Cougs' Charisma Taylor earns fifth place finish in TJ at NCAA indoor champs...

FAYETTEVILLE, Arkansas--Washington State sophomore Charisma Taylor (Kirby Lee/Image of Sport photo) set a new personal best, Cougar school record, and Bahamian national indoor record with her fifth place finish in the triple jump on the final day of competition at the NCAA Division I indoor track & field championships at the Randal Tyson Track Center on the campus of the University of Arkansas.

Taylor came roaring in the first round, jumping 44-8 (13.61m) to occupy second place, and top her previous best of 44-2.75 (13.48m) set at altitude in Albuquerque last year.

After a foul in round 2, she matched her first jump in the third round to start the final three rounds of jumps in fourth place.

Eventual winner and pre-meet favorite Ruth Usoro of Texas Tech went from fifth to second in the fifth round, and got the win in round 6 with a jump of 46-10 (14.27m), the same mark as runner-up Deborah Acquah of Texas A&M. Usoro's fifth round jump of 46-7.5 (14.21m) was the difference, as Acquah's second best mark was 45-4.25 (13.82m).

Washington senior Katie Rainsberger earned her 12th career All-America certificate with a eighth place finish in the mile, running 4:39.67, as Colorado's Sage Hurta won in 4:30.58.

Rainsberger was seventh in the mile final in 2019, becoming just the second Husky to go top-eight in the mile twice, joining Katie Follett who reached the podium in the mile in 2008 and 2010.

Allie Schadler was looking to join Rainsberger with a podium finish in the 3,000-meters one hour later, but with less than three laps to go, Elly Henes of North Carolina State tried to jump to the outside of the pack, tripped and fell directly in front of Schadler, taking the legs out from under Schadler and knocking her hard to the track. Schadler had been running well and was in solid position in the back of the lead pack at the time. She got up despite some lacerations and still finished the race in 15th-place overall in 9:29.83, two spots behind Woodinville native Olivia Markezich of Notre Dame, who ran 9:21.74.

BYU's Courtney Wayment won the title in a time of 9:01.47.

Schadler and Sam Tanner, who did not qualify for Saturday's final in the men's mile, are on the Husky roster for Monday's NCAA cross country championships in Stillwater, Oklahoma, as are Madison Heisterman and Kelly Makin, who ran on UW's distance medley relay Friday night.

The host University of Arkansas won the women's team title with 68 points, followed by Texas A&M's 57, LSU's 39 and USC's 35 points.

In the race that clinched the team title for the University of Oregon, Washington State's Colton Johnsen finished tenth in the 3000 meters, running 7:57.38, as mile winner Cole Hocker took the 3000 title in 7:46.15, beating teammate Cooper Teare, who ran 7:46.23 to give the Ducks 18 points.

The Ducks won the meet going away with 79 points, with LSU second with 56, Georgia at 35, and Florida fourth with 34 points.

The results of the NCAA indoor track and field championships are available here. 

PARKER BOWDEN OF EASTERN WASHINGTON BREAKS SCHOOL RECORD IN 110 HURDLES...

In probably one of the most unlooked for marks of the 2021 outdoor season so far, Eastern Washington's Parker Bowden (photo courtesy EWU Athletics) ran 13.90 in the 110 hurdles to highlight competition at the PNW Team Clash hosted by Oregon State University Saturday afternoon.

Bowden broke the previous facility record of 14.33, eclipsed his previous personal best of 14.34 set in 2018, and the school record of 14.23 set in 2014. In the process, he became the first Eagle to break 14 seconds in the high hurdles, and currently has the second fastest time in the country so far this season.

"It was nice to execute on a day like today with temperatures in the 60s," said the fifth year senior. "Hopefully I can take some more time off that mark."

"This performance represents a lifetime of work for Parker," said Eastern men's head coach Stan Kerr.

The Eagles took fifteen wins on the day in Corvallis, with their top women's performance a clearance of 12-11.5 (3.95m) by pole vaulters Katrina Terry and Savannah Schultz, with Terry winning on fewer misses.

Seattle University earned wins in four events, with sprinter Tricht Jocelyn, a grad transfer from the University of Charleston getting two wins in the women's 100 (12.24) and 200 (25.45).

Complete results of the PNW Team Clash are available here.

UW ALUM IZZI BATT-DOYLE FINISHES SECOND AT AUSTRALIAN 5000M CHAMPS AT SYDNEY TRACK CLASSIC SATURDAY...

Washington alum Izzi Batt-Doyle finished second Saturday night in Australia's national championship race at 5000 meters at the Sydney Track Classic.

The 2019 Pac-12 champion and All-American at 10000 meters was up front for most of the race, though the wind began to pick up during the race, helping derail any thoughts of attaining the Olympic standard of 15:10.00.

In the final lap, Batt-Doyle was passed with 250 to to by Jenny Blundell and Canada's Andrea Seccafien, with Seccafien getting the win in 15:25.62, catching Blundell with less than 50 meters to go.

Blundell was second in 15:25.84, and got the Australian national title, with Batt-Doyle taking third (second Australian) in 15:25.62.

Courtesy of Athletics Australia, here's the replay of the race (fast forward to the 2:12:00 mark):

Complete results of the Sydney Track Classic are available here.

NOTE: The sports information office of the University of Arkansas, University of Washington, Washington State the NCAA, Eastern Washington University, Seattle University, and Athletics Australia contributed to this report.

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