Olympia native Hana Moll of Washington wins NCAA pole vault crown...
BOSTON--University of Washington freshman Hana Moll (Paul Merca photo), who entered day one of the NCAA Division I Indoor Track & Field Championships as the number one seed, did not let a first attempt miss at 14-5.25 (4.40m) rattle her en route to winning the national title in the pole vault at The TRACK at new balance Friday night.
After that small hiccup, which left her in second behind Riley Felts of Charlotte, the Olympia native rattled off three successive first-attempt clearances, including a jump at 14-11 (4.55m) to shut the door on the field, and a make at the eventual winning height of 15-1 (4.60m).
After the clearance at 15-1, she took three shots at a potential world U20 record of 15-6.25 (4.73m), which if cleared, would have eclipsed the current U20 record of 15-5.5 (4.71m) set in 2016 by Wilma Murto of Finland, and would have given Moll the Olympic standard.
Washington senior Nastassja Campbell finished 11th at 14-1.25 (4.30m), while Washington State freshman Eva Lowder finished in a tie for 15th at 13-7.25 (4.15m).
One of the biggest surprises on the day happened in the men's long jump, where the Huskies' Prestin Artis soared all the way to an unexpected fifth place finish.
Artis, who was the seventh jumper in the order, jumped 26-3 (8.00m) to become the third Husky in school history to jump over eight meters. The only two Huskies to ever do so were Phil Shinnick in 1963 with his 27-4 (8.33m), and Norris Frederick's 26-7.75 (8.12m) in 2008.
Artis' jump came at a cost, as he appeared to tweak his hamstring on his second attempt, then passed his remaining four jumps, and was passed by two other jumpers over the course of the competition.
Arkansas' Wayne Pinnock won the long jump crown with a leap of 27-6.75 (8.40m).
Highlights from Friday:
--In the women's 5000, Lake Stevens native Taylor Roe of Oklahoma State hung with Florida's Parker Valby for 3600 meters, before the NCAA cross country champ pulled away to win in 14:52.79, just outside the Olympic standard of 14:52.00.
Roe finished second in 15:15.01.
--In the women's distance medley relay, Bear Creek HS alum Olivia Markezich of Notre Dame got the Irish the lead on the anchor leg, but could not hold off the late charge of Brigham Young, as the Cougars won the race in 10:51.42, with the Irish second at 10:53.14.
The Huskies, who ran a completely different team than the one which set the collegiate record last month, finished 11th in 11:04.06.
--The men's distance medley relay finished ninth in a time of 9:30.40, as Oklahoma State won the event for the third straight time, running 9:25.24.
--Washington's Wilma Nielsen ran the third fastest time of the day in the women's 800, running 2:02.56 to advance to Saturday's final, while teammate Carley Thomas had a rough go, finishing eighth in the same heat in 2:05.34. In the other preliminary heat, Eastside Catholic grad Kate Jendrezak of UCLA was seventh in 2:07.20.
--The Huskies' Joe Waskom (2nd in heat 1--3:57.13) and defending indoor mile champ Luke Houser (2nd in heat 2--3:58.62) easily advanced to Saturday's final.
--NCAA 1500 meter champion Nathan Green, who was the second seed in the men's 800, did not advance to Saturday's finals, as he finished sixth in 1:48.38. Defending NCAA indoor champ Yusuf Bizimana of Texas, the number one seed, met the same fate as Green, as he finished fifth in heat 2 in 1:47.87.
--Chloe Foerster of the Huskies finished seventh in her heat of the mile in 4:36.35, and did not advance.
--In the men's pole vault finals, Washington's Mathis Bresko and Max Manson tied for 11th with a clearance of 17-4.5 (5.30m).
--The pentathlon saw Tahoma HS product Alaina Brady of Notre Dame finish tenth with a final score of 4101 points.
--In the heptathlon, Washington's Bruno Comin Pescador sits in scoring position in eighth at the break with 3244 points, while Washington State's Mason Mahacek is in 14th after the first four events with 2999 points.
Comin Pescador's best finish on the day was a fourth place finish in the high jump, where he cleared 6-8 (2.03m), while Mahacek managed a tenth place finish in the high jump for his best placing of the day, clearing 6-5.5 (1.97m).
Comin Pescador and Mahacek return to the track for day two of the heptathlon Saturday at 10:30 local time (7:30 am Pacific) with the 60 hurdles, pole vault and 1000 run to conclude the seven events.
At 4 pm (1 pm Pacific), Houser and Waskom return for the finals in the men's mile. Houser is also entered in the 3000 an hour later.
On the women's side, Nielsen is the only Husky in action, as she runs in the finals of the 800 at 7:30 pm local time (4:30 pm Pacific). Markezich and Roe meet up in the women's 3000 30 minutes later, along with former Seattle Pacific All-American Kaylee Mitchell of Oregon State.
Jendrezak is the last one competing, as she'll run as part of UCLA's 4 x 400 relay team at 8:20 pm.
NOTE: The NCAA and the media relations office of Washington and Washington State contributed to this report.
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