CHAMPIONSHIP WEEKEND (part 1): Can UW men repeat their podium finish in Boston?
The collegiate indoor track and field season comes to an end starting Thursday night for Washington, Washington State and individuals with ties to the state at the NCAA Division I Indoor Track & Field Championships in Boston at The TRACK at new balance on the campus of New Balance's world headquarters.
Three Washington Division II schools--Western Washington, Central Washington, and Seattle Pacific will send athletes to their indoor championships starting Friday at the Robert W. Plaster Center on the campus of Pittsburg State University in Pittsburg, Kansas.
Due to a facility issue at the TRACK at new balance, both the men's and women's weight throws will be contested Thursday night instead of Friday.
MEN'S PREVIEW...
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| Nathan Green (UW Athletics photo) |
After last year's fourth place finish by the Washington men in Albuquerque, a number of things will have to break in the Huskies' favor if they want a shot at a return to the podium.
The Washington men head into the meet ranked number 5 in the pre-NCAA championhips indoor rating oindex put out by the USTFCCCA, behind Arkansas, Texas Tech, Northern Arizona, and Florida, while the women are ranked number ten.
In Thursday night's weight throw (6 pm Eastern/3 pm Pacific), Washington school record holder Jayden White is seeded third, as he looks for a top three finish. White was fifth in Albuquerque, and fourth in 2022 in Birmingham, Alabama.
White will have three other athletes with Washington ties in the field, including Ridgefield HS alum Trey Knight, who transferred to Cal State Northridge after competing at USC. Knight is seeded fifth after winning the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation championships on February 26th in Spokane.
Garret Bernt from Stevenson HS, who attends third ranked Northern Arizona, is also in the field, where he's seeded eighth, along with Rainier HS alum Jeremiah Nubbe of Texas, who is seeded tenth.
Any team points that Bernt and Nubbe can pick up will be vital to the fortunes of both Northern Arizona and Texas if either school wants to finish on the podium.
Friday's session kicks off at 9:30 am local time (6:30 am Pacific time), as Washington's Bruno Comin Pescador and Washington State's Mason Mahacek go in the first of four events in the heptathlon, starting with the 60 meter dash.
Comin Pescador finished eighth in this meet last year, and goes into the meet seeded sixth. Texas's Leo Neugebauer is the clear favorite in the event, but if "The Fisherman" can find an extra 120 points from his season best of 6000, he could potentially find himself in a position to finish in the top three.
Mahacek is seeded 15th heading into Boston after scoring a personal best 5762 points at the New Mexico Collegiate Classic.
Mathis Bresko and Max Manson of the Huskies will have to have some breaks go their way to get a top-eight finish in the pole vault, as both head into the meet co-seeded twelfth.
No matter how you slice it, Washington's distance crew will have to step up if the Dawgs want to return to the podium and collect a trophy.
It all starts at 4 pm local time (1 pm Pacific) with the qualifying round in the mile, with defending champion Luke Houser and USA world championships team member & 2022 NCAA 1500m champ Joe Waskom running. Houser is seeded first, while Waskom enters the championships seeded sixth. Top seeded Nico Young of Northern Arizona is opting to run the 3000/5000 double.
The finals of the mile will go on Saturday at 4 pm local time (1 pm Pacific).
Nathan Green, who is seeded second at 1:46.50, is opting out of the mile and dropping down to the 800, and a potential matchup in the finals against defending champion Yusuf Bizimana of Texas, who is coached by former Husky head coach Greg Metcalf.
The finals of the men's 800 happens Saturday at 4:30 pm local time (1:30 pm Pacific).
Green, Waskom, and Houser, along with 400 meter runner Daniel Gaik, are part of the Huskies' distance medley relay team, which is seeded third in a race that has team scoring implications, with Northern Arizona seeded first. That race goes at 6pm local time.
On Saturday, Comin Pescador and Mahacek return to action at 10:30 am local time for day 2 of the heptathlon, starting with the 60 hurdles, followed by the pole vault and the 1000.
After the finals of the men's mile, Houser will have an hour to recover before the finals of the 3000, where he's seeded tenth. In the 3000, he faces three runners from Northern Arizona, who hope to pile up team points in both that event and in the finals of the 5000 Friday night.
WOMEN'S PREVIEW...
The Husky women head into Boston ranked tenth in the final USTFCCCA indoor ranking index, dropping two spots from number eight.
The nation's top five women's teams heading into nationals are in order: Arkansas, Florida, Texas, Oklahoma State, and Oregon.
Notre Dame's Alaina Brady, who attended Tahoma HS, is entered in the pentathlon, where she's seeded twelfth with a score of 4150 points. The pentathlon kicks off the women's competition at 9:50 am local time on Friday.
Friday evening's session starts at 6 pm local time, as world championships ninth placer and American U20 record holder Hana Moll of the Huskies enters the women's pole vault as the number one seed at 15-2.75 (4.64m).
Moll will be joined by her teammate and NCAA scorer Nastassja Campbell (14-4.5/4.38m) and Washington State's Eva Lowder, who are co-seeded 14th.
Action on the track starts at 7pm local time with the heats of the mile, with the Huskies' Chloe Foerster, who is seeded fourth at 4:28.14. Should she qualify for the finals, it happens Saturday at 7pm local time.
Thomas is seeded fifth in the 800, while Nielsen, a scorer last year at Bradley, is seeded 13th, and Jendrezak is 15th.
Fifty minutes later, the Huskies' Carley Thomas and Wilma Nielsen, along with Eastside Catholic alum Kate Jendrezak of UCLA go in the heats of the 800, with the finals Saturday at 7:30 pm local time.
At 8:20 pm local time, Lake Stevens native Taylor Roe of Oklahoma State runs in the 5000 meter finals, where she's seeded fourth at 15:12.71.
To close out the session, Washington's collegiate record setting team of Foerster, Anna Terrell, Marlena Preigh, and Thomas will try to erase the sour taste of a twelfth place finish in last year's meet after going in as one of the favorites in the distance medley relay.
The Dawgs are the top seed after breaking their own collegiate record, running 10:43.39 across town at Boston University last month.
Markezich is entered in the 3000 Saturday night, where she's the top seed at 8:40.42. Former Seattle Pacific All-American Kaylee Mitchell of Oregon State is in the field as well, seeded tenth at 8:51.06. Roe is also entered in the 3000, seeded 12th.
With Oklahoma State ranked number 4 in the USTFCCCA rating index, any points that Roe can pick up in the 3000, 5000 and distance medley will play a role in whether or not they can make the podium.
In the final running event of the championships, Jendrezak is part of UCLA's 4 x 400 relay team, which is seeded 12th. The 4 x 400 relay is a timed-final race at 9:00 pm local time.
The NCAA Division I indoor championship meet will not be shown live on TV, but you can stream all events live online via WatchESPN+ (requires subscription).
A replay of the NCAA D1 championships will be shown Monday March 11th at 6 pm Pacific time on ESPNU.
The microsite of the NCAA D1 indoor championships is available here. The NCAA's fan site for the Division I championships is available here.
paulmerca.blogspot.com will be on site at the TRACK at new balance.
The preview of the Division II championships will be posted Wednesday.
NOTE: The NCAA, USTFCCCA, and the media relations offices of the University of Washington, and Washington State University, contributed to this report.
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