UW's Ault & Artis, Eastern's Simmons earn conference titles at Pac-12 & Big Sky...
BOULDER, Colorado--On the first day of the final Pac-12 track and field championships at Potts Field on the campus of the University of Colorado, defending men's champion Washington put together a solid effort to take the lead in the team competition.
The Huskies scored 38 points to take a 38-21 lead over USC, with Arizona third at 17 after three events.
Washington State stands eighth with 5 points.
Conference leader Chandler Ault (Pac-12 Conference photo) took care of business first event early Friday afternoon, winning the men's javelin with a school record, Pac-12 meet record, and Potts Field facility record throw of 254-3 (77.51m), putting pressure on the rest of the field in the first round.
In addition to Ault's ten points, the Huskies got contributions from Brice Crider, who finished sixth with a best of 204-0 (62.19m), and Jack Olson, who was eighth at 198-4 (60.46m), finishing ahead of WSU's Blake Sturgis in ninth at 193-8 (59.04m).
Ault, the grad transfer from Princeton, took out the 13-year old school record of 253-5 (77.24m) set by Kyle Nielsen.
In the long jump, the Trojans got 13 points from Stevenson's second place finish, coupled with Johnny Brackins' fourth place.
The only running event final of the day saw Evan Jenkins finish second to defending NCAA champion Ky Robinson in the 10000 meters, as Jenkins ran 29:40.61 to Robinson's 29:15.03.
Washington State's Brian Barsaiya moved past the Huskies' Jamar Distel to finish fourth in 29:46.80, to Distel's 29:47.83, while Leo Daschbach was seventh in 29:52.76, as the Huskies got 14 points.
In qualifying heats Friday, Washington advanced four runners in the men's 1500, including all three NCAA mile/1500 champs Luke Houser, Joe Waskom and Nathan Green, plus NCAA competitor Ronan McMahon-Staggs. Houser had the fastest time of the four on the day, running 3:46.78 to finish second in heat 2.
Jonathan Birchman (50.66) and Jonathan Frazier (50.99) each won their heat of the 400 hurdles. Washington State's Jared McAlvey was an auto qualifier into Sunday's finals, finishing second behind Frazier in head 3.
The surprise from a Washington perspective came in that third heat, as 2023 Pac-12 4th place finisher Matthew Wilkinson finished fourth in the heat and did not advance.
Jami Schlueter of the Huskies has a 107-point lead over NCAA heptathlon qualifier Mason Mahacek after day one of the decathlon, with a total of 4089 points to Mahacek's 3982.
Schlueter started strong, winning the 100 in 10.87, finished second in the long jump at 23-7.5 (7.20m), won the shot put at 47-10.5 (14.59m), took fourth in the high jump at 6-3.25 (1.91m), then finished second in the 400 at 49.26.
Mahacek was second in the 100 at 11.00, fourth in the long jump at 22-2.25 (6.76m), fourth in the shot put at 42-0.75 (12.82m), then won both the high jump at 6-8 (2.03m), and the 400 in 48.66.
WOMEN'S DAY 1 RECAP...
After day 1 with four events scored, Washington stands seventh with 8 points, one place ahead of Washington State's 6 points.
Host Colorado leads with 37 points, followed by UCLA's 27, and Arizona's 20.
The Huskies got their points from Haley Herberg, who finished third in the 10000 in 34:53.47, and got an unexpected seventh place finish from Natalie Holmer in the javelin, as the senior threw a lifetime best 158-8 (48.38m).
Washington State's Laura Lindquist finished third in the javelin with a throw of 165-6 (50.45m).
The women's 1500 saw four Huskies advance to Sunday's final, led by Sophie O'Sullivan, who made her outdoor season debut, winning heat 2 in 4:21.33, ahead of teammate Chloe Foerster's 4:21.77.
Julia David-Smith advanced out of heat 2, finishing fifth in 4:26.51, while India Weir was fifth in heat 1 in 4:25.73.
Washington State's Nicole Bissell was the fastest non-advancer, finishing seventh in heat 1 in 4:34.90.
Husky freshman Kapiolani Coleman missed advancing as a time qualifier by 2/100ths of a second, running 58.42 in the third heat of the 400 hurdles and finishing fourth.
The meet continues Saturday with the 3000 steeplechases the only track final, and finals on the field in the men's hammer, pole vault and shot, and the women's high jump and shot put.
BIG SKY RECAP...
All four of Simmons' legal jumps were good enough to win the event outright, as they were over the 20-foot mark, led by her best on the day of 20-3.5 (6.18m), set in the fifth round.
Teammate Kimberly Smith finished fifth with a best of 19-4.75 (5.91m).
In other finals contested Friday, Kaylin Sheley was sixth in the 3000 steeplechase in 10:56.95. Dyvhine Fonoti was sixth in the hammer, throwing 171-9 (52.36m).
Fonoti picked up a sixth place finish in the shot put, throwing 44-6.25 (13.57m), while Grace Bruno was fourth in the high jump at 5-3.75 (1.62m).
Madelyn Knight advanced to Saturday's finals in both the 100 and 400 hurdles, running 13.76 in the short race, and 60.70 in the 400 hurdles.
Bradley Fillis finished seventh in the men's discus finals, throwing 164-2 (50.04m). In the javelin, Ryan Rieckmann was fifth in the javelin with a throw of 212-5 (64.75m), while Logan Ashbeck was sixth at 206-7 (62.97m).
The only other final on the day saw Zach Klobutcher, last year's runner-up, finish fourth in the pole vault at 16-2.5 (4.94m).
After seven events in the women's competition, the Eagles stand seventh with 27 points, while the men are in sixth after seven events with 23 points. Host Montana State leads both competitions with 49.5 points in the women's meet, and 80 in the men's meet.
VIKINGS GET BIG POINTS IN 10K & STEEPLE AT GNACs...
In Ellensburg, Western Washington used its strenght in the distance events to take the lead in both the men's and women's competition Friday at the Great Northwest Athletic Conference championship meet on the campus of Central Washington University.
The Vikings have a 96-49 lead over host Central Washington in the men's team competition after seven events, while Saint Martin's stands seventh with 15, and Seattle Pacific ninth with 2 points.
The Western women have a big 101-55 advantage over Western Oregon after eight events, with Central Washington third at 46, Seattle Pacific in fifth at 31, and Saint Martin's ninth with one point.
The Vikings used big points in both the men's and women's steeplechases, picking up 25 in the men's race, led by Jeret Gillingham's school record 8:45.40, erasing Mac Franks' 8:52.50 from two years ago.
Led by Ila Davis, who got the win in 10:41.15, Western went 1-2-3-4-5, taking 33 points.
Meaera Nystrom won the women's 10000 in 37:01.22, and the Vikes went 1-3-4-7 for 23 points, while in the men's 10000, Andrew Oslin finished second in 31:04.70, but WWU went 2-3-4-5-8 to cash in 24 points.
In other finals contested Friday, Liam Wall of Western Washington won the men's discus with a throw of 167-2 (50.95m), with Central Washington's Wyatt Franklin and Wes Kriete finishing second and third at 157-3 (47.95m) and 141-9 (43.21m).
Seattle Pacific's Lizzy Daugherty and Emily Thomason went 1-2 in the women's pole vault, clearing 12-4.5 (3.77m), with Daugherty winning on fewer misses. Annie Tran of Western Washington was third at 12-0.5 (3.67m).
Katie Potts of Western Washington won the women's shot put at 46-4.75 (14.14m) with teammate Mara Parks third at 44-2 (13.46m).
Isaiah Webster (23-11.5/7.30m) and Drew Klein (23-0.5/7.02m) of Central Washington went 1-3 in the men's long jump.
PRO ROUNDUP...
In Doha, Washington State alum CJ Allen finished a solid second in the 400 hurdles at the Seashore Doha Diamond League Meeting Friday night, the third stop on the Wanda Diamond League tour.
Allen ran a season best 48.39, as Brasil's Alison dos Santos took the victory with a 2024 world leading time of 46.86.
Washington alum Kieran Lumb finished eighth in the men's 1500 with a personal best 3:34.41, as Kenya's Brian Komen won a tight race in 3:32.43.
The Wanda Diamond League tour resumes on May 19th with the Meeting International Mohammed VI d'Athletisme in Marrakech, Morocco.
On Saturday night, a group of athletes will run in Sound Running's Track Fest at Jack Kemp Stadium on the campus of Occidental College in Los Angeles, as they strive for US Olympic Trials and Olympic qualifying standards.
Kenneth Rooks, Kaylee Mitchell, and Allie Ostrander are entered in the men's and women's 3000 steeple, while Eleanor Fulton and Paul Ryan go in the women's and men's 1500.
Washington alum Amy-Eloise Neale, who has spent the last several weeks training at altitude in Flagstaff, is entered in the women's 5000, while US Olympic Marathon Trials fourth place finisher Jess McClain is entered in the 10000, her first track outing since she ran at the Boston University Last Chance meet indoors in 2020.
Entered in section 2 of the meet are Olympia native Brooke Feldmeier in the women's 800; recent Washington grads Anna Gibson & Aiden Ryan in the women's and men's 1500s; and Western Washington alum Mac Franks and UW grad Julius Diehr in the men's steeplechase.
Portland based TrackLandia is offering a PPV streaming of the meet. The link to live results is available here.
NOTE: The Pac-12 Conference, Big Sky Conference, Great Northwest Athletic Conference, Western Athletic Conference, and the sports information offices at the University of Washington, Washington State, Eastern Washington, and Western Washington contributed to this report.
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