Nathan Green unseats Husky teammate Joe Waskom as NCAA 1500m champ as they go 1-2...
AUSTIN, Texas--Reigning Pac-12 champion Nathan Green (Paul Merca photo) added the NCAA 1500 meter crown to his resume, as he led teammate and defending national champion Joe Waskom to a 1-2 finish as the men's portion of the NCAA Division I Track and Field championships concluded Friday night at Mike A. Myers Stadium on the campus of the University of Texas.
As expected in a championship race, the pace was slow, as the field went through the first 700 meters in 1:49.38.
The pace marginally picked up in the next 400, with the entire field within 3/10ths of a second from first to twelfth, led by Wisconsin's Adam Spencer.
As the field roared up the backstretch, Luke Houser ran in hot pursuit of Spencer with Waskom and Green right behind.
Coming off the final turn, Green found an opening on the outside, catching Spencer with about 60 meters remaining.
Waskom made a late run at Green, but fell short as Green took the win in 3:42.78, finishing with a 51.88 last 400. Waskom was second in 3:42.93, closing in 52.16.
Houser, who was a scorer in this event last year, finished tenth in 3:44.61, closing with a 53.76.
With the 1-2 finish, the Huskies picked up eighteen points to give the team a final score of 26.5 points, good for a ninth place finish, its first top ten finish at the outdoor championships since 1979.
In the mixed zone, Green said to members of the media, "There's no, 'I'm trying to be better than Joe.' It's not, 'Joe’s trying to be better than me, or better than Luke.' We're just trying to be better together. And then our goal was to go obviously 1-2-3, but in what order, we had no plan. It was just whoever was there."
Washington is the first team since Oregon in 2010 to take the top-two spots in the men’s 1500-meters. The Huskies are also the first team since Oregon in 2010-11 to have two different men win the event in consecutive years. The common denominator? Husky Head Coach Andy Powell was coaching those Duck mid-distance runners at the time.
Friday night was the fourth time in Powell’s coaching career that he’s had three men’s 1500-meter finalists, and the second time he’s had men finish 1-2. Amazingly, today was the sixth NCAA 1500-meter victory Powell has coached in the past thirteen championship meets.
In the steeplechase, Walla Walla native Kenneth Rooks from Brigham Young University moved past American collegiate record holder Duncan Hamilton of Montana State with just over 300 meters to go to win in 8:26.17 to Hamilton's 8:32.18.
Washington's Ed Trippas, who was with the lead group for most of the race, faded to a non-scoring ninth in 8:39.63.
A pair of Washington seniors closed out their careers by finishing on the podium.
In the discus, Elijah Mason finished eighth with a throw of 200-5 (61.10m), giving the Huskies one team point, and finishing his career having scored all four years in the NCAA championship finals.
Arizona State's Turner Washington, a former NCAA champion at this event, won with a throw of 217-3 (66.22m), while Cal's Mykolas Alekna, who won a world championships medal last year in Eugene, only managed to capture third at 207-6 (63.25m)
Jeremiah Nubbe, a freshman at the University of Texas, and a graduate of Rainier HS in Thurston County, finished 15th with a throw of 190-1 (57.94m), while former Husky Jonah Wilson, competing as a grad student at Nebraska, was 20th at 183-1 (55.81m).
Cass Elliott, who became the first Husky since 1971 to run in the finals of the 400 hurdles, finished seventh in 49.21, as Chris Robinson of Alabama won in 48.12.
In the 5000 meters, Washington's Brian Fay, who entered the meet as the collegiate leader, was with the lead group for most of the race, before the pack opened up a gap on him in the final mile. Despite a final 400 of 58.58, the Irish international ran out of real estate, crossing the line in 14:11.13.
Fay was just ahead of Gonzaga's James Mwaura, running his final race as a Bulldog. The Tacoma native finished in tenth at 14:11.82.
Stanford's Ky Robinson won the race in 14:04.77 to match his victory Wednesday in the 10000.
In post race comments, Gonzaga coach Pat Tyson said, "Goal was to go out slow, not in the lead to see how the race unfolded. Then see what he can manage over the last 800. So we saw a kid that went from 23rd throughout the race, moving himself to a top 10 finish to earn his second All American (2nd team 5000, 1st team 10000) finish of the weekend."
Eastern Washington's lone competitor in the meet, Bobby Say, had a rough go in the triple jump in his final meet as an Eagle.
Say, who was making his national championship meet debut, fouled all three attempts and finished without a mark.
Jaydon Hibbert of Arkansas won the title with a jump of 57-7.5 (17.56m).
The University of Florida took the team title with 57 points, with Arkansas second with 53, and Stanford third at 44. LSU took the fourth place team trophy with 43 points.
In the one women's event contested, Washington's Ida Eikeng, the NCAA heptathlon runner-up last year, ran 13.35 in the 100 hurdles to place herself in fourth after the first event.
Unfortunately, while warming up for the high jump, Eikeng rolled her ankle.
She took three intentional misses in the high jump hoping to at least move on in the shot put, but could not continue.
That injury was enough to force the Norwegian international to withdraw from the competition.
Notre Dame's Alaina Brady, a product of Tahoma HS in Maple Valley, sits tenth after the first day with a score of 3455 points, 385 points behind Jenelle Rogers of Ball State's 3840.
Brady ran 13,36 in the 100 hurdles, high jumped 5-5.25 (1.66m), threw the shot 41-5 (12.62m), and ran 25.12 in the 200.
Here's a complete list of athletes with Washington ties competing Saturday. All events contested are finals:
2:00 pm PT – Heptathlon Long Jump – Alaina Brady
3:15 pm PT – Heptathlon Javelin – Alaina Brady
6:12 pm PT – 1500m Final – Sophie O'Sullivan
6:24 pm PT – 3000m Steeplechase Final – Kayley DeLay, Kaylee Mitchell, Olivia Markezich
7:43 pm PT – Heptathlon 800m – Alaina Brady
The meet will be broadcast through ESPN, either streaming on ESPN+ or televised on ESPNU or ESPN2.
- Saturday will air on ESPN2 from 6 p.m. – 8:30 p.m. PT
ALLEN WINS THIRD STRAIGHT RACE IN FRIDAY'S PARIS DIAMOND LEAGUE MEET...
At the Meeting de Paris stop on the Wanda Diamond League tour at the Stade Charléty, Washington State alum CJ Allen (Christel Saneh/Diamond League photo) continued his winning streak over the 400 hurdles Friday night.
Allen, currently ranked fifth in the world, ran 47.92 to get his first Diamond League win of the season, and his third straight win after finishing second in the Doha Diamond League meet last month.
That mark is the second fastest time in his career, just outside his personal best of 47.91 set in Los Angeles on May 27th.
Speaking to the media afterwards, Allen said, "The race felt smooth. I just wanted to execute and be consistent. I am very happy. This is my first time (winning) a Diamond League race. Now I am given the opportunity to run in better competitions. The last year and a half I have been working on my stride pattern."
"After Paris I will run in Oslo and then head to our national championships. I have had a great season so far because I believe in myself."
In the women's pole vault, former Pullman resident Katie Moon lost her first Diamond League meet this season, clearing a best of 15-5.5 (4.71m), as Australia's Nina Kennedy won at 15-7.75 (4.77m).
Moon struggled early, needing a second and a third attempt to clear her first two bars, before clearing 15-5.5 (4.71m) on her second attempt.
After Kennedy made her first attempt at 15-7.75 (4.77m) followed by a miss by Moon, the reigning world and Olympic champion passed on her remaining two attempts, knowing that a make would still give Kennedy the win.
Moon missed both her attempts at 15-9.75 (4.82m), and Kennedy missed both shots at the height. On her third attempt, she asked to raise the bar to 15-10 (4.83m), which she missed, but held on for the win.
The highlight of the evening was a world best in the 2-mile by Norway's Jakob Ingebrigtsen of 7:54.10, and two world records in the 3000 steeplechase by Ethiopia's Lamecha Girma of 7:52.11, and Kenya's Faith Kipyegon in the women's 5000 at 14:05.20.
NOTE: The NCAA, the sports information offices of the University of Texas, University of Washington, Gonzaga University, Eastern Washington University, and the Wanda Diamond League contributed to this report.
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