Husky steeplechasers Andrew Gardner and Emily Hamlin, along with WSU's Stephanie Cho earn spots to Eugene...
Gardner ran between third and fifth in his heat for nearly the entire race, until making a decisive move with 250-meters to go where he surged into the lead and completely pulled away from the rest of the field, crossing the line in 8:38.79, a PR by six seconds that moved him from eighth to third on the Husky top-10 list. It was the fastest steeple by a Husky since the school record of 8:32.27 was set by Dan Bell in 1987. Gardner will be going to the NCAA semis for the second time, making it last in 2016.
After his thrilling 60-second final lap, Gardner said, "Right now I'm really fit. Honestly it was the easiest lap I've ran in a long time. I felt really comfortable, so it was great, I'm just happy. I'm excited to be in Eugene representing Washington and hopefully taking it to the very end."
Hamlin came into the meet seeded 23rd overall with her season-best time of 10:20.49. But the pace continued to be fast as it had in the previous steeple heats thanks in part to a cool night in Sacramento. Hamlin, who just picked up the event in early April and had run it three times, continues to excel through the water pit, and she consistently made up big time on her competition at that aspect of the race. Hamlin needed to finish fourth or better with a time of at least 10:05, and she easily managed that, coming in fourth in 10:00.35 to punch her ticket.
"This is the first time my family has seen me run the steeple, so to get a big PR like that was really exciting," said Hamlin. "I couldn't believe it when I crossed the line and they said I was going to Eugene. There were so many emotions. (Interim Head Coach Jason Drake) told me the times from the first heat were pretty fast, so I had it in my head that I just wanted to PR and I'd be happy with that. I had no idea that I was going to run 10-flat. A twenty second PR, I'll take it. It's special."
The most significant athlete to miss qualifying was Gonzaga’s Troy Fraley, who was seventh at the NCAA finals in the 3000 steeplechase last year.
Fraley, who had battled a foot problem for most of the season, was eighth in his heat at 8:57.39. Teammate Kellen Manley was also eighth in his heat, but ran the second fastest time in school history, clocking 8:49.35, behind only Fraley’s 8:35:38 from last year.
Stephanie Cho of Washington State was a time qualifier in the 400 hurdles, running 58.12 to finish fourth in her quarterfinal round race and advance to the NCAA finals in Eugene in two weeks.
Her teammate Alissa Brooks-Johnson, who is already going to Eugene in the heptathlon, missed qualifying for her second event, when she ran 58.32. Ironically it was Cho who eliminated Brooks-Johnson.
Cho joins Eager in the hammer, Brooks-Johnson in the heptathlon, and Pac-12 pole vault champ Sander Moldau, who qualified Thursday with a clearance of 16-10.75 (5.15m).
Complete day 2 results of the NCAA West Preliminary round are available here.
Media partner Flotrack.org ($) is offering live streaming coverage of the meet.
In Charlotte, North Carolina, Tacoma native Dakarai Hightower of St. Augustine's won the men's high jump at the NCAA Division II Outdoor Track and Field Championships Friday at the Irwin Belk Complex.
Hightower, who was a 2016 US Olympic Trials qualifier while competing at Eugene's Lane Community College, won with a second attempt clearance at 7-1.75 (2.18m).
Hightower, who transferred to St. Augustine's in Raleigh, North Carolina after one year at NAIA Doane in Nebraska, started the day with clean slates through the first four bars that he cleared before needing a second attempt at the eventual winning height.
Central Washington’s Kodiak Landis and HarLee Ortega, earned identical fifth place finishes in the decathlon and heptathlon competition.
Landis closed out his collegiate career with a fifth-place finish in the decathlon, closing with a lifetime best of 7,207 points.
Sitting in second after the first five events on Thursday, Landis sewed up his trophy with a second-place finish in the pole vault, clearing 15 feet, 3 inches (4.65m), and a fourth-place finish in the final event, the 1,500 meters, in a time of 4:35.44.
Ortega, also a senior, posted a lifetime-best score of 5,026 points in the heptathlon to also finish in fifth place.
Ortega moved up from seventh to fifth thanks to a sixth-place finish in the javelin, throwing 105 feet, 11 inches (33.29m), and a second-place finish in the 800 meters in 2:19.17.
A day after earning All-American honors in the women’s long jump, Seattle Pacific freshman Renick Meyer earned her second trophy with a seventh-place finish in the heptathlon with 4,992 points. Meyer’s best second-day event was the long jump, placing second with a mark of 19 feet, 5.5 inches (5.93m).
Complete day 2 results from the NCAA Division II track & field championships are available here.
NCAA.com is offering free, live streaming coverage of the Division II championship meet.
In Eugene, Camas’ Alexa Efraimson finished second in the women’s national section of the 1500 meters to start the first night of competition Friday at the Nike Prefontaine Classic at Hayward Field.
Efraimson ran 4:08.70 to finish behind Dani Jones’ 4:07.74.
Washington alums Eleanor Fulton (4:15.05) and Katie Mackey (4:16.37) were tenth and eleventh.
Former Emerald Ridge HS standout and 2016 Olympian Hassan Mead was tenth in the men’s two mile, running 8:24.09, as Ethiopia’s Selemon Barega won in 8:20.01.
Saturday afternoon, the meet resumes with 13 Diamond League events contested, starting with the women’s pole vault at 12:40 pm, featuring Pullman’s Katie Nageotte, who goes against world and Olympic champ Katerina Stefanidi, former Olympic champ Jenn Suhr, and reigning world indoor champ Sandi Morris.
Henry Wynne and Izaic Yorks of the Brooks Beasts are entered in the International mile.
Former Renton resident and Oregon alum Devon Allen returns to Hayward Field to run the 110 hurdles against a strong field that includes the last two Olympic champions in Aries Merritt (2012) and Omar McLeod (2016), along with former world champ Sergey Shubenkov (2015).
NBC Sports will provide live coverage of the Nike Prefontaine Classic Saturday beginning at 1 pm.
The results of day 1 of the Nike Prefontaine Classic are available here.
NOTE: The NCAA, University of Washington, Washington State University, Gonzaga University, IAAF, and the Great Northwest Athletic Conference contributed to this report.
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