Thursday, June 8
Eugene, Ore.
10:30 AM
University of Washington
at
NCAA Championships
Owsinski Fifth In Vault, Neale Onto Final At NCAAs
June 08, 2017 | Track & Field
NCAA OUTDOOR CHAMPIONSHIPS
June 7-10 • Eugene, Ore. • Hayward Field
Live Results | Complete Schedule
ESPN Live Streams
Saturday Live Video (also on ESPN)
EUGENE, Ore. – It was a sixth year validated for Kristina Owsinski, as Washington's outdoor school record-holder in the pole vault got back to a top-five finish at the NCAA Outdoor Championships today as the women took to the track at Hayward Field. Owsinski got UW on the scoreboard with a fifth-place finish today, and Amy-Eloise Neale will look to add some more points on Saturday as she successfully moved into the 1,500-meters final with a new PR today.
The four-day NCAA Outdoor meet is following an alternating gender format, with the men starting things on Wednesday, the women today, then men's finals on Friday and the women on Saturday. Owsinski's four points put the UW women in 22nd-place but nearly all track finals are still to come on Saturday.
Owsinski and senior teammate Elizabeth Quick were looking to cap off their outstanding Husky careers today in style. Owsinski last competed at an NCAA Championship two years ago, when she cleared 14-5 ¼ to set a new school record and finished fourth. After rupturing her Achilles early in 2016, Owsinski decided to come back for a sixth season and she made the most of it, returning to NCAAs, and clearing the same record height, 14-5 ¼ that she did in 2015. This year it was good for fifth-place, making her a two-time First Team All-American.
"I'm just happy that I left off here where I left off two years ago," Owsinski said. "My confidence was really low this year, I haven't felt the best, I've had little injuries here and there including a broken toe for a month. To come back and know that I am a consistent vaulter, I can jump 14-5 again, it feels really good and it makes the decision to stick with pole vault a little bit longer easier for me."
Quick, making her second-straight NCAA Outdoor finals appearance, cleared the opening height on one attempt, but lost her groove a bit at 13-7 ¼, a bar she has handled many times. But on her first attempt she hit the bar trying to maneuver over it, and on the second she was well above but came down on top of it. Things came together better on her third but she appeared to just catch it with her leg, ending her Husky career not how she would have liked, but she did tie for 15th to earn Second Team All-America honors, her third Second Team to go with one First Team.
Amy-Eloise Neale improved her NCAA semifinal record to 3-for-3 today, as she powered into the 1,500-meter finals for the second year in a row, having also made the NCAA Indoor mile final earlier this year. With the top-five finishers in the 12-woman heat moving on, Neale had worked her way up into a pack of four that were chasing one lone leader and had a gap behind them going into the final lap. The pack caught the leader and Neale was able to cruise to the finish without much drama, other than running an extremely fast time of 4:11.00 for fourth-place, a .02 second PR.
"The race plan was to expect everything," said Neale. "Be prepared for a slow race or a fast race and just really set yourself up in the top-five and get through safely so we're not waiting to see what the qualifying times are. I just went into it relaxed and preparing for everything and putting myself in a good strategic spot during the race.
Whereas Neale was a surprise finalist a year ago, this season she expected more of herself, and getting back in the final for a second consecutive season left her proud but ready for more.
"Definitely going into it I knew that I would be disappointed if I didn't make the final in a way that I wouldn't have been last year just because I came from a place last year where I was just so grateful to be here," she said. "Going into it I was really trying to build on last year, and know that I was extremely capable of getting through but it was going to be extremely difficult to do so. I think just knowing that you're capable and have a shot is a very comforting thing. Obviously happy getting through to the final and hope it goes well."
Junior Izzi Batt-Doyle made her NCAA debut tonight in the 10,000-meters, just a month after running the event for the first time at Pac-12s. Batt-Doyle was around 15th in the early going, then slipped back a few spots to 18th but was still part of the main pack. One quick lap began to string things out, however, and for the last couple miles Batt-Doyle was working to pick off runners one by one to finish as high as she could. She steadily moved up from 18th to come across in 12th at the end of the 25th lap, in a time of 33:49.61, and she will earn All-America Second Team honors for the effort.
The Husky women's 4x400-meter relay made history tonight by being the first UW women's 4x4 to compete at the NCAA Championships. The quartet of Whitney Diggs, Imani Apostol, Darhian Mills, and Laura Anuakpado raised the bar for the Dawgs this season, breaking the school record twice and lowering it by two seconds overall. Today, the Dawgs were seventh in their eight-team semifinal in a time of 3:40.49, putting them 22nd overall and earning honorable mention All-America.
Anuakpado also raced earlier in the day in the 400-meter semifinals. The school record-holder left a big mark on the Husky recordbooks in her one season in Seattle, although today her time was not what she would have hoped, as she went 54.81 seconds out of lane one, earning another honorable mention All-America to go with the 4x4 relay.
Neale will be the last Husky in action this season, as she will race in the 1,500m final live on ESPN at 3:41 p.m. Saturday.
Washington Track & Field
NCAA Outdoor Championships
June 8, 2017
Eugene, Ore. – Hayward Field
Husky Results
400m (Semifinal; heat 3 of 3): 8. Laura Anuakpado, 54.81 (24th overall; Honorable Mention All-American).
1,500m (Semifinal; heat 1 of 2): 4. Amy-Eloise Neale, 4:11.00 (Advances to Final)
10,000m (Final): 12. Izzi Batt-Doyle, 33:49.61 (Second Team All-American)
4x400m Relay (Semifinal; heat 3 of 3): 7. Diggs/Apostol/Mills/Anuakpado, 3:40.49 (22nd overall; Honorable Mention All-Americans).
Pole Vault (Final): 5. Kristina Owsinski, 14-5 ¼ (First Team All-American); 15 (tie). Elizabeth Quick, 13-1 ½ (Second Team All-American).
June 7-10 • Eugene, Ore. • Hayward Field
Live Results | Complete Schedule
ESPN Live Streams
Saturday Live Video (also on ESPN)
EUGENE, Ore. – It was a sixth year validated for Kristina Owsinski, as Washington's outdoor school record-holder in the pole vault got back to a top-five finish at the NCAA Outdoor Championships today as the women took to the track at Hayward Field. Owsinski got UW on the scoreboard with a fifth-place finish today, and Amy-Eloise Neale will look to add some more points on Saturday as she successfully moved into the 1,500-meters final with a new PR today.
The four-day NCAA Outdoor meet is following an alternating gender format, with the men starting things on Wednesday, the women today, then men's finals on Friday and the women on Saturday. Owsinski's four points put the UW women in 22nd-place but nearly all track finals are still to come on Saturday.
Owsinski and senior teammate Elizabeth Quick were looking to cap off their outstanding Husky careers today in style. Owsinski last competed at an NCAA Championship two years ago, when she cleared 14-5 ¼ to set a new school record and finished fourth. After rupturing her Achilles early in 2016, Owsinski decided to come back for a sixth season and she made the most of it, returning to NCAAs, and clearing the same record height, 14-5 ¼ that she did in 2015. This year it was good for fifth-place, making her a two-time First Team All-American.
"I'm just happy that I left off here where I left off two years ago," Owsinski said. "My confidence was really low this year, I haven't felt the best, I've had little injuries here and there including a broken toe for a month. To come back and know that I am a consistent vaulter, I can jump 14-5 again, it feels really good and it makes the decision to stick with pole vault a little bit longer easier for me."
Quick, making her second-straight NCAA Outdoor finals appearance, cleared the opening height on one attempt, but lost her groove a bit at 13-7 ¼, a bar she has handled many times. But on her first attempt she hit the bar trying to maneuver over it, and on the second she was well above but came down on top of it. Things came together better on her third but she appeared to just catch it with her leg, ending her Husky career not how she would have liked, but she did tie for 15th to earn Second Team All-America honors, her third Second Team to go with one First Team.
Coach Licari with two of the best in Husky history! #PoleVaultU pic.twitter.com/Az0Qko4jKg
— UW Track (@UWTrack) June 9, 2017
Amy-Eloise Neale improved her NCAA semifinal record to 3-for-3 today, as she powered into the 1,500-meter finals for the second year in a row, having also made the NCAA Indoor mile final earlier this year. With the top-five finishers in the 12-woman heat moving on, Neale had worked her way up into a pack of four that were chasing one lone leader and had a gap behind them going into the final lap. The pack caught the leader and Neale was able to cruise to the finish without much drama, other than running an extremely fast time of 4:11.00 for fourth-place, a .02 second PR.
"The race plan was to expect everything," said Neale. "Be prepared for a slow race or a fast race and just really set yourself up in the top-five and get through safely so we're not waiting to see what the qualifying times are. I just went into it relaxed and preparing for everything and putting myself in a good strategic spot during the race.
Whereas Neale was a surprise finalist a year ago, this season she expected more of herself, and getting back in the final for a second consecutive season left her proud but ready for more.
"Definitely going into it I knew that I would be disappointed if I didn't make the final in a way that I wouldn't have been last year just because I came from a place last year where I was just so grateful to be here," she said. "Going into it I was really trying to build on last year, and know that I was extremely capable of getting through but it was going to be extremely difficult to do so. I think just knowing that you're capable and have a shot is a very comforting thing. Obviously happy getting through to the final and hope it goes well."
Junior Izzi Batt-Doyle made her NCAA debut tonight in the 10,000-meters, just a month after running the event for the first time at Pac-12s. Batt-Doyle was around 15th in the early going, then slipped back a few spots to 18th but was still part of the main pack. One quick lap began to string things out, however, and for the last couple miles Batt-Doyle was working to pick off runners one by one to finish as high as she could. She steadily moved up from 18th to come across in 12th at the end of the 25th lap, in a time of 33:49.61, and she will earn All-America Second Team honors for the effort.
The Husky women's 4x400-meter relay made history tonight by being the first UW women's 4x4 to compete at the NCAA Championships. The quartet of Whitney Diggs, Imani Apostol, Darhian Mills, and Laura Anuakpado raised the bar for the Dawgs this season, breaking the school record twice and lowering it by two seconds overall. Today, the Dawgs were seventh in their eight-team semifinal in a time of 3:40.49, putting them 22nd overall and earning honorable mention All-America.
Anuakpado also raced earlier in the day in the 400-meter semifinals. The school record-holder left a big mark on the Husky recordbooks in her one season in Seattle, although today her time was not what she would have hoped, as she went 54.81 seconds out of lane one, earning another honorable mention All-America to go with the 4x4 relay.
Neale will be the last Husky in action this season, as she will race in the 1,500m final live on ESPN at 3:41 p.m. Saturday.
Washington Track & Field
NCAA Outdoor Championships
June 8, 2017
Eugene, Ore. – Hayward Field
Husky Results
400m (Semifinal; heat 3 of 3): 8. Laura Anuakpado, 54.81 (24th overall; Honorable Mention All-American).
1,500m (Semifinal; heat 1 of 2): 4. Amy-Eloise Neale, 4:11.00 (Advances to Final)
10,000m (Final): 12. Izzi Batt-Doyle, 33:49.61 (Second Team All-American)
4x400m Relay (Semifinal; heat 3 of 3): 7. Diggs/Apostol/Mills/Anuakpado, 3:40.49 (22nd overall; Honorable Mention All-Americans).
Pole Vault (Final): 5. Kristina Owsinski, 14-5 ¼ (First Team All-American); 15 (tie). Elizabeth Quick, 13-1 ½ (Second Team All-American).
Players Mentioned
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Spr/Hur
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PV
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