Friday, February 27
Indianapolis, Ind.
8:30 AM
University of Washington
vs
Big Ten Indoor Championships
Huskies Push Nine Through To Big Ten Finals
February 27, 2026 | Track & Field
INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. – Friday was "moving day" at the Big Ten Indoor Track & Field Championships, as there were few finals but many tickets punched for a decisive Saturday. Washington saw nine athletes advance through prelims today to set them up well for a big points chase tomorrow at the Fall Creek Pavilion.
UW posted the most final qualifiers in the men's mile, with four of the ten qualifiers, and the women's 800-meters, with three of the eight finalists.
In addition to the nine advancers from Friday, the Huskies will have numerous entries tomorrow in the men's and women's 3,000-meters, which is a straight final. Saturday will also be UW's busiest day in the field, with entries in the men's high jump, men's pole vault, and women's and women's triple jumps.
The women remain in third-place with 32 points and the men are 11th with nine points, but third-place on the men's side sits at just 17 points and the UW men have the bulk of their opportunities on Saturday.
Moving On
Josephine Welin ran the best mile of her Husky career to advance into Saturday's women's mile final. Welin was part of a four-woman breakaway in the first of the three mile prelims, with two auto-advancing spots. She got edged out for second-place at the line, but her new lifetime-best time of 4:38.86 was the top time qualifier.
The Husky men's milers then took care of business in the prelims with four men advancing to take up 40% of the ten-person final coming on Saturday. Tyler Bilyard and Reuben Reina auto advanced out of heats one and two with runner-up finishes. Bilyard ran 4:00.69 and Reina went 4:04.73. Freshman Josiah Tostenson and junior Thom Diamond had two of the four additional time qualifiers. Tostenson ran 4:02.99 and Diamond went 4:01.76 to advance.
In the men's 400-meter dash, UW's lone representative, junior Alex Rhodes, reached his first Big Ten final. Rhodes, the NCAA D-III Champion, got the final spot in the finals as he had the eighth-fastest qualifying time of 46.51 seconds.
Again UW produced the most finals qualifiers in the women's 800-meters, advancing all their entries to Saturday, where they will have three of the eight spots on the starting line. Jenica Swartz was up first in heat one and took third in 2:05.45. She had to sweat out the next two heats to see if her time would hold up, and it ultimately did, getting the final time qualifier.
In heat two of the 800m, freshman Chloe Symon got the second of the two auto-advancing spots. She ran 2:05.06 to reach her first conference final. Then in the third heat, defending Big Ten Champion Chloe Foerster left nothing to chance, taking the lead early and holding it the whole way to win in 2:04.05, the second-fastest prelim time overall.
Dawg Bites
UW posted the most final qualifiers in the men's mile, with four of the ten qualifiers, and the women's 800-meters, with three of the eight finalists.
In addition to the nine advancers from Friday, the Huskies will have numerous entries tomorrow in the men's and women's 3,000-meters, which is a straight final. Saturday will also be UW's busiest day in the field, with entries in the men's high jump, men's pole vault, and women's and women's triple jumps.
The women remain in third-place with 32 points and the men are 11th with nine points, but third-place on the men's side sits at just 17 points and the UW men have the bulk of their opportunities on Saturday.
Moving On
Josephine Welin ran the best mile of her Husky career to advance into Saturday's women's mile final. Welin was part of a four-woman breakaway in the first of the three mile prelims, with two auto-advancing spots. She got edged out for second-place at the line, but her new lifetime-best time of 4:38.86 was the top time qualifier.
The Husky men's milers then took care of business in the prelims with four men advancing to take up 40% of the ten-person final coming on Saturday. Tyler Bilyard and Reuben Reina auto advanced out of heats one and two with runner-up finishes. Bilyard ran 4:00.69 and Reina went 4:04.73. Freshman Josiah Tostenson and junior Thom Diamond had two of the four additional time qualifiers. Tostenson ran 4:02.99 and Diamond went 4:01.76 to advance.
Tyler Bilyard closing well to earn the Auto Q into the mile final in a time of 4:00.69.
— Washington Track & Field and Cross Country (@UWTrack) February 27, 2026
Josiah Tostenson in fourth also gets the small q to move on.#GoHuskies // @BigTenPlus pic.twitter.com/OjoP07gT9u
In the men's 400-meter dash, UW's lone representative, junior Alex Rhodes, reached his first Big Ten final. Rhodes, the NCAA D-III Champion, got the final spot in the finals as he had the eighth-fastest qualifying time of 46.51 seconds.
Again UW produced the most finals qualifiers in the women's 800-meters, advancing all their entries to Saturday, where they will have three of the eight spots on the starting line. Jenica Swartz was up first in heat one and took third in 2:05.45. She had to sweat out the next two heats to see if her time would hold up, and it ultimately did, getting the final time qualifier.
In heat two of the 800m, freshman Chloe Symon got the second of the two auto-advancing spots. She ran 2:05.06 to reach her first conference final. Then in the third heat, defending Big Ten Champion Chloe Foerster left nothing to chance, taking the lead early and holding it the whole way to win in 2:04.05, the second-fastest prelim time overall.
Defending champ Chloe Foerster powers to another win in the final 800m prelim ??
— Washington Track & Field and Cross Country (@UWTrack) February 27, 2026
As the announcers break it down, Jenica Swartz grabs the final time qualifier to give the Huskies 3?? finalists tomorrow!#GoHuskies pic.twitter.com/iVmgtaftcO
Dawg Bites
- Jonathan Frazier ran a season-best 60m hurdles time of 7.98 seconds, placing 11th overall, just missing the final by .04 seconds.
- Ava Washburn placed 21st overall in the women's long jump. She had fouls on her first two attempts and then went 18-11 ¼ on her third attempt.
- Freshman Owen Powell was 19th overall in the mile prelims in 4:07.63 and did not advance.
- Gioana Lopizzo was 27th overall in the mile prelims in a time of 5:03.05
Players Mentioned
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Multis
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Dist
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