixth and final throw of 154-10 to go from fourth-place to second. That made for a 14 point swing from round three to the end of the event, and Boyden's one throw also meant a six-point swing, or essentially a final score of 84-79 for UW instead of 81-82 for WSU.

Padilla and Campbell would also go 2-3 in the men's shot put for another much-needed four points. Padilla threw 56-feet even, just two inches off his season-best, while Campbell had the best shot put mark of his career, going 53-3 ½ to take third.

Last but not least, the final points that the Huskies needed to put themselves in position for the relay to matter were provided by junior Casey Burns in the triple jump. Burns basically put the even out of reach on his first try, going 50-0 ½ on his first and then going 50-1 ¾ on his second attempt, and passing his remaining four chances with the wind in hand.