Sunday, May 14
Walnut, CA
All Day
University of Washington
vs
Pac-12 Championships
Historic Huskies Win First Pac-12 Track & Field Title
May 14, 2023 | Track & Field
WALNUT, Calif. β Nobody better than Brian Fay to get the Huskies over the finish line and into history. With Washington Men's Track & Field needing 10 points to clinch its first Pac-12 title in program history, Brian Fay went back to the well and pulled away to win the 5,000-meters, just as he did two nights ago in the 10,000-meters.
Washington broke Oregon's 15-year run atop the conference standings, capping a thrilling three days at Hilmer Lodge Stadium. The Huskies did it by winning a school record seven events on the men's side, including sweeping every distance race from the 800-meters up to the 10k, something done only once before on the men's side, by Stanford in 2003.
The Husky women's team also had its best finish in Pac-12 Championships history, finishing alone in third. In 2021, the Huskies tied for third-place, which at the time was their first ever top-three. Today the women had third all to themselves. Oregon won the women's title with 158.5, USC was second with 127 points, then the Huskies in third with 85.5.
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After becoming the first Husky ever to win two Pac-12 distance events in the same meet, Fay was stoic for a few seconds, until he spotted his screaming teammates on the nearby fence, and then he charged over and jumped into the arms of thrower Elijah Mason and jumper Prestin Artis, who both had top-four finishes this weekend. It fittingly represented the total team effort that has brought Washington to the top of the heap in Pac-12 Men's Track & Field.
The Huskies held off a major challenge from USC, as the Trojans took a late lead, but UW pushed back ahead with big points in the 400-meter hurdles, then Fay's win in the 5k and a runner-up pole vault finish from Jacob Englar. Washington wound up winning with 151 points, ahead of USC with 137, and Stanford with 96.
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"A long time coming," said Head Coach Andy Powell on the Pac-12 Networks broadcast. "When we took over five years ago, we told some of the freshmen that this was going to be our goal. Everyone believed it. It's a super special day for everyone."
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"People that come to Washington, they want to be part of something special," Powell said. "It's a great academic school. The culture of our team and where we've been and where we're going, people want to be a part of it. Today was special because it was not just one event group, it was a whole team effort. One person goes down, and other people step up. You can't do it with a couple individuals, you have to have a great team."
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Not since 1928, the Pacific Coast Conference meet held in Missoula, Montana when UW was coached by Hec Edmundson, has Washington won a conference track title that included teams from California. Washington won some PCC Northern Division titles in the 1930s and 1940s, but the Huskies had never finished better than second since the Pac-12 was first formed as the Athletic Association of Western Universities in 1960.
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One of those previous runner-up finishes came last year, as UW has been steadily climbing the ranks since Head Coach Andy Powell and Director of Track & Field Maurica Powell took the lead of the program in 2019. The men's team was 8th at this meet prior to Powell taking over, then went to fourth in year one, up to third in 2021, then second in 2022 and to the top spot in 2023.
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Washington's seven individual men's titles was also a program record, surpassing the six from 1976. Today, in addition to Fay's inspired 5,000-meters win, Cass Elliott successfully defended his 400-meter hurdles title, Sam Ellis ran away with the 800-meters title, and Nathan Green got his first Pac-12 1,500-meters title. Saturday, Ed Trippas won the 3,000-meter steeplechase and Ollie Thorner won the decathlon, while Fay won the 10,000-meters on Friday night.
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Washington's 2023 Pac-12 Champions
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Friday
Brian Fay β Men's 10,000-meters
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Saturday
Ollie Thorner β Men's Decathlon
Ed Trippas β Men's 3,000m Steeplechase
Nastassja Campbell and Sara Borton β Women's Pole Vault co-Champs
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Sunday
Nathan Green β Men's 1,500-meters
Sam Ellis β Men's 800-meters
Cass Elliott β Men's 400m Hurdles
Brian Fay β Men's 5,000-meters
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The Men's Path To Victory
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Washington went into day three with the lead and more than 60 points, but knew it would likely need to more than double that total to make history.
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The first big event of the day was the men's discus throw. The field included the collegiate record-holder, so getting a third career Pac-12 title from senior Elijah Mason would have been a huge upset, but Mason was ready to do his part for a first team title. On his very first attempt, he tied his career-best, throwing 201-feet, 7-inches. In the fifth round, Mason went further, for a new PR of 202-8. That got him third-place in an outstanding field, and was a great start for the Dawgs. It also moved Mason up to No. 4 in school history.
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It wasn't long before the Huskies had their second podium finish of the day, as sophomore Tim Luebbert beat his seed in the triple jump. Luebbert jumped 49-7 in the second round and that would hold up for third-place and six more points.
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The first individual track event would be a huge one for the Dawgs, with six of the twelve finalists sporting purple. The race went a bit off script, as UW's two NCAA Champions, Joe Waskom and Luke Houser, each were unable to find their way to the front, but sophomore Nathan Green stepped right up. Green broke away from Stanford's Ky Robinson to win in 3:42.22. After placing seventh at NCAA Outdoors last year and fifth at NCAA Indoors in races won by his teammates, it was Green's turn atop the podium.
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Also scoring for the Dawgs was Aaron Ahl, in fourth, in 3:44.67; Aidan Ryan was sixth in 3:47.18, and Luke Houser was seventh in 3:47.69. That gave the Dawgs a 20-point surge in the standings.
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But from there the Huskies were made to sweat a bit as USC rallied with a 1-2 finish in the 400-meters, and the 110m hurdles, passing the Huskies in the team race for the first time.
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The Dawgs answered, winning one of the few head-to-head battles with the Trojans in the 800-meters. All-American Sam Ellis, a multiple-time Ivy League Champ at Princeton, stayed right behind USC's Bobby Poynter through the first lap as the two left the rest of the finalists behind. On the backstretch of the final lap, Ellis passed Poynter on the inside, and he had the strength to pull away for the crucial win in a stellar time of 1:46.77, with Poynter a second back in 1:47.79.
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Ellis' time ranked him No. 2 in UW school history. And while his 10 points were a must for the Dawgs, USC got the eight points for second and two more for a seventh-place finish so the points were a wash and the Huskies still needed to make up ground.
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That ground was covered in the 400-meter hurdles. Defending Pac-12 Champion Cass Elliott made it back-to-back titles and Jonathan Birchman and Matthew Wilkinson finished 3rd and 4th in a final that USC did not factor into. Elliott ran the second-fastest time of his career to win in 49.31, while Birchman ran 50.79 and Wilkinson went 51.58.
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Washington got 21 points in the event, its third 20+ point event of the championships, along with the 1,500-meters and the decathlon. That propelled the Huskies back into the lead with 131 points at the time, while USC was second with 124.
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The Trojans then tied it up at 131-apiece, getting seven points out of the 100-meter dash final. At that point the Huskies had multiple entries to come in the 5,000-meters, Jacob Englar was working his way up the pole vault standings, and the Dawgs could also look for some final points in the 4x400m relay. USC, meanwhile, only had the 4x4 remaining. If the Trojans won that event, then the Huskies would need at least 11 points combined from the 5k, pole vault, and 4x4.
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That's when Fay stepped up to help put an end to the long back-and-forth battle. He ran a race very similar to the 10k victory on Friday night, settling in for several laps behind a group of Stanford runners. And then on the final lap, Fay showed his closing mettle once again, dropping another big kick despite the heat and tired legs. Fay dropped a trio of Cardinal men and won by more than four seconds, in 14:08.03, which given Englar's current standing in the pole vault, guaranteed the team title.
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It was also truly cemented by Leo Daschbach, who, like Fay, doubled back from scoring in the 10k on Friday night. Daschbach gritted out an eighth-place finish to grab one more point in the 5,000-meters, making it 11 for the Dawgs in the event. Isaac Green also had a gutsy run in ninth in 14:32.53.
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Englar then padded the winning cushion in the pole vault, as he set a new outdoor personal-best and broke into the Husky outdoor top-10 with a clearance of 17-9 ΒΌ. That earned him runner-up honors and eight more team points. He is now 10th in school history outdoors.
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The Dawgs tacked on one last point in the 4x400m relay, as Birchman, Wilkinson, Daniel Gaik, and Elliott ran 3:14.87 to finish eighth.
Women's Team Historic As Well
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The Husky women also turned in perhaps their finest conference weekend in school history. Only once before in team history, in 2019 during the Powells' first season, had the women finished third at Pac-12s. That year Washington tied for third with Arizona State. Today was the first time the women finished alone in third, and their 85.5 points was the team's highest ever in the current scoring format.
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Washington's first points today came in the 1,500-meter final, as Sophie O'Sullivan and Anna Gibson took on perhaps the deepest field of the meet. In a race that saw the top-two runners break the Meet Record, O'Sullivan ran a huge five-second PR to take fourth in 4:12.19, with Gibson right behind her in fifth in a big season-best of 4:12.65. O'Sullivan moved to No. 6 in school history with that time.
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Next up, Carley Thomas once again broke her own UW School Record in the 800-meters, giving a massive effort to try and defend her conference title, but Stanford's Juliette Whittaker ran the No. 5 time in the NCAA this year to win in 2:01.19, while Thomas leaned across the line in 2:02.40 for second-place, more than three seconds ahead of third.
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Beatrice Asomaning scored in her second event of the weekend in the women's discus, grabbing the eighth spot today with a best of 173-2 for one point. Kaia Tupu-South also made the final but was just out of the points in ninth with a 172-3 throw.
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Looking to hold off Stanford for the third spot in the team race, the Huskies dug in for the 5k. Doubling back from scoring either on Saturday or earlier on Sunday, four Dawgs fought for top-10 finishes. Kayley DeLay, third in the steeplechase last night, finished fifth in 16:24.63, and Sophie O'Sullivan was sixth in 16:31.37, posting a final seven points for the team. Madison Heisterman and Ella Borsheim also placed ninth and tenth, respectively.
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The Huskies will now have a week of rest before they head right back to California for the NCAA West Preliminary rounds in Sacramento.
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Washington broke Oregon's 15-year run atop the conference standings, capping a thrilling three days at Hilmer Lodge Stadium. The Huskies did it by winning a school record seven events on the men's side, including sweeping every distance race from the 800-meters up to the 10k, something done only once before on the men's side, by Stanford in 2003.
The Husky women's team also had its best finish in Pac-12 Championships history, finishing alone in third. In 2021, the Huskies tied for third-place, which at the time was their first ever top-three. Today the women had third all to themselves. Oregon won the women's title with 158.5, USC was second with 127 points, then the Huskies in third with 85.5.
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After becoming the first Husky ever to win two Pac-12 distance events in the same meet, Fay was stoic for a few seconds, until he spotted his screaming teammates on the nearby fence, and then he charged over and jumped into the arms of thrower Elijah Mason and jumper Prestin Artis, who both had top-four finishes this weekend. It fittingly represented the total team effort that has brought Washington to the top of the heap in Pac-12 Men's Track & Field.
Won the 10k ?
β Washington Track & Field (@UWTrack) May 14, 2023
Won the 5k ?
Clinched the first Pac-12 Team Championship in UW history ?
Nobody but Brian we'd want to get us over the finish line.#GoHuskies // #Pac12TF // @NCAATrackField pic.twitter.com/RCwM2UJ5TF
The Huskies held off a major challenge from USC, as the Trojans took a late lead, but UW pushed back ahead with big points in the 400-meter hurdles, then Fay's win in the 5k and a runner-up pole vault finish from Jacob Englar. Washington wound up winning with 151 points, ahead of USC with 137, and Stanford with 96.
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"A long time coming," said Head Coach Andy Powell on the Pac-12 Networks broadcast. "When we took over five years ago, we told some of the freshmen that this was going to be our goal. Everyone believed it. It's a super special day for everyone."
Β
"People that come to Washington, they want to be part of something special," Powell said. "It's a great academic school. The culture of our team and where we've been and where we're going, people want to be a part of it. Today was special because it was not just one event group, it was a whole team effort. One person goes down, and other people step up. You can't do it with a couple individuals, you have to have a great team."
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What a weekend to close out the #Pac12TF season! ?? @OregonTF took home the women's title for the second consecutive year while men's @UWTrack won the program's first-ever team title!
β Pac-12 Network (@Pac12Network) May 15, 2023
Highlights ?? pic.twitter.com/lNNkQj2uHm
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Not since 1928, the Pacific Coast Conference meet held in Missoula, Montana when UW was coached by Hec Edmundson, has Washington won a conference track title that included teams from California. Washington won some PCC Northern Division titles in the 1930s and 1940s, but the Huskies had never finished better than second since the Pac-12 was first formed as the Athletic Association of Western Universities in 1960.
Β
One of those previous runner-up finishes came last year, as UW has been steadily climbing the ranks since Head Coach Andy Powell and Director of Track & Field Maurica Powell took the lead of the program in 2019. The men's team was 8th at this meet prior to Powell taking over, then went to fourth in year one, up to third in 2021, then second in 2022 and to the top spot in 2023.
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Washington's seven individual men's titles was also a program record, surpassing the six from 1976. Today, in addition to Fay's inspired 5,000-meters win, Cass Elliott successfully defended his 400-meter hurdles title, Sam Ellis ran away with the 800-meters title, and Nathan Green got his first Pac-12 1,500-meters title. Saturday, Ed Trippas won the 3,000-meter steeplechase and Ollie Thorner won the decathlon, while Fay won the 10,000-meters on Friday night.
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When you brought the Purple Reign to SoCal ?? then see ?? and 80's all week in Seattle.
β Washington Track & Field (@UWTrack) May 15, 2023
Good time to be a Dawg. #GoHuskies pic.twitter.com/kPkGQWArJ1
Washington's 2023 Pac-12 Champions
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Friday
Brian Fay β Men's 10,000-meters
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Saturday
Ollie Thorner β Men's Decathlon
Ed Trippas β Men's 3,000m Steeplechase
Nastassja Campbell and Sara Borton β Women's Pole Vault co-Champs
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Sunday
Nathan Green β Men's 1,500-meters
Sam Ellis β Men's 800-meters
Cass Elliott β Men's 400m Hurdles
Brian Fay β Men's 5,000-meters
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The Men's Path To Victory
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Washington went into day three with the lead and more than 60 points, but knew it would likely need to more than double that total to make history.
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The first big event of the day was the men's discus throw. The field included the collegiate record-holder, so getting a third career Pac-12 title from senior Elijah Mason would have been a huge upset, but Mason was ready to do his part for a first team title. On his very first attempt, he tied his career-best, throwing 201-feet, 7-inches. In the fifth round, Mason went further, for a new PR of 202-8. That got him third-place in an outstanding field, and was a great start for the Dawgs. It also moved Mason up to No. 4 in school history.
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Elijah Mason matches his PR on his very first throw!! ????
β Washington Track & Field (@UWTrack) May 14, 2023
201-7, what a start!!#GoHuskies pic.twitter.com/5qzP4Hnqbc
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It wasn't long before the Huskies had their second podium finish of the day, as sophomore Tim Luebbert beat his seed in the triple jump. Luebbert jumped 49-7 in the second round and that would hold up for third-place and six more points.
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The first individual track event would be a huge one for the Dawgs, with six of the twelve finalists sporting purple. The race went a bit off script, as UW's two NCAA Champions, Joe Waskom and Luke Houser, each were unable to find their way to the front, but sophomore Nathan Green stepped right up. Green broke away from Stanford's Ky Robinson to win in 3:42.22. After placing seventh at NCAA Outdoors last year and fifth at NCAA Indoors in races won by his teammates, it was Green's turn atop the podium.
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Also scoring for the Dawgs was Aaron Ahl, in fourth, in 3:44.67; Aidan Ryan was sixth in 3:47.18, and Luke Houser was seventh in 3:47.69. That gave the Dawgs a 20-point surge in the standings.
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But from there the Huskies were made to sweat a bit as USC rallied with a 1-2 finish in the 400-meters, and the 110m hurdles, passing the Huskies in the team race for the first time.
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The Dawgs answered, winning one of the few head-to-head battles with the Trojans in the 800-meters. All-American Sam Ellis, a multiple-time Ivy League Champ at Princeton, stayed right behind USC's Bobby Poynter through the first lap as the two left the rest of the finalists behind. On the backstretch of the final lap, Ellis passed Poynter on the inside, and he had the strength to pull away for the crucial win in a stellar time of 1:46.77, with Poynter a second back in 1:47.79.
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Ellis' time ranked him No. 2 in UW school history. And while his 10 points were a must for the Dawgs, USC got the eight points for second and two more for a seventh-place finish so the points were a wash and the Huskies still needed to make up ground.
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Incredible Strength ???? Sam Ellis takes the SIXTH individual title of the meet for the Dawgs!!
β Washington Track & Field (@UWTrack) May 14, 2023
He blazes to 1:46.77 which is the new #?2? 800-meters mark in Washington history!#GoHuskies // ?? Pac-12 Networks pic.twitter.com/fC7YLD5khF
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That ground was covered in the 400-meter hurdles. Defending Pac-12 Champion Cass Elliott made it back-to-back titles and Jonathan Birchman and Matthew Wilkinson finished 3rd and 4th in a final that USC did not factor into. Elliott ran the second-fastest time of his career to win in 49.31, while Birchman ran 50.79 and Wilkinson went 51.58.
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Washington got 21 points in the event, its third 20+ point event of the championships, along with the 1,500-meters and the decathlon. That propelled the Huskies back into the lead with 131 points at the time, while USC was second with 124.
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???????? ?????????????? ??????????????
β Washington Track & Field (@UWTrack) May 14, 2023
Dawgs go ??-??-4? in the 400-meter hurdles with Jonathan Birchman and Matthew Wilkinson close behind Elliott for a 21 point haul.
Elliott now a 2??? Pac-12 Champ#GoHuskies // ?? Pac-12 Networks pic.twitter.com/AvfXLxHgPS
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The Trojans then tied it up at 131-apiece, getting seven points out of the 100-meter dash final. At that point the Huskies had multiple entries to come in the 5,000-meters, Jacob Englar was working his way up the pole vault standings, and the Dawgs could also look for some final points in the 4x400m relay. USC, meanwhile, only had the 4x4 remaining. If the Trojans won that event, then the Huskies would need at least 11 points combined from the 5k, pole vault, and 4x4.
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That's when Fay stepped up to help put an end to the long back-and-forth battle. He ran a race very similar to the 10k victory on Friday night, settling in for several laps behind a group of Stanford runners. And then on the final lap, Fay showed his closing mettle once again, dropping another big kick despite the heat and tired legs. Fay dropped a trio of Cardinal men and won by more than four seconds, in 14:08.03, which given Englar's current standing in the pole vault, guaranteed the team title.
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It was also truly cemented by Leo Daschbach, who, like Fay, doubled back from scoring in the 10k on Friday night. Daschbach gritted out an eighth-place finish to grab one more point in the 5,000-meters, making it 11 for the Dawgs in the event. Isaac Green also had a gutsy run in ninth in 14:32.53.
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Englar then padded the winning cushion in the pole vault, as he set a new outdoor personal-best and broke into the Husky outdoor top-10 with a clearance of 17-9 ΒΌ. That earned him runner-up honors and eight more team points. He is now 10th in school history outdoors.
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The Dawgs tacked on one last point in the 4x400m relay, as Birchman, Wilkinson, Daniel Gaik, and Elliott ran 3:14.87 to finish eighth.
Women's Team Historic As Well
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The Husky women also turned in perhaps their finest conference weekend in school history. Only once before in team history, in 2019 during the Powells' first season, had the women finished third at Pac-12s. That year Washington tied for third with Arizona State. Today was the first time the women finished alone in third, and their 85.5 points was the team's highest ever in the current scoring format.
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Washington's first points today came in the 1,500-meter final, as Sophie O'Sullivan and Anna Gibson took on perhaps the deepest field of the meet. In a race that saw the top-two runners break the Meet Record, O'Sullivan ran a huge five-second PR to take fourth in 4:12.19, with Gibson right behind her in fifth in a big season-best of 4:12.65. O'Sullivan moved to No. 6 in school history with that time.
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Incredible runs from Sophie O'Sullivan and Anna Gibson in the women's 1,500-meter final.
β Washington Track & Field (@UWTrack) May 14, 2023
Sophie just took FIVE SECONDS off her ???? to take 4th in 4:12.19, which puts her #?6? in school history.
Anna with a huge season-best of 4:12.65 for 5th-place! ????#GoHuskies pic.twitter.com/EcPe1KNbzo
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Next up, Carley Thomas once again broke her own UW School Record in the 800-meters, giving a massive effort to try and defend her conference title, but Stanford's Juliette Whittaker ran the No. 5 time in the NCAA this year to win in 2:01.19, while Thomas leaned across the line in 2:02.40 for second-place, more than three seconds ahead of third.
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Beatrice Asomaning scored in her second event of the weekend in the women's discus, grabbing the eighth spot today with a best of 173-2 for one point. Kaia Tupu-South also made the final but was just out of the points in ninth with a 172-3 throw.
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Looking to hold off Stanford for the third spot in the team race, the Huskies dug in for the 5k. Doubling back from scoring either on Saturday or earlier on Sunday, four Dawgs fought for top-10 finishes. Kayley DeLay, third in the steeplechase last night, finished fifth in 16:24.63, and Sophie O'Sullivan was sixth in 16:31.37, posting a final seven points for the team. Madison Heisterman and Ella Borsheim also placed ninth and tenth, respectively.
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The Huskies will now have a week of rest before they head right back to California for the NCAA West Preliminary rounds in Sacramento.
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Players Mentioned
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Spr/Hur
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