Pac-12 Track Takes Dawgs To Oregon

Saturday, May 13

Eugene, Ore.

11:35 AM

University of Washington

Pac-12 Championships

May 11, 2017 | Track & Field

Pac-12 Championships Central Pac-12 Entries Meet Notes

By: UW Athletic Communications

PAC-12 CHAMPIONSHIPS
May 13-14 • Eugene, Ore. • Hayward Field

SEATTLE - The Pac-12 Championships, one of the most stories track meets in the world, is set for this weekend at Oregon's Hayward Field. Washington will challenge the West Coast's best this Saturday and Sunday, May 13-14, with the final day of competition being broadcast live for the first time by the Pac-12 Network.

The Huskies have selected 28 men and 28 women to challenge for conference supremacy this weekend, which kicks off the championship portion of the track calendar. Two weeks after the Pac-12 meet will be NCAA West Prelims in Austin, Texas, followed by the NCAA Outdoor Championships back in Eugene from June 7-10.

SCHEDULE: Saturday features 9 field event finals and 4 track finals; Sunday features 7 field event finals and 20 track finals. Saturday starts with the men's hammer at 11:35 a.m., then the next field event gets going at 1:25 and the first track race, the 4x100m relay prelims, goes at 1:30 p.m. Track finals Saturday include the steeplechases, which go at 4:30 p.m., and the 10,000-meter runs, which close out the day at 6:10 (men) and 6:50 (women). On Sunday, the women's hammer is at 1 p.m., with the next event going at 1:20 and the first track race starting at 3 p.m., with all races on Sunday being finals.

TELEVISION: For the first time in history, the final day of the Pac-12 Track & Field Championships will be broadcast live. Coverage of the event will air on Sunday, May 14 starting at 3 p.m. PT/4 p.m. MT across Pac-12 Network, all regional channels and Pac-12 Now. Paul Sunderland, Tom Feuer, Jordan Kent and Jill Savage will cover the action.

UW PAC-12 HISTORY: This is the 58th installment of the Pac-12 Championships on the men's side, and the 31st women's championship. The very first men's meet was held in Seattle, in 1960, when the conference was called the Athletic Association of Western Universities. The Husky men's team has finished in the upper half of the conference for the past five years. Last year, the Huskies used the home track advantage in a big way, as the Husky men finished as the Pac-12 runners-up for just the second time in school history, the only other time coming in 1976 when the conference was the Pac-8. The men crushed the program's all-time points mark, scoring 122 points, the first time UW ever scored over 100 at the conference meet.The men's squad was also third in 2015 and fifth from 2012-14.

On the women's side, on the purple track last year the Huskies placed fourth, also tying the best finish in school history, done previously in 1998, 1996, and 1995. The 82 points scored by the women was second-most ever after the 1998 squad which scored 94. The men and women combined for six individual Pac-12 titles last year, matching the all-time program record.

The Husky men have won at least one individual Pac-12 title for 12 years in a row, and 16 of the past 17 years. Last season, Jax Thoirs (Pole Vault) earned his third straight Pac-12 win, while Izaic Yorks became the first Husky man to win back-to-back 1,500-meters titles, while Colby Gilbert won the first Pac-12 5k title in school history. Aaron Nelson won his second Pac-12 steeplechase title in his senior season. The women got victories from Elizabeth Quick in the pole vault, the third different Husky to win that event in three years, and Katie Knight, who broke the Pac-12 Meet Record in the 10,000-meters.

WOMEN'S ENTRIES: Senior Kennadi Bouyer leads the way for the Dawgs in the sprints as she looks to make her second straight final in the 100-meter dash. Bouyer and redshirt freshman Sarah Stavig will focus on the 100-meters, and junior Cydnicia Wade will run at 200-meters.

Four Huskies will take on a loaded women's 400-meter field led by senior Laura Anuakpado, who ranks No. 2in UW history with her 53.72 season-best, but that only seeds her eighth coming into the championships. Imani Apostol, Carolyn Birkenfeld, and Whitney Diggs will all run the quarter-mile as well.

In the hurdles, redshirt freshman Darhian Mills will look to continue her great season by earning a spot in the 400-meter hurdles final, where she comes in ranked fourth in the field with her best of 58.84. Sophomore Carly Lester will also run the 400m hurdles, and is seeded 10th overall. Mills will also race the 100m hurdles, looking to break 14 seconds for the first time.

The Husky women's relays are seeded 5th (4x1) and 3rd (4x4) coming into the meet. The women's 4x4 broke the school record at the Mt. SAC Relays this season with a time of 3:36.50.

Washington will look to score big in the distance events, led by junior Amy-Eloise Neale, who has the top time in the conference at both 1,500-meters and 5,000-meters. At 800-meters, sophomore Hannah Derby finds herself seeded second after some scratches in the event, coming off her big PR of 2:04.79 two weeks back. Josephine Bosserman will also run at her first Pac-12 Championships in the 1,500m.

Saturday night will feature the 10k final, won last season by senior Katie Knight. While Knight will not run the 10k, she will be in the 5k on Sunday, but running the full 25 laps on Saturday will be senior Kaylee Flanagan, sixth last year, and junior Izzi Batt-Doyle, stepping up to the distance for the first time. In the 5k, along with Neale and Knight, Batt-Doyle and Flanagan could also double back from the 10k, as may Bosserman. Sophomore Emily Hamlin and freshman Kaitlyn Neal will be fresh, with the 5k as their only event.

Huskies have won the last three Pac-12 women's pole vault titles: Diamara Planell Cruz in 2014, Kristina Owsinski in 2015, and Elizabeth Quick in 2016. The Dawgs also went 1-2-3 in 2015 and 1-2 last year, with Kaitlin Zinsli taking second-place. Owsinski, Quick, and Zinsli are all back to try and put up more big points along with Tori Franzen and Annika Dayton. Owsinski and Quick are tied for the Pac-12 lead with their 14-3 1/2 season-bests.

Bouyer will look to score again in the long jump, where she was fifth-place two years ago with her career-best mark. Senior Kate Adler will also make her second career Pac-12 appearance.

Junior Gina Flint's return has given the Dawgs a nice late season lift in the throws. She is now seeded fourth in the Pac-12 in the discus coming off a big season-best of 167-9 last week at the Ken Shannon. Flint is also 10th in the shot put at 49-5, while freshman Angel Nkwonta is 11th at 48-10 1/4. Flint's best Pac-12 finish in any event was seventh in the discus in 2015.

Junior Onyie Chibuogwu was fifth in the hammer at Pac-12s a year ago and comes in ranked fourth this season with her school record toss of 198-11. Freshman Emmy Engle and sophomore Katherine Taylor will round out the throws roster in the javelin, with Engle coming in seeded 12th overall.

MEN'S ENTRIES: Several Husky sprinters are just on the outside looking in of the final spots based on season-bests, and will be looking to pull a few upsets and break into Sunday's finals. In the 100-meters, senior Lucas Strong comes in seeded 10th, with freshman Khalil Winfrey 12th and redshirt freshman Jordan Lucas 21st. Junior Jacopo Spano, a finalist two years ago, is 12th coming in in the 200-meters field. In the 400-meters, sophomore Ryan Croson will look to score for the second straight year as he was eighth as a freshman. He comes in ranked 10th at 47.54 seconds. Junior Michael Thomas will also run the open 400m.

In the hurdles, junior Eric Simpson, a finalist a year ago, comes in seeded 11th in the 110m hurdles. Junior Josh Gordon has only recently given much focus to the 400-meter hurdles, but hs ran a big PR of 52.87 seconds two weeks ago that has him thinking of a potential spot in the finals as well.

The Husky 4x100m relay with a season-best of 40.41 seconds is ranked sixth coming in and the 4x400m ranks fifth with a best this year of 3:08.45.

At 800-meters, the Huskies have two men ranked in the top-nine going in, with redshirt freshman Connor Morello fifth at 1:50.24 and senior Mason Fletcher ninth at 1:50.79, both looking for their first finals. Senior Blake Nelson is seeded eighth at 1,500-meters with a season-best of 3:43.89, and Johnathan Stevens is 12th going in at 3:45.99.

In the 5,000-meters, the Huskies will be without defending champion Colby Gilbert, who will have to miss the meet due to an injury. Sophomore Mahmoud Moussa will aim for his best Pac-12 finish, as he enters ranked 14th. Redshirt freshmen Charlie Barringer and Julius Diehr are also entered in the 5k, as is Stevens. On Saturday, a day before the 5k, Moussa is slated to run his first 10k, and Diehr will be going in the steeplechase.

There will be a new Pac-12 Champion in the men's pole vault for the first time since 2013, as Husky Jax Thoirs took the past three titles. But Washington has six of the 13 total entries in the vault this year, with Lev Marcus, Chase Smith, Zach Shugart, and Blaise Black all having cleared 17-feet this season. Smith, the MPSF Champion indoors, is scheduled to compete for the first time since early April. Freshman Jacob Bowler is also making the trip for the vault, and decathlete Cole Jensen will also look to add some more team points to the pair he scored in the decathlon this past weekend. Jensen will also be UW's lone high jumper.

A very deep long jump field will challenge the newest Husky track athlete, football standout Dante Pettis. Pettis has jumped over 24-feet in his two meets since spring football ended, but he remains seeded 10th heading into Pac-12s. Josh Gordon also comes in seeded 12th. Junior Casey Burns, the Pac-12 runner-up in 2015, looks to score big points again for the Dawgs in the triple jump, where he comes in ranked second behind USC's Eric Sloan.

The men's throws are deep across the board in the conference. Senior Carson Fuller finished fourth in the javelin at the 2014 and 2016 Pac-12 meets, and he comes in ranked sixth with a best of 222-10, having competed just twice this seaosn. Sophomore Denham Patricelli is eighth coming in with his PR of 220-4. Last season, Carey Campbell was one of the biggest surprises that got the Huskies going early in the meet as he finished fourth in the hammer. He'll aim to toss a PR and get on the board again this weekend. Freshman Jose Padilla will take on both the shot put and discus at his first Pac-12 meet, while senior Dan Boyden competes in his third career conference meet in the discus.