Friday, May 26
Austin, Texas
10:00 AM
University of Washington
at
NCAA West Regionals
Record-Breaking 400m Gets Anuakpado To NCAAs
May 26, 2017 | Track & Field
AUSTIN, Texas – The Huskies added one more to the bus to Eugene this evening, as Laura Anuakpado ran the best lap of her career to break the Washington school record and earn her first NCAA Outdoor appearance. The 53.00 400-meter dash from the senior transfer was the big highlight for UW on day two of the NCAA West Prelims, hosted by Texas at Mike A. Myers Stadium.
The NCAA West Preliminary Championships will conclude on Saturday as athletes fight for top-12 finishes that will equate to a spot in Eugene, Ore. June 7-10 for the final rounds of the championships. The Dawgs now have four final site qualifiers, all on the women's side.
Washington will wrap things up on Saturday with Casey Burns in the men's triple jump, Amy-Eloise Neale in the 1,500m quarterfinals, then Neale, Emily Hamlin, Katie Knight, and Kaitlyn Neal in the 5k, and finally both Husky 4x400-meter relays. Burns will go at 11 a.m. Pacific time and all the track events begin at 2:30 p.m. Pacific.
The first big surprise of the weekend for the Dawgs came from Anuakpado, who came into this meet ranked just 32nd in the West but walked out today with the coveted 12th spot to earn her first NCAA Championships appearance in what could have been her final individual run.
Anuakpado, in her first and only season as a Husky, had set the UW indoor 400-meters record at 53.34 seconds, but during the outdoor season her best thus far was just 53.72. But Anuakpado said she had been working with assistant coach Eric Metcalf on being more aggressive early in the race and not thinking twice if she made up the stagger and passed runners to her outside lanes.
"I needed to be more aggressive," said Anuakpado. "Coach Metcalf told me how to be strong during the race, and I have to be comfortable with passing people, and be okay with that, so if I pass (lane nine) it's okay just keep going and that's what I did."
Today that only meant passing one runner, as Anuakpado was in lane eight of nine, but she went out aggressive as planned. Around the final turn, Anuakpado dug down to make a final push. She would take fifth in her heat, missing the top-three auto spots, but when her time popped up at 53.00 it meant she had secured the last of the three time qualifiers, and also had broken Jordan Carlson's 2012 school record by .03 seconds.
"I just trusted (Coach Eric Metcalf), I trusted the strategy and trusted my training," she said. "I just tried to give it my all. I wasn't sure if this was going to be my last one so I wanted to finish strong and just beat lane nine. I'm really grateful and blessed to be here and happy to keep moving forward. I'm just grateful to God that I made it to the finish line! I feel like I'm dreaming right now, I don't feel like this is real."
The Huskies had four men's vaulters in action to start the day. Freshman Zach Shugart was first up, getting a clearance at the opening height of 15-11 before going out. Blaise Black and Lev Marcus each made 16-4 ¾ and then cleared 16-10 ¾ for two of their best marks of the season, but they weren't able to continue on over 17-2 ¾ which would have been season's-bests. Sophomore Chase Smith did clear 17-2 ¾, a new outdoor PR, and did so on his third and final attempt. The indoor All-American would need one more bar to make top-12, however, and he did not clear 17-6 ½ today. Still, it was a strong season-ending effort for Smith, who had his outdoor season interrupted by an appendectomy, missing nearly a month.
Two more Dawgs had quarterfinal chances today on the track, but were unable to break into the top-12. Redshirt freshman Darhian Mills was fifth in her 400-meter hurdles heat in 59.33 seconds, finishing 18th overall, capping off her great season that saw her take fourth at the Pac-12 meet and make Prelims in her first chance. Sophomore Hannah Derby also had her strong season reach its end, as she was eighth in her 800-meter quarterfinal in 2:09.42, 19th-place overall.
The last Husky on the track tonight was junior Jacopo Spanò in the 200-meters, coming off his breakthrough Pac-12 finals appearance two weeks ago. Spanò matched his collegiate best in his heat, running 21.05 seconds, but would fall less than a tenth of a second shy of advancing to the quarters. Still, Spanò finished 28th overall after coming in seeded 45th.
Junior Gina Flint made her second NCAA Prelims appearance in the discus today, but she struggled with her form today, and had three fouls. Flint will have another shot in the shot on Saturday.
Washington Track & Field
NCAA West Preliminary Championships
Day 2 of 3 – May 26, 2017
Austin, Texas – Mike A. Myers Stadium
Men's Results
200m (1st round; heat 2 of 6): 6. Jacopo Spanò, 21.05.
Pole Vault: 15 (tie). Chase Smith, 17-2 ¾; 25 (tie). Blaise Black, 16-10 ¾; 27. Lev Marcus, 16-10 ¾; 40 (tie). Zach Shugart, 15-11.
Women's Results
400m (Quarterfinal; heat 3 of 3): 5. Laura Anuakpado, 53.00 (12th overall; Advances To Eugene).
800m (Quarterfinal; heat 3 of 3): 8. Hannah Derby, 2:09.42
Hurdles (Quarterfinal; heat 2 of 3): 5. Darhian Mills, 59.33
Discus: -- Gina Flint, Foul
The NCAA West Preliminary Championships will conclude on Saturday as athletes fight for top-12 finishes that will equate to a spot in Eugene, Ore. June 7-10 for the final rounds of the championships. The Dawgs now have four final site qualifiers, all on the women's side.
Washington will wrap things up on Saturday with Casey Burns in the men's triple jump, Amy-Eloise Neale in the 1,500m quarterfinals, then Neale, Emily Hamlin, Katie Knight, and Kaitlyn Neal in the 5k, and finally both Husky 4x400-meter relays. Burns will go at 11 a.m. Pacific time and all the track events begin at 2:30 p.m. Pacific.
The first big surprise of the weekend for the Dawgs came from Anuakpado, who came into this meet ranked just 32nd in the West but walked out today with the coveted 12th spot to earn her first NCAA Championships appearance in what could have been her final individual run.
Anuakpado, in her first and only season as a Husky, had set the UW indoor 400-meters record at 53.34 seconds, but during the outdoor season her best thus far was just 53.72. But Anuakpado said she had been working with assistant coach Eric Metcalf on being more aggressive early in the race and not thinking twice if she made up the stagger and passed runners to her outside lanes.
"I needed to be more aggressive," said Anuakpado. "Coach Metcalf told me how to be strong during the race, and I have to be comfortable with passing people, and be okay with that, so if I pass (lane nine) it's okay just keep going and that's what I did."
Today that only meant passing one runner, as Anuakpado was in lane eight of nine, but she went out aggressive as planned. Around the final turn, Anuakpado dug down to make a final push. She would take fifth in her heat, missing the top-three auto spots, but when her time popped up at 53.00 it meant she had secured the last of the three time qualifiers, and also had broken Jordan Carlson's 2012 school record by .03 seconds.
"I just trusted (Coach Eric Metcalf), I trusted the strategy and trusted my training," she said. "I just tried to give it my all. I wasn't sure if this was going to be my last one so I wanted to finish strong and just beat lane nine. I'm really grateful and blessed to be here and happy to keep moving forward. I'm just grateful to God that I made it to the finish line! I feel like I'm dreaming right now, I don't feel like this is real."
The Huskies had four men's vaulters in action to start the day. Freshman Zach Shugart was first up, getting a clearance at the opening height of 15-11 before going out. Blaise Black and Lev Marcus each made 16-4 ¾ and then cleared 16-10 ¾ for two of their best marks of the season, but they weren't able to continue on over 17-2 ¾ which would have been season's-bests. Sophomore Chase Smith did clear 17-2 ¾, a new outdoor PR, and did so on his third and final attempt. The indoor All-American would need one more bar to make top-12, however, and he did not clear 17-6 ½ today. Still, it was a strong season-ending effort for Smith, who had his outdoor season interrupted by an appendectomy, missing nearly a month.
Two more Dawgs had quarterfinal chances today on the track, but were unable to break into the top-12. Redshirt freshman Darhian Mills was fifth in her 400-meter hurdles heat in 59.33 seconds, finishing 18th overall, capping off her great season that saw her take fourth at the Pac-12 meet and make Prelims in her first chance. Sophomore Hannah Derby also had her strong season reach its end, as she was eighth in her 800-meter quarterfinal in 2:09.42, 19th-place overall.
The last Husky on the track tonight was junior Jacopo Spanò in the 200-meters, coming off his breakthrough Pac-12 finals appearance two weeks ago. Spanò matched his collegiate best in his heat, running 21.05 seconds, but would fall less than a tenth of a second shy of advancing to the quarters. Still, Spanò finished 28th overall after coming in seeded 45th.
Junior Gina Flint made her second NCAA Prelims appearance in the discus today, but she struggled with her form today, and had three fouls. Flint will have another shot in the shot on Saturday.
Washington Track & Field
NCAA West Preliminary Championships
Day 2 of 3 – May 26, 2017
Austin, Texas – Mike A. Myers Stadium
Men's Results
200m (1st round; heat 2 of 6): 6. Jacopo Spanò, 21.05.
Pole Vault: 15 (tie). Chase Smith, 17-2 ¾; 25 (tie). Blaise Black, 16-10 ¾; 27. Lev Marcus, 16-10 ¾; 40 (tie). Zach Shugart, 15-11.
Women's Results
400m (Quarterfinal; heat 3 of 3): 5. Laura Anuakpado, 53.00 (12th overall; Advances To Eugene).
800m (Quarterfinal; heat 3 of 3): 8. Hannah Derby, 2:09.42
Hurdles (Quarterfinal; heat 2 of 3): 5. Darhian Mills, 59.33
Discus: -- Gina Flint, Foul
Players Mentioned
Spr
/ Track & Field
PV
/ Track & Field
Jumps
/ Track & Field
Mid-Dist
/ Track & Field
Thr
/ Track & Field
Dist
/ Track & Field
Dist
/ Track & Field
PV
/ Track & Field
Spr/Hur
/ Track & Field
Dist
/ Track & Field
Dist
/ Track & Field
PV
/ Track & Field
PV
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