AROUND THE TRACK: Taiwo on Bowerman list; NCAA D2 field; Last Chance meets; Jungmark in Euros...
The USTFCCCA named Washington's Jeremy Taiwo (left/photo courtesy University of Washington) to its Bowerman Watch List for the month of March.
The Bowerman is collegiate track & field's version of the Heisman Trophy and is awarded to the nation's top male and female athlete at the end of the year.
Taiwo, a senior from Renton, was one of ten men named to the Bowerman Watch List based on scoring a collegiate-leading and then-world-leading 6,156 in the heptathlon at the Boise State Team Challenge, including a then-all-time world best clearance of 7-4½ (2.25m) in the heptathlon high jump. Ranked as the third-best collegiate performer in the heptathlon in history, his score was the fifth-best in collegiate history. He also ranks No. 7 on the U.S. all-time list.
Two weeks after that effort in Nampa, Taiwo competed in the MPSF championships heptathlon in an effort to win in his final home meet at the Dempsey, but had a slight hamstring injury than forced him to withdraw.
Three-time NCAA pole vault champ Scott Roth was the last Husky to be in the mix for the Bowerman, when he was named a semi-finalist at the end of the 2011 collegiate season. Current Husky Katie Flood has been on the women's Watch List on several occasions.
In Division II, Western Washington announced that pole vaulters Karis Anderson and Cheyenna Pinley, along with long jumper Emily Warman will represent the school at next week's NCAA D2 indoor championships in Birmingham, Alabama.
Seattle Pacific will have six athletes heading to Birmingham--McKayla Fricker and Lynelle Decker (800m), Katy Gross (pentathlon); and the 4 x 400 relay team of Fricker, Emily Quatier, Kishia Mitchell, and Jasmine Johnson.
Decker and the Falcon relay team were the last ones to get into the national championships, along with the Vikings' Pinley.
In Division I, this weekend marks the last chance for teams and individuals to qualify for next weekend's national championship meet in Fayetteville, Arkansas.
Washington State, led by MPSF 3000 and 5000 champs Todd Wakefield and Drew Jordan, will head to South Bend, Indiana to run the distance medley relay along with Jacob Sealby and Jesse Jorgensen at the Alex Wilson Invitational hosted by Notre Dame, where they hope to run at least 9:36 to have a shot at qualifying for nationals.
The Huskies will host its annual last chance meet Friday night at the Dempsey beginning at 6 pm.
Among notable pros entered in the meet include Chris Solinsky, the former American record holder in the 10000, who is entered in the 3000, while the other members of his Portland-based training group race Friday in New York at the Armory.
The men's mile appears to be a set-up for the Huskies' Joey Bywater, as the senior from Lake Stevens looks to break 4 minutes in the mile, a mark in which he was short of by .37 seconds.
Bywater will need to run 3:58 and change if he's to have a shot at advancing to Fayetteville.
Other events of note include the women's 800, mile & 5000; and men's 400, high jump, pole vault, and triple jump.
While the focus among the pros will be on this weekend's USA Indoor Championships in Albuquerque, former Washington State standout Ebba Jungmark (left/photo by Paul Merca) will contest the high jump at the European indoor championships in her hometown of Goteborg, Sweden.
The qualifying round of the women's high jump is Saturday, with the finals on Sunday.
European Athletics will offer video streaming of one of the world's top indoor meets this season via www.european-athletics.org.
Courtesy of Goteborg 2013, here's a video featuring the former Cougar (in Swedish with English subtitles)
NOTE: The USTFCCCA, University of Washington, Washington State University, and the Goteborg 2013 organizing committee contributed to this report.
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