Huskies qualify a bevy of athletes for NCAAs; Washington natives Poston, Berry, Geubelle, and Weitz do so as well...
AUSTIN, Texas--The University of Washington advanced three javelin throwers, two sprinters, a sprint relay team, and two distance runners in the final day of competition at the NCAA West Preliminary meet at Mike A. Myers Stadium on the campus of the University of Texas.
The tone was set early by freshman Carson Fuller in flight 1 of 3 in the javelin competition, as he popped an unlooked-for throw of 227-11 (69.48m) to lead the competition through the first two flights.
In flight 3, which had the top seeded throwers, Joe Zimmerman got himself safely into the top 12 with a throw of 236-4 (72.03m), which ended up being the fifth best toss of the day.
Jimmy Brookman survived a short throw and a foul and threw 224-4 (68.34m) to get himself three more throws in the finals, where he threw his best of 228-8 (69.69m) in round four, a mark that ended up tenth overall on the day.
Fuller's toss in flight 1 ended up being the 11th best of the day, ensuring that the Dawgs advanced three throwers to Eugene and the national finals, the most in the event by a single school.
Courtesy of the University of Washington, here's a video interview with all three throwers:
Washington's sprint relay team of Chris Williams, James Alaka (left/photo by Paul Merca), Quadelle Satterwhite, and Matt Anthony finished fifth in their heat of the 4 x 100m, running a season best of 40.03, and grabbing the last time qualifying spot to Eugene.
Later in the meet, Williams ran a personal best of 13.82 in the 110 hurdles, the second fastest time in school history to finish third and advance to Hayward Field.
Alaka, a three time Pac-12 sprint champion, who has been dinged up with a hamstring issue during the outdoor season, and a bad cramp suffered in Friday's first round of the 200, squeezed out the 12th and final spot to Eugene, running 21.08.
In separate heats of the 5000, Megan Goethals advanced to Eugene, winning her section in a time of 15:55.91, while Christine Babcock was fourth in her heat in 16:08.17 to move to the national finals.
Tacoma native Germe Poston anchored the University of Arizona women's 4 x 100m relay to a third place finish in their heat, as the Wildcats ran 44.75 to advance.
In the men's 4 x 400 relay, Rainier Beach HS grad Michael Berry from Oregon anchored the Ducks to victory in their heat, as they ran 3:04.16.
In what may shape up to be one of the big battles in Eugene, San Diego State's Shanieka Thomas won the triple jump with a best of 46-2 (14.07m), as University Place resident Andrea Geubelle from Kansas took second with a jump of 45-1 3/4 (13.76m).
Geubelle got her best mark in round 1, fouled in round 2, and had a shorter jump before calling it a day, knowing that whether she won or not, she was advancing to the national finals.
One of the biggest surprises of the meet involving a Washington athlete happened in the men's 1500, as Shadle Park of Spokane's Nathan Weitz, a freshman at Northern Arizona, qualified for the national finals, running 3:49.99 to finish fifth in his heat.
Comments