UW's Andy Powell named Pac-12 men's coach of the year for second straight season...

On Friday, the Pac-12 Conference named Washington men's head coach Andy Powell (photo courtesy UW Athletics) as its men's coach of the year for the second consecutive season.

This award comes on the heels of the Huskies winning their second straight conference title last week in Boulder.

Washington nearly matched its winning point total in 2023 (151 pts) with 150 in 2024, fending off the Trojans and clinching the league championships with a fifth-place finish from Leo Daschbach in the 5000m last Sunday. Under Powell’s direction, the Huskies have won back-to-back Pac-12 titles after a streak of 15-straight titles from Oregon ahead of the 2023 conference championship.

Powell is the fifth coach in Pac-12 men’s track & field history to repeat as coach of the year after winning the award for the first time last year, joining Bill Dellinger (Oregon – 1978-79), Bob Larsen (UCLA, 1987-90), Vin Lananna (Stanford, 2000-01), and Robert Johnson (Oregon, 2013-14). It’s the fourth all-time men’s coach of the year award for the Washington program.

The Pac-12 men's track athlete of the year went to USC sprinter Johnnie Blockburger, while the field AOY went to hammer thrower Rowan Hamilton of Cal.

The women's track award went to USC hurdler Jasmine Jones, while Oregon shot putter Jaida Ross earned the field award.

USC discus thrower Racquil Broderick, the P12 champ in the event, was the men's freshman of the year, while in a head-scratcher, USC hurdler Madison Whyte, who did not win an individual conferenct title, was selected by the Pac-12 coaches as the women's freshman of the year, over Washington's Hana Moll, who won the pole vault title, and is currently the NCAA Division I leader in the event.

The Pac-12 release is available here.

In Tokyo, Washington alum Izzi Batt-Doyle finished third in the 5000 meters at the Seiko Golden Grand Prix meet Sunday night at the National Stadium, the site of the track & field competition at the 2020 Olympics, and the venue for next year's world track & field championships.

Batt-Doyle, a Tokyo Olympian in that event, ran 15:08.67, as Australian countrywoman Rose Davies won in 14:41.65.

The former Husky, who set a personal best in the event of 14:59.18 in February, was looking to get under the Olympic standard of 14:52.00, or get ranked high enough to get into the Games via the entry quota.

She's currently ranked third in Australia, and number 27 in the world based on a three-entry per country quota in the Road To Paris rankings.

In the men's 5000, Gonzaga alum Yacine Guermali finished eleventh in a personal best of 13:28.40, as Emmanuel Maru of Kenya won in 13:18.94.

Complete results of the Seiko Golden Grand Prix are available here.

NOTE: World Athletics, the Pac-12 Conference, and the sports information office of the University of Washington contributed to this report.

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