Dawgs to send 13 men to NCAA finals in Austin, while Cougs, Zags and Eags each qualify one...

SACRAMENTO--On the final day of the men's competition Friday night at the NCAA Division I Men's and Women's Outdoor Track & Field preliminary round at Hornet Stadium on the campus of Sacramento State University, the number 10 ranked Washington Huskies added nine men to Wednesday's total of three to give the Dawgs a grand total of 13 athletes heading to the NCAA championships in Austin, Texas in two weeks.

That number is the largest number of competitors that Washington will send to the national championships in the current format.

Pac-12 champion Nathan Green (Paul Merca photo) was the highest finisher on the evening, as the Idaho native was the overall winner of the 1500 meters, running 3:38.13 to take heat 2, with Aidan Ryan taking tenth in 3:42.02.

In the previous heat, the reigning NCAA outdoor and indoor champions in the 1500 and mile, Joe Waskom & Luke Houser, cruised to a second and third place finish, running 3:49.54 and 3:49.60 to punch their tickets to Austin.

Elijah Mason was the first man to secure his spot to Austin Friday afternoon, throwing the discus 199-4 (60.77m) to finish fifth.  Former Husky Jonah Wilson, now competing for Nebraska, finished ninth at 189-7 (57.78m). Washington State's Ronald Grueso Mosquera was 36th at 175-5 (53.48m).

In the 100 meters, WSU freshman Louie Hinchliffe tied the school record held by Olympian Anson Henry, running 10.17 to get the final qualifying spot to Austin, placing fourth in his heat.

The steeplechase saw Walla Walla's Kenneth Rooks of Brigham Young, running in heat 3, lose his American collegiate record in the event in the previous heat to Montana State's Duncan Hamilton, as Hamilton ran 8:16.23, which makes him the second fastest collegiate steepler all time behind Henry Rono of WSU's time of 8:05.4 set in 1978.

Rooks ran 8:25.05 to win heat 3.

In heat 1, Washington's Ed Trippas broke his school record by .04, running 8:31.36 to finish a comfortable second and a spot to the national championships.

Former Husky Alex Slenning, now running for Oregon was a time qualifier, running 8:34.29 in heat 1.

Kelvin Limo of WSU was 15th in 8:40.22, while Gonzaga's Cullen McEachern was 17th in 8:40.98. Sam Griffith of WSU was 35th in 8:56.73; former SeattleU runner Giuliano Scasso of Oregon was 36th in 8:58.76; Yakima native Jonas Price of Oklahoma State was 41st 9:06.94; and, Gonzaga's Cooper Laird was 42nd in 9:09.14.

Pac-12 800 meter champ Sam Ellis of the Huskies was an easy qualifier in his specialty, running 1:47.00, the seventh fastest time of the day, finishing third in his heat.

Fellow Husky and 400 meter hurdles champ Cass Elliott finished second in his heat in 49.57 to qualify for the nationals again. Joining him is teammate Jonathan Birchman, who got third in his heat in 50.53. 

 

Washington State's Jared McAlvey, running in the same heat as Elliott, finished seventh in 52.15.

Eastern Washington's Bobby Say was one of the biggest surprises of the evening, as he bounded to a personal best 51-11.75 (15.84m) in the triple jump, which held up as the sixth best mark overall. Say's leap is the fourth furthest in school history.

Washington's Tim Luebbert was 23rd at 50-3.5 (15.32m).

To close things out, Washington's Brian Fay finished second in his heat of the 5000, running 13:24.71 to gain an automatic qualifier. Gonzaga's James Mwaura also got a qualifier, finishing fourth in his heat in 13:38.82.

Gonzaga's Wil Smith finished 26th overall 13:55.99, while Washington State's Zach Stallings was 37th in 14:10.51.

The women conclude the West Regionals Saturday using an identical schedule to what the men competed in Friday starting with the discus at 1 pm and the 4 x 100 at 5 pm.

Day 3 results are available here.

UW ALUM KIERAN LUMB RIPS OFF BIG PR IN THE 1500 AT USATF LA GRAND PRIX...

On the first evening of competition at the USATF LA Grand Prix Friday night at Drake Stadium on the campus of UCLA, Washington alum Kieran Lumb won the B section of the men's 1500.

Lumb ran a personal best of 3:35.99 to win the race. Henry Wynne of the Brooks Beasts finished third in a season best 3:38.02, and Tacoma native Jack Yearian was tenth in 3:41.47.

Laurie Barton of the Brooks Beasts won the B section of the women's 800 in 2:02.54.

Pasco native Marisa Howard's comeback after sitting out the 2022 season on maternity leave continued with a solid fifth place finish in the women's steeplechase in 9:39.50 after leading for the first five laps of the race. Washington alum Katie Rainsberger was 13th in 10:18.70.

Former Pullman resident Katie Moon had a rare no height in the pole vault, failing to clear the opening bar of 14-5.5 (4.41m), as training partner Sandi Morris won at 15-1.5 (4.61m).

The men's 5000 saw Dillon Maggard of the Brooks Beasts set a personal best, running 13:16.55 to finish tenth, while Washington alum Jack Rowe was 13th, also in a personal best 13:20.00, as Abdihamid Nur won in 13:05.17 and got the world championship standard.

In the women's 1500 B section, Rebecca Mehra finished 10th in 4:14.25, while UW alum Katie Follett was 15th in 4:21.93 in a race won by Emily Mackay in 4:07.03.

The USATF LA Grand Prix continues Saturday afternoon at 1:30 pm, with NBC Sports (KING 5 in Seattle) televising the meet.

The link to Friday's results are available here.

WESTERN'S MARIAN LEDESMA QUALIFIES FOR 800M FINALS AT NCAA D2 CHAMPS...

In Pueblo, Colorado, junior Marian Ledesma of Western Washington ran 2:10.57 while placing second in the third (and fastest) heat on Friday at the NCAA Division II Track & Field Championships at the CSU-Pueblo Thunderbowl to automatically qualify by placing in the top two of the heat.

Ledesma, who transferred from Azusa Pacific, where she qualified for the national championships in this event last year, earns a spot in Saturday's finals at 5:55pm.

In the two finals contested Friday, Ila Davis of Western Washington finished eleventh in the women's 3000 steeplechase in 10:58.97, while Seattle Pacific's David Njeri was 13th in the men's triple jump at 48-0.5 (14.64m).

Western Washington's Drew Weber was fifth in his heat of the men's 800 prelims in 1:51.25, Central Washington's Lauryn Chandler was sixth in her heat of the 100 hurdles in 13.99.

The NCAA Division II track & field championships conclude Saturday.

Complete day 2 results are available here.

NOTE: The NCAA, USA Track & Field and the sports information offices of Washington, Washington State, Gonzaga, Western Washington, Seattle Pacific, Central Washington and Eastern Washington contributed to this report.

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