Four Dawgs Move To Quarters On Strong Day One

Thursday, May 24

Sacramento, CA

All Day

University of Washington

NCAA West Preliminaries

May 24, 2018 | Track & Field

By: UW Athletic Communications

NCAA West Preliminary Championships
May 24-26 | Sacramento, Calif. | Hornet Stadium

SACRAMENTO, Calif. – Husky athletes consistently outperformed their entry seeds and three new top-10 marks were posted as the Dawgs got off to a strong start at the NCAA West Preliminaries, hosted by Sacramento State. Four Huskies moved through to quarterfinal heats, now one big run away from a trip to the NCAA Outdoor Championships.

One of the big highlights was sophomore Kaitlyn Neal's fifty-second 10k PR to wrap up the night. Neal went 25 times around the Hornet Stadium track in just her second 10k, two weeks after her first at the Pac-12 meet, and she ran 33:21.20 to finish 17th overall, just five spots away from a top-12 spot and an NCAA bid. Neal's time was the fifth-fastest in school history.

First up on the track was the event with the most Husky entries, the women's 400-meter hurdles with senior Hanna Tarleton, junior Carly Lester, and sophomore Morganne Hill. The best time came from Hill, who came in with a PR of 59.38 seconds but cruised to a time of 58.65 today to take third in her heat and auto advance to the quarterfinals. That moved Hill into the Husky top-10 for the first time at No. 9.

Some shots of our 400 hurdlers (what's the three-person version of dynamic duo?) #NCAATFWest pic.twitter.com/8VXhq9NeAr
— Washington Track & Field (@UWTrack) May 25, 2018

Tarleton also easily moved through with a time qualifier as she ran 58.69 seconds for fourth in her heat. Lester was fifth in her heat in 59.84, not advancing but still finishing above her seed, as she placed 31st overall after coming in ranked 36th.

In her final competition as a Husky, senior Gina Flint set a new personal-best, as she came in seeded with the 48th and final spot in the shot put but wound up finishing 21st overall. Her first attempt went 51-2 ¼, a PR of seven inches, and that moved her up one more spot to sixth on the Husky top-10 list where she'll finish. Flint also is sixth in school history in the discus.

Freshman Allie Schadler took an early lead in order to keep an honest pace in her 1,500-meter first round heat. Schadler gave up the lead going into the final lap, but stuck up with the leaders and earned a spot in Saturday's quarterfinals by finishing fifth in her heat in a time of 4:23.44.

Redshirt freshman Nate Beamer made his West Prelims debut and finished 11th in his heat in a time of 3:50.64, which was the 20th-fastest time overall. Adding in 10 slower auto advancers and Beamer still places 30th overall after coming in seeded just 45th.

Early photos from Hornets Stadium #NCAATFWest pic.twitter.com/WWDTPwhk9V
— Washington Track & Field (@UWTrack) May 25, 2018

Freshman Devan Kirk was in the first of six 800-meter sections while sophomore Connor Morello was in the sixth. Kirk led through the first lap of his race but dropped to fifth at the finish line in a time of 1:50.76. That was in position for a time qualifier up until Morello's heat. In a good news/bad news situation, Morello advanced by getting the final time qualifier after taking sixth in his heat in 1:50.60, but the bad news was Kirk got bumped out, finishing 27th overall

Zach Shugart and Blaise Black competed in a breezy men's pole vault for the second year in a row, but neither were able to get past the second bar of the competition. Both finished with a make of 15-11, Black tying for 29th and Shugart finishing 37th overall.

Tomorrow, Jose Padilla will be the one early Husky in action, throwing the discus at 12 noon. The next event will be the women's pole vault at 4:30 p.m. Morello will return for his quarterfinal at 6:30 p.m. and then Hill and Tarleton will race the 400m hurdles quarters and Andrew Gardner and Emily Hamlin will wrap the night in the steeplechase.

NCAA West Preliminary Championships
Day 1 of 3 | May 24, 2018
Sacramento, Calif. | Hornet Stadium

Men's Results
800m, First Round (Heat 1 of 6): 5. Devan Kirk, 1:50.76; (Heat 6 of 6): 6. Connor Morello, 1:50.60 (Advances to Quarterfinals)
1,500m, First Round (Heat 2 of 4): 11. Nate Beamer, 3:50.64
Pole Vault: tie-29. Blaise Black, 15-11; 37. Zach Shugart, 15-11.

Women's Results
1,500m, First Round (Heat 3 of 4): 5. Allie Schadler, 4:23.44 (Advances to Quarterfinals)
10,000m, Semifinal: 17. Kaitlyn Neal, 33:21.20
400m Hurdles, First Round (Heat 3 of 6): 5. Carly Lester, 59.84; (Heat 5 of 6): 3. Morganne Hill, 58.65 (Advances to Quarterfinals): (Heat 6 of 6): 4. Hanna Tarleton, 58.69 (Advances to Quarterfinals).
Shot Put: 21. Gina Flint, 51-2 ¼.