Joe Waskom wins Washington's fifth consecutive NCAA 1500 or mile title...
EUGENE--Washington's Joe Waskom (Paul Merca photo) weaved his way out of traffic to find himself winning his second career NCAA 1500 meter championship Friday night on day three of the NCAA Division I Track & Field Championships at Hayward Field.
As expected in a championship race situation, the pace was slow, as the field, led by teammate and reigning NCAA indoor mile champ Luke Houser, went through in 62 seconds at 400 and 2:04 through 800.
Once the field passed the 800 mark, the real jockeying for position began as the field went through 1200 meters in just about 3:00.
As they approached the final turn, Waskom was in fifth position close to the rail, but saw an opening when Wisconsin's Adam Spencer swung to the outside.
Like a running back following a lead blocker, Waskom patiently waited for Spencer to make his move, then when the leaders exited the turn and made the dash for home, BOOM!
Waskom swung to lane three, as Oregon's Elliott Cook, the Pac-12 champion last month held the rail, seemingly riding the roar of the Hayward Field faithful trying to will him to victory.
In the last twenty meters, Cook started losing his form, seemingly flailing away to get to the line first, while Waskom held his form, catching Cook at the 1496 meter mark to get the victory in 3:39.48 to Cook's 3:39.57.
"I came into this program five years ago not knowing what to expect," said Waskom, the Snoqualmie product. "Leaving here with two titles and making a Worlds team is great but what I feel like I'm going to remember the most is the bonds I made with my teammates and my coaches and lifelong friends and memories. The hardships of training in the rain and blood, sweat, and tears with the boys."
"My stomach was hurting and I looked to my left and I knew I was gaining on those guys, and honestly I was getting prepped to dive. I crossed the finish line and I was lucky to know I won it, but the boys took it to the line and made me fight for it, and made me lose my lunch."
The top ten men were remarkably close as Green finished tenth overall but was just 1.5 seconds behind Waskom's winning time, in 3:40.98. Houser held the lead halfway through the race but he ran out of gas on the final lap and finished twelfth overall in 3:48.86.
Courtesy of NCAA Productions, here is the race:
In the men's 100 meter dash, former Washington State Cougar Louie Hinchliffe, who transferred in late August to Houston, took the victory in a personal best 9.95, surprising many so-called sprint experts, who pegged his teammate Shaun Maswanganyi as one of the favorites.
Hinchliffe, who qualified for this meet last year while at Washington State, entered the transfer portal late, but wasn't sure where he was going until he somehow got the phone number of Houston head coach Carl Lewis--yes, the same 9-time Olympic champion Carl Lewis.
While talking to reporters, the British citizen said that he has to forget his accomplishments at the NCAA and focus on the upcoming British championships where he is now one of the favorites to get a berth on its Olympic team.
In the men's 5000, Gonzaga's Wil Smith finished twelfth in a fairly tactical race, running 14:02.70, as Parker Wolfe of North Carolina, who was knocked down in Wednesday's 10000, won in 13:54.43.
Harvard's Acer Iverson, who will attend the University of Washington as a grad transfer this fall, finished 22nd in 14:10.93.
Rainier HS grad Jeremiah Nubbe did not register a fair throw in the discus.
The team title was decided on the final event, the 4 x 400 relay, as Florida finished third in the event to score a 41-40 advantage over second place Auburn, with USC third with 33 points.
Washington earned its third straight top 15 finish, scoring 18.2 points between Waskom's win, Chandler Ault's second place finish in the javelin, and Max Manson's .2 for the tie in eighth place.
Here's who's competing Saturday with Washington ties:
2:41 pm 1500 Meters WOMEN Final Sophie O'Sullivan (UW)
2:54 pm 3000 Steeple WOMEN Final Olivia Markezich (Notre Dame)
3:12 pm 100 Hurdles WOMEN Final Maribel Caked, Micaela De Mello (WSU)
4:25 pm 5000 Meters WOMEN Final Taylor Roe (Okla. State)
Coverage continues on the networks of ESPN, either streaming on ESPN+ or televised on ESPN2.
- Saturday will air on ESPN from 2:30 pm to 5 pm PT
The combined events and field events will have dedicated live streams on ESPN+.
EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIPS GET UNDERWAY IN ROME...
On the opening day of the European Championships in Rome, Washington alum Amy-Eloise Neale finished 19th in the finals of the women's 5000 meters.
Neale, a Tokyo Olympian and a two-time world championships competitor, ran 15:33.45, as Nadia Battocletti of Italy won in a championship record time of 14:35.29.
The meet, which runs until Wednesday the 12th, will have Washington alums Brian Fay of Ireland and Jack Rowe of Great Britain competing in the 5000 on Saturday.
Fay is scheduled to double in the 10000, which runs on Wednesday.
Washington's Wilma Nielsen of Sweden, who withdrew from the NCAA championships to compete in Rome instead, runs in the first round of the women's 800 on Monday. There's a semifinal on Tuesday, with the finals on the meet's final day on Wednesday.
NOTE: The NCAA, European Athletics and the sports information offices of Gonzaga, Washington, and Oregon contributed to this report.
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