Seven Podium Finishes For Dawgs As Pac-12s Wrap

Sunday, May 14

Eugene, Ore.

12:45 PM

University of Washington

Pac-12 Championships

May 14, 2017 | Track & Field

Complete Results

By: UW Athletic Communications

EUGENE, Ore. – A fourth-straight title in the women's pole vault was one of seven podium finishes for the Husky track and field teams today as the Pac-12 Championships came to a close at Hayward Field. The Husky women's team finished fourth overall, tying its best finish ever at the conference meet.

The women's squad scored 72 points for fourth, just six points behind Colorado which had 78 points to place third. Oregon won the women's title with 189 and USC was second with 135. The women have now placed fourth on five occasions, including last season, and also in 1998, 1996, and 1995.

Five of the seven podium finishes today came on the women's side, led by Elizabeth Quick's pole vault title, while her fellow senior Kristina Owsinski was second in the vault. UW had two outstanding runner-up finishes in the throws, as junior Onyie Chibuogwu broke her own school record to take second in the hammer throw, and junior Gina Flint threw a discus career-best to take second less than a month after her season began. Amy-Eloise Neale also came back from a painful fall in the 1,500-meters final to return to take second in the 5,000-meters, edged out by just .02 seconds.

The Husky men's squad was seventh with 61 points as Oregon won that battle as well to sweep the team titles. The men had two third-place finishes today, with Casey Burns making the podium for the second time in his career in the triple jump, and the 4x400m relay taking third for the second time in three years.

In addition to the podium finishers, nine more Dawgs scored today along with the men's 4x100m relay. Of the nine scorers, seven scored for the first time as individuals at the Pac-12 Championships.

"To come in her and have our women battle for fourth place to tie our best finish ever, there were some definite highlights," said Husky Head Coach Greg Metcalf. "Onyie Chibuogwu starts us off by crushing her school record to get second-place. Then Amy-Eloise Neale to watch her fall down and get back up and still finish sixth was nothing short of miraculous. Then she bandages her wounds and comes back and just gets outleaned at 5,000-meters. Gina Flint, to do what she's done in the last month and this weekend is a testament to the wonderful woman that she is. Then to have Liz and Kristina go 1-2 in the vault was an awesome end to their Pac-12 careers."

The men were missing some pieces this weekend and only projected to score in the 40s on the form chart, so Metcalf was encouraged by their efforts to get 61 on the board. "Carson Fuller winning yesterday was definitely one of the big thrills of our entire year. We had a lot of new faces in some finals scoring points today. Jacopo Spanò had his best weekend as a Husky. The men's 4x4 to go finish third and run a season's-best, I thought those guys competed really well. All in all I was very proud of our men and women this weekend, so we'll take the bus home and take some time to recover and get ready for Austin, Texas."

Quick became the first Husky ever to win multiple Pac-12 titles in the pole vault as she successfully defended her 2016 crown. As expected, the biggest competition came from Owsinski, the 2015 champion. California's Lauren Martinez led for much of the competition with fewer misses at the lower bars, but eventually Quick made 13-8 ¼ on her first attempt, Owsinski cleared it on her second try, and Martinez failed to make that height, leaving the two Huskies alone at the top.

The two both passed up to 14-0 to attempt a bar they will likely need to place high at NCAAs, but neither got a clearance today, as Quick clinched the win due to her first attempt make at the last bar attempted. It's the third straight year that the Huskies have gone at least 1-2 in the women's pole vault; in 2015 they went 1-2-3. Kaitlin Zinsli, the 2016 runner-up, placed fifth today and cleared a new PR in the process, as she made 13-2 ¼ on her first attempt. Freshman Annika Dayton was also 11th at 12-4 ½ and Tori Franzen tied for 14th at 11-10 ½.

Washington's fourth-straight pole vault title is the longest streak in Pac-12 history in that event. "Like all of these competitions it all comes down to attempts," said Quick. "I made a lot on my second try, then towards the end I figured out some things and started making on my first. I think I competed well and it was really fun to go head-to-head with Kristina. We're just excited to be back here in four weeks (for NCAAs). I'm just really glad that I was here for four years and was able to place on the podium all four years."

Quick finished third as a freshman and sophomore, then first the past two years. Owsinski was third as a redshirt freshman in 2013, then first in 2015, and second this year as she returned for a sixth season following an Achilles tendon tear during the 2016 indoor season.

"I'm really glad Kristina was back this year," said Quick. "She was the one who took me in on my recruiting visit, so she's always been my motivator and we push each other to be better. I know she tore her Achilles but I just say she wanted to be here for my fourth year."

Flint's finish was definitely the feel-good story of a day that had plenty to choose from. Knee issues have plagued Flint's promising career over the past two years, and she went nearly a year between competitions, throwing at last year's Pac-12 meet but not again until the UW-WSU Dual meet just back on Apr. 23, where she returned with wins in the shot put and discus. Yesterday Flint threw a career-best in the shot put of 50-7 ½ to take seventh, but today she shattered expectations by flying the discus a career-best 170-6 on her second attempt. That put her into second at the time and would hold up through the rest of the competition.

"I had not thrown a discus for about a year when I started coming back," said Flint, who moved up to sixth on the UW top-10 list in the discus. "I didn't think my form was going to be as good as it actually was, so that was exciting. As far as staying in shape I wasn't really cleared to do anything so I did a lot of upper-body workouts and biking, which was so much fun!" she said with a laugh.

It was the highest finish by a Husky in the women's discus since Cecilia Barnes was second in 1999. Flint said, "I wasn't even sure if I was going to compete this season. The doctors weren't sure if I would even throw again ever, so just being here is kind of surreal."

Chibuogwu got the ball rolling for the Dawgs early in the day in the hammer throw, as she became the first Husky woman ever to surpass the 200-foot mark, going 201-6 on her second attempt. That broke her own school record by over two feet and it held up for second-place. It's the best finish by a Dawg in the women's hammer since Soozie Shanley won the inaugural Pac-12 hammer throw in 1996, with a mark of just 157-10 that would have placed 16th today.

Sunday was not the day Amy-Eloise Neale envisioned as she looked to win her first Pac-12 title or titles on the track. In the finals of a very talented 1,500-meter race, Neale started to get squeezed on the homestretch right before the final lap. Trying to find some room to maneuver, Neale was tripped and fell hard to the track. Rather than give in and just turn her attention to the 5,000-meters later in the day, Neale went all out around the final lap, passing five runners to get back up to sixth at the finish and earn three points.

After bandaging up some abrasions from the fall, Neale chose to race again in the 5k late in the meet. She led a big group into the final lap and made a last push into the lead down the homestretch with Colorado's Dani Jones, the NCAA indoor 3k champion, going with her. Jones moved ahead on the outside, and Neale made one last push to catch her, and when the times came up, Jones had got it in 16:12.76 to Neale's 16:12.78.

"Obviously that wasn't in the race plan exactly," said Neale on her fall. "It was kind of a slow race and tactical and that happens, nobody maliciously tries to trip you, it was bad luck but definitely frustrating. So I finished that and said 'Okay, I'm definitely going to run 5k' and try and make up some points somehow. (In the 5k) I just tried to hang with the top of the pack and close hard and finish the day on a positive note."

Two years ago, Casey Burns had a stunning second-place finish in the triple jump, PR'ing by nearly three feet. This season he was a favorite for a podium spot, and he delivered with a solid series of jumps, going 50-6 on his first attempt to lead for two rounds. He had a best of 50-9 ½ on his sixth attempt, finishing up in third-place for six points.

The final Huskies on the podium were the men's 4x400-meter relay, led off by Lucas Strong, who passed to Jacopo Spanò, then Michael Thomas, and Ryan Croson. The quartet finished in a season-best 3:08.42 for third.

Fifth-year senior Blake Nelson was the first individual to score on the track today, and he earned the first Pac-12 points of his career as well, taking seventh in a sit-and-kick 1,500m final in 3:56.48.

Junior Eric Simpson scored for the second straight year in the 110m hurdles, getting sixth after coming in ranked 11th, with a time of 14.50 in the finals.

Junior Michael Thomas followed up a PR on Saturday with another by PR by four-tenths of a second in his first Pac-12 final. He finished the 400-meters in 47.58 seconds to take seventh and earn two points for the cause.

In the women's 100-meter dash final, senior Kennadi Bouyer earned her best Pac-12 finish as she crossed in 11.59 seconds. That was the best finish by a Husky in the 100-meter dash finals since Ashley Lodree was fourth in 2007.

Two more first-time finalists were next in the men's and women's 800-meters. Redshirt freshman Connor Morello fought for a sixth-place finish in 1:50.40 and in the women's race, sophomore Hannah Derby finished seventh in 2:08.50.

Redshirt freshman Darhian Mills had one of the toughest fields to face in the 400-meter hurdles, but pulled a new PR out of the fire and placed fourth in her first Pac-12 final in 58.77 seconds. With two seniors in the top-three, Mills will be a big podium threat in 2018.

Junior Jacopo Spanò was in his second Pac-12 final but got into the points for the first time after placing ninth as a freshman. Spanò broke the 21-second mark for the second time in his life and first time in college, going 20.97 for sixth-place, though it came slightly wind-aided at +2.8. Spanò still raised his arms happily to see the time under his old best of 20.98 set at the World Junior Championships at the same track in 2014.

While Neale challenged for the win in the 5k, the Dawgs also got a strong run from Izzi Batt-Doyle, doubling back from her fourth-place effort in the 10k last night to take 10th in the 5k in 16:21.96. Freshman Kaitlyn Neal was also 13th in 16:29.91 and Katie Knight was 17th and Emily Hamlin finished 22nd. On the men's side, Johnathan Stevens finished 16th in the men's 5k and Charlie Barringer was 22nd.

After the men reached the podium on the men's side, the Husky women's 4x4 also ran well, coming in fourth-place in a time of 3:40.94. Whitney Diggs, Imani Apostol, Darhian Mills, and Laura Anuakpado combined for the best finish for the women in 4x4 since 2000.

The first track events of the day did not go as planned for the Dawgs as both 4x100m relays had some trouble with exchanges. The men lost some momentum on one hand-off but still got the stick around to finish sixth in 40.93, but the women's group missed their second exchange and were unable to finish.

The men's discus started things off today, with Dan Boyden and Jose Padilla in the first flight. Boyden finished his final Pac-12 meet with a best of 158-5 to place 12th overall. Padilla essentially had three fouls, though two of them hit the net and stayed in the sector so they were measured at 91-5 for 17th-place.

Washington will now await the final fields of 48 for the NCAA West Preliminaries, then take its group of qualifiers to Austin, Texas on May 25-27 where the goal will be a top-12 finish for all Dawgs and a ticket to NCAA Outdoors.