Hometown hero JJ Julifs takes Pac-12 pole vault title, while Cougs' Scott-Ellis wins long jump...

EUGENE--University of Washington freshman JJ Julifs (left/photo by Paul Merca), a product of Eugene's Sheldon HS, was the victor of the men's pole vault as day one of the Pacific 12 track and field championships concluded at sun drenched Hayward Field on the campus of the University of Oregon.

After clearing the first two heights of 16-4 1/2 (4.99m) and 16-10 1/4 (5.14m), he needed two attempts to clear the next two heights of 17-2 1/4 (5.24m) and 17-6 1/4 (5.34m).

Julifs wasn't out of the water, as Michael Woepse of UCLA and Derrick Hinch of Arizona State were with him, with Woepse leading based on a first attempt make at 17-2 1/4.

Three misses by Woepse at 17-6 1/4, and it was down to the Husky freshman and the Sun Devil.

The turning point was at 17-10 1/4 (5.44m), a new outdoor personal best for Julifs, as the local kid cleared on his third attempt after Hinch missed.

He took three decent shots at 18-2 1/4 (5.55m), which would have made him the fourth man in Husky history to clear 18 feet, behind Steve Oravetz, Brad Walker, and Scott Roth.

Washington senior Robby Feagles was fourth at 16-10 1/4, and WSU's John Brenteson eighth at 16-4 1/2.

Washington State's Stephan Scott-Ellis added the Pac 12 long jump title to his MPSF indoor crown, as he jumped a windy 25-9 1/4 (7.85m).

Scott-Ellis soared to a non-wind-aided PR mark of 25-6 1/2 in his fifth attempt which would have won the event, and is the ninth-best in WSU all-time records. Scott-Ellis passed on his sixth and final attempt to save energy for his defense of his triple jump title Sunday afternoon.

In the men's high jump, Washington's AJ Maricich tied for second with Arizona's Edgar Rivera-Morales, as he cleared a personal best of 7-1 1/2 (2.17m), as Arizona's Nick Ross won at 7-2 1/2 (2.20m)

The Cougars' Jovan Vukicevic tied for fourth with Bryan McBride of Arizona State, clearing the same height of 7-1 1/2.

Courtney Kirkwood Simmons and her sister Christine Kirkwood, from Othello, Wash., finished second and third in the women's javelin. Simmons, a senior, threw a season-best 166-3 (50.68) for second place and Kirkwood, a freshman, tossed 161-9 (49.31m) for third place.

The Huskies' Amanda Peterson (156-1. 47.58m) and Brooke Pighin (154-10, 47.19m), along with the Cougars' Anna Adamko (150-1, 45.75m) went 5-6-7 in the competition.

In the men's javelin, the Huskies' Joe Zimmerman was second at 231-10 (70.67m) to Oregon's Sam Crouser (250-10, 76.47m), just ahead of Tahoma HS grad Derek Eager of UCLA at 223-9 (68.21m).

Washington's Quinn Hale (218-5, 66.57m), Jimmy Brookman (217-11, 66.42m), and Curt Clauson (208-3, 63.47m) finished 4-5-7, while WSU's Sam Ferenchak took the eighth and final scoring spot at 207-3 (63.18m).

WSU's Joe Bartlett was fifth in the men's shot at 53-9 (16.38m).

Former Seattle Pacific standout Jessica Tebo of the University of Colorado won her semi in the women's 1500 in 4:21.25 over the Huskies' Katie Flood at 4:21.47.

In the same heat, Bellingham's Becca Friday was third at 4:21.76, and the Huskies' Chelsea Orr was fourth at 4:21.80.

Friday also qualified for Sunday's finals in the 800, running 2:08.41.

Gig Harbor's Miles Unterreiner of Stanford was fourth in the men's 10000 at 29:48.50, while Bellingham's Chris Kwiatkowski of Oregon was fifth in 29:49.06. Washington's Aaron Beattie was 11th in 31:12.12, while WSU's Andrew Kimpel failed to finish.

In the women's 10000, the Huskies' Liberty Miller moved steadily through the pack to finish a scoring seventh in 35:07.97, just behind Bellingham's Bronwyn Crossman of Oregon in 35:06.78.

Significant qualifiers from the prelims included Ramsey Hopkins of WSU in the 110 hurdles (14.28), Rainier Beach HS grad Michael Berry of Oregon in the 400 (46.01); Shawna Fermin of WSU in the women's 400 (52.95); the Huskies' James Alaka in the 100 (10.34w) and 200 (20.72); WSU's Joe Abbott in the 800 (1:51.73); teammate J Hopkins in the 400 hurdles (51.56).

The Pac-12 championships continue Sunday with a full slate of finals starting at 10:45 am, with the first running event at 1 pm.

Complete day 1 results are available here.

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