Saturday, March 11
Albuquerque, NM
All Day
University of Washington
vs
NCAA Indoor Championships
Men’s Track Finishes Historic Fourth; Houser Wins Mile
March 11, 2023 | Track & Field
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – For the first time since the Hoover Administration, the Washington Men's Track & Field Team earned a top-four finish at an NCAA Championship. The Huskies earned the fourth-place trophy tonight at the Albuquerque Convention Center to cap off an historic indoor season. Luke Houser also earned the NCAA title in the men's mile, as UW scored 20 of its 31 team points in that event alone.
Four teams take home trophies at the NCAA Indoor and Outdoor Track & Field Championships. Indoors, Washington's previous all-time high finish on the men's side was sixth, in 2016. Outdoors, you have to go back to 1930 when the Huskies placed second to find the last top-four team finish.
The Dawgs wound up right behind three SEC powers, as Arkansas won the title with 63 points. Georgia took second with 40, then Florida with 34, and the Huskies with 31 points. Fifth-place went to Texas Tech with 29 points, then Oklahoma State and Texas tied for sixth with 25. Nebraska (24.75), Alabama (19) and Northern Arizona (19) rounded out the top-10.
The women's team, which concluded its action on Friday, also wound up in a tie for 24th-place in the final standings. That's the highest for the women at indoors since 2016.
Fifth-year men's Head Coach Andy Powell talked about the total team effort to achieve this, which saw UW tied for the most men's entries at the meet with 13.
"What makes it special is all the coaches and all the support staff and all the athletes on the team, whether they're here or not, they all contributed," said Powell. "That's what's great about track and field. You have a lot of athletes and coaches in different events that come together as one, which is pretty special. This doesn't happen without all of them."
Making headlines all season with their sub-four-minute exploits, Washington had four men in the mile final tonight. Out of Brian Fay, Nathan Green, Luke Houser, and Joe Waskom, it was anybody's guess who might lead the squad, but the goal was to post as many points as possible.
The four hung back early, but then Fay moved up front and soon Houser and Waskom joined, while Green continued to wait. With two laps to go, Houser was up front and pushing the pace hard. On the final lap, Waskom joined him in the lead while Green moved up into the top-five.
Waskom, the reigning NCAA Outdoor 1,500m Champion, challenged Houser for the lead around the final turns, but Houser held him off on the inside and charged for home. He almost got caught by surprise on the inside as Drake's Isaac Basten made a late charge, but Houser got to the line first in 4:03.33, just .03 ahead of Basten.
Waskom got nipped right before the finish by Basten and Anass Essayi of South Carolina, finishing fourth in 4:03.73, and Green was fifth in 4:03.86. Fay held on for eighth to pick up one more point in 4:05.07.
Back in January, when UW first put eight men under the sub-four mark at the UW Invitational, Houser was sixth in that order. "I saw my teammates running incredible early in the season and I was a little behind, but I saw them having success and I said I'm training with them, I'm doing all the workouts, my time will come," said Houser. "I just had to stay patient. I was building momentum in every race this season, and I was confident that I could come out here and win."
It's the first NCAA Indoor mile championship in Washington history. Even more incredible, UW's milers became the first group to have four scorers in one event at the indoor meet since UCLA in the shot put in 1994.
"I was confident that the best miler in the NCAA was on our team, so I'm glad we showed it. I'm glad we backed up everything we've done this year," said Houser, who was fifth in the NCAA 1,500m final last spring that was won by Waskom.
"The unique thing is it's just never happened where there's four guys who scored in the mile," said Powell. "They worked together to try to get the most out of themselves and it was pretty special. Luke's been such a good teammate, he helped Joe win last year. Everyone's super happy for him."
Every point was needed for the Dawgs to earn their first track trophy in 93 years, and UW also got one point apiece today from Bruno Comin Pescador in the heptathlon, and Kieran Lumb in the 3,000-meters.
The day began early with the fifth event of the heptathlon for Bruno Comin Pescador, the 60-meter hurdles. Comin Pescador came into the day in 10th-place overall, looking to move into top-eight position. He ran 8.14 seconds in the hurdles but remained in 11th. After clearing 15-7 ¼ in the pole vault that put him back up to 10th and within striking distance of the podium, which honors the top-eight.
In the final 1,000-meters, Comin Pescador went to the well and powered to a fourth-place finish in 2:37.79, less than a second off his PR despite coming at altitude. That gave him a total of 5,992 points and moved him up into eighth-place to gain one team point and a First Team All-America honor. It also matches Jeremy Taiwo's 8th-place finish in 2011 as the best in school history.
In the final Husky event of the weekend, the men's 3,000-meters, Lumb put on the Husky singlet for one final time, as he does not have outdoor eligibility remaining. He was joined by Fay who had recently run the mile final, but Fay was unable to hang with the brisk pace so shortly after the mile.
Lumb, who anchored the DMR last night to a fourth-place finish, also was well out of the mix for points for most of the race, running around 12th. But he stayed resolute, and over the final 400-meters he fought his way up the string of runners until he was able to kick and lean past one more runner and grab eighth-place in 8:02.63. A stellar capper to his UW career as he earned First Team All-America honors and one more team point.
Powell summed things up: "When you get a trophy you've got to enjoy it, and Washington made a lot of noise this season and represented well. But then outdoors, I think our team can be even better when we add some of the other events like the javelin, discus, steeplechase. So the future's bright, for sure."
2023 NCAA Indoor Track & Field Championships
Day 2 of 2 | March 11, 2023
Albuquerque Convention Center
Final Men's Team Standings (Top-25)
1. Arkansas 63; 2. Georgia 40; 3. Florida 34; 4. Washington 31; 5. Texas Tech 29; 6. Oklahoma State 25; 6. Texas 25; 8. Nebraska 24.75; 9. Alabama 19; 9. Northern Arizona 19; 11. Tennessee 18; 12. BYU 17; 12. Ole Miss 17; 14. Florida State 16; 15. Clemson 15; 16. Wisconsin 14; 17. Baylor 13; 18. Kansas 11.5; 19. Arizona State 11; 19. Kentucky 11; 19. Mississippi State 11; 22. Louisville 10.5; 23. Arizona 10; 23. Kennessaw State 10; 23. Princeton 10; 23. South Florida 10; 23. USC 10.
Final Women's Team Standings (Top-25)
1. Arkansas 64; 2. Texas 60; 3. Florida 45; 4. Stanford 33; 5. Georgia 31; 6. NC State 29; 7. Alabama 24; 7. Notre Dame 24; 7. Tennessee 24; 10. Ole Miss 23; 11. LSU 22; 11. Oregon 22; 13. USC 19; 14. Nebraska 17; 14. Texas A&M 17; 16. Oklahoma 14; 17. Kentucky 12; 18. Minnesota 11; 18. Ohio State 11; 20. Illinois 10; 21. Utah 9; 21. Wisconsin 9; 21. Oklahoma State 9; 24. Washington 8; 24. BYU 8; 24. Kansas 8; 24. Texas Tech 8
UW Men's Results
Men's Mile, Final: 1. Luke Houser, 4:03.33; 4. Joe Waskom, 4:03.73; 5. Nathan Green, 4:03.86; 8. Brian Fay, 4:05.07
Men's 3,000m, Final: 8. Kieran Lumb, 8:02.63; 15. Brian Fay, 8:17.60
Men's Heptathlon Day 1 of 2
60m | 13. Bruno Comin Pescador, 7.05
Long Jump | 10. Bruno Comin Pescador, 24-1 ¾
Shot Put | 9. Bruno Comin Pescador, 46-8 ¼
High Jump | 8. Bruno Comin Pescador, 6-6 ¾
Day One Total | 10. Bruno Comin Pescador, 3310
Day 2 of 2
60m Hurdles | 9. Bruno Comin Pescador, 8.14
Pole Vault | 7 (tie). Bruno Comin Pescador, 15-7 ¼
1,000m | 4. Bruno Comin Pescador, 2:37.79
Total | 8. Bruno Comin Pescador, 5992 points
Four teams take home trophies at the NCAA Indoor and Outdoor Track & Field Championships. Indoors, Washington's previous all-time high finish on the men's side was sixth, in 2016. Outdoors, you have to go back to 1930 when the Huskies placed second to find the last top-four team finish.
The Dawgs wound up right behind three SEC powers, as Arkansas won the title with 63 points. Georgia took second with 40, then Florida with 34, and the Huskies with 31 points. Fifth-place went to Texas Tech with 29 points, then Oklahoma State and Texas tied for sixth with 25. Nebraska (24.75), Alabama (19) and Northern Arizona (19) rounded out the top-10.
The team that set the new standard ????#GoHuskies x #NCAATF pic.twitter.com/FvHHR2Adsu
— Washington Track & Field (@UWTrack) March 12, 2023
The women's team, which concluded its action on Friday, also wound up in a tie for 24th-place in the final standings. That's the highest for the women at indoors since 2016.
Fifth-year men's Head Coach Andy Powell talked about the total team effort to achieve this, which saw UW tied for the most men's entries at the meet with 13.
"What makes it special is all the coaches and all the support staff and all the athletes on the team, whether they're here or not, they all contributed," said Powell. "That's what's great about track and field. You have a lot of athletes and coaches in different events that come together as one, which is pretty special. This doesn't happen without all of them."
Making headlines all season with their sub-four-minute exploits, Washington had four men in the mile final tonight. Out of Brian Fay, Nathan Green, Luke Houser, and Joe Waskom, it was anybody's guess who might lead the squad, but the goal was to post as many points as possible.
The four hung back early, but then Fay moved up front and soon Houser and Waskom joined, while Green continued to wait. With two laps to go, Houser was up front and pushing the pace hard. On the final lap, Waskom joined him in the lead while Green moved up into the top-five.
Waskom, the reigning NCAA Outdoor 1,500m Champion, challenged Houser for the lead around the final turns, but Houser held him off on the inside and charged for home. He almost got caught by surprise on the inside as Drake's Isaac Basten made a late charge, but Houser got to the line first in 4:03.33, just .03 ahead of Basten.
Waskom got nipped right before the finish by Basten and Anass Essayi of South Carolina, finishing fourth in 4:03.73, and Green was fifth in 4:03.86. Fay held on for eighth to pick up one more point in 4:05.07.
The Championship finish.
— Washington Track & Field (@UWTrack) March 12, 2023
Dawgs load up with 2?0? team points in the mile.
Luke Houser becomes the second NCAA Champion in our Dawg Pack. ??#GoHuskies x #NCAATF pic.twitter.com/mgWbp2ZdCQ
Back in January, when UW first put eight men under the sub-four mark at the UW Invitational, Houser was sixth in that order. "I saw my teammates running incredible early in the season and I was a little behind, but I saw them having success and I said I'm training with them, I'm doing all the workouts, my time will come," said Houser. "I just had to stay patient. I was building momentum in every race this season, and I was confident that I could come out here and win."
It's the first NCAA Indoor mile championship in Washington history. Even more incredible, UW's milers became the first group to have four scorers in one event at the indoor meet since UCLA in the shot put in 1994.
"I was confident that the best miler in the NCAA was on our team, so I'm glad we showed it. I'm glad we backed up everything we've done this year," said Houser, who was fifth in the NCAA 1,500m final last spring that was won by Waskom.
"I was confident the best miler was on our team."
— Washington Track & Field (@UWTrack) March 12, 2023
Luke Houser on waiting for his time to come. He met that moment today. ??#GoHuskies pic.twitter.com/N0MsK7YdAu
"The unique thing is it's just never happened where there's four guys who scored in the mile," said Powell. "They worked together to try to get the most out of themselves and it was pretty special. Luke's been such a good teammate, he helped Joe win last year. Everyone's super happy for him."
Every point was needed for the Dawgs to earn their first track trophy in 93 years, and UW also got one point apiece today from Bruno Comin Pescador in the heptathlon, and Kieran Lumb in the 3,000-meters.
The day began early with the fifth event of the heptathlon for Bruno Comin Pescador, the 60-meter hurdles. Comin Pescador came into the day in 10th-place overall, looking to move into top-eight position. He ran 8.14 seconds in the hurdles but remained in 11th. After clearing 15-7 ¼ in the pole vault that put him back up to 10th and within striking distance of the podium, which honors the top-eight.
In the final 1,000-meters, Comin Pescador went to the well and powered to a fourth-place finish in 2:37.79, less than a second off his PR despite coming at altitude. That gave him a total of 5,992 points and moved him up into eighth-place to gain one team point and a First Team All-America honor. It also matches Jeremy Taiwo's 8th-place finish in 2011 as the best in school history.
In the final Husky event of the weekend, the men's 3,000-meters, Lumb put on the Husky singlet for one final time, as he does not have outdoor eligibility remaining. He was joined by Fay who had recently run the mile final, but Fay was unable to hang with the brisk pace so shortly after the mile.
Lumb, who anchored the DMR last night to a fourth-place finish, also was well out of the mix for points for most of the race, running around 12th. But he stayed resolute, and over the final 400-meters he fought his way up the string of runners until he was able to kick and lean past one more runner and grab eighth-place in 8:02.63. A stellar capper to his UW career as he earned First Team All-America honors and one more team point.
Powell summed things up: "When you get a trophy you've got to enjoy it, and Washington made a lot of noise this season and represented well. But then outdoors, I think our team can be even better when we add some of the other events like the javelin, discus, steeplechase. So the future's bright, for sure."
2023 NCAA Indoor Track & Field Championships
Day 2 of 2 | March 11, 2023
Albuquerque Convention Center
Final Men's Team Standings (Top-25)
1. Arkansas 63; 2. Georgia 40; 3. Florida 34; 4. Washington 31; 5. Texas Tech 29; 6. Oklahoma State 25; 6. Texas 25; 8. Nebraska 24.75; 9. Alabama 19; 9. Northern Arizona 19; 11. Tennessee 18; 12. BYU 17; 12. Ole Miss 17; 14. Florida State 16; 15. Clemson 15; 16. Wisconsin 14; 17. Baylor 13; 18. Kansas 11.5; 19. Arizona State 11; 19. Kentucky 11; 19. Mississippi State 11; 22. Louisville 10.5; 23. Arizona 10; 23. Kennessaw State 10; 23. Princeton 10; 23. South Florida 10; 23. USC 10.
Final Women's Team Standings (Top-25)
1. Arkansas 64; 2. Texas 60; 3. Florida 45; 4. Stanford 33; 5. Georgia 31; 6. NC State 29; 7. Alabama 24; 7. Notre Dame 24; 7. Tennessee 24; 10. Ole Miss 23; 11. LSU 22; 11. Oregon 22; 13. USC 19; 14. Nebraska 17; 14. Texas A&M 17; 16. Oklahoma 14; 17. Kentucky 12; 18. Minnesota 11; 18. Ohio State 11; 20. Illinois 10; 21. Utah 9; 21. Wisconsin 9; 21. Oklahoma State 9; 24. Washington 8; 24. BYU 8; 24. Kansas 8; 24. Texas Tech 8
UW Men's Results
Men's Mile, Final: 1. Luke Houser, 4:03.33; 4. Joe Waskom, 4:03.73; 5. Nathan Green, 4:03.86; 8. Brian Fay, 4:05.07
Men's 3,000m, Final: 8. Kieran Lumb, 8:02.63; 15. Brian Fay, 8:17.60
Men's Heptathlon Day 1 of 2
60m | 13. Bruno Comin Pescador, 7.05
Long Jump | 10. Bruno Comin Pescador, 24-1 ¾
Shot Put | 9. Bruno Comin Pescador, 46-8 ¼
High Jump | 8. Bruno Comin Pescador, 6-6 ¾
Day One Total | 10. Bruno Comin Pescador, 3310
Day 2 of 2
60m Hurdles | 9. Bruno Comin Pescador, 8.14
Pole Vault | 7 (tie). Bruno Comin Pescador, 15-7 ¼
1,000m | 4. Bruno Comin Pescador, 2:37.79
Total | 8. Bruno Comin Pescador, 5992 points
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