Amina Maatoug podiums in both the mile & 3000 as Dawgs finish in a tie for fourth at NCAA indoors...
VIRGINIA BEACH, Virginia--While the Washington women's team got their 1-2 finish Friday afternoon from Amanda and Hana Moll in the pole vault, plus a point in the distance medley relay, Amina Maatoug (Paul Merca photo) pulled off a historic double to give the Huskies their highest team placing in school history at the NCAA Division I Indoor Track and Field Championships at the Virginia Beach Sports Center.
At the end of Friday's competition, Washington stood in a tie for second with 19 points, but would need a big effort from its remaining competitors.
In Saturday's opening running event, Maatoug and Chloe Foerster finished together in fifth and sixth places, running 4:34.03, and 4:34.18, respectively.
Maatoug worked her way from the back to put herself in position over the last two laps to make a run at the leaders, but could not quite close the gap.
Former Washington Husky Wilma Nielsen won in a time of 4:32.40.
Just less than two hours later, Maatoug returned to run the 3000.
In an identical fashion to her mile, the Duke transfer sat at or near the back of the pack, then started picking off people with four laps to go.
Winner Ceili McCabe of West Virginia, Doris Lemngole of Alabama, and BYU's Lexy Halladay-Lowry pulled away from the rest of the pack with five laps to go, but Maatoug picked off people while maintaining her position on the inside.
Between the 1-2 finish by the Molls in the pole vault, the eighth place finish by the distance medley relay, and the nine points from Maatoug alone, and Foerster's three points, the Dawgs finished in a three-way tie for fourth with Oklahoma and Arkansas, each scoring 31 points.
This was the highest team placing in school history, eclipsing the 1988 team's eighth place finish. It also bested the most points scored at nationals. The previous high point total was 16 in 1988 and 2016.
Oregon won the women's team title with 55 points, followed by Georgia at 39 and USC with 35 points.
Washington State's Micaela De Mello (Paul Merca photo) finished fourth in the finals of the 60 meter hurdles, running 8.02, just off her personal best of 8.00, most recently set in Friday's semifinals.
De Mello's fourth place finish was the highest since Ebba Jungmark won the high jump for the Cougars in 2008.
Jaiya Covington of Texas A&M won the race in 7.90, nosing out Oregon's Aaliyah McCormick.
MEN'S RECAP...
Washington's Nathan Green (Paul Merca photo) came up twenty meters short of keeping the men's indoor mile title in the hands of the Huskies for a third year in a row.
Princeton's Harrison Witt made the race an honest one from the start, opting to open fast, forcing the field to run straight up, instead of making the race a sit-and-kick affair.
Green and teammate Ronan McMahon-Staggs stayed in striking distance of Witt for the first five laps, before Green took the lead with just over three laps to go.
Green could not quite shake off Georgetown's Abell Teffra, who passed Green about 20 meters from the finish, winning in a meet record 3:53.60, with Green second in 3:53.99.
McMahon-Staggs finished sixth in a time of 3:55.52.
In the 800, Washington's Justin O'Toole finished sixth in 1:47.74. Teammate Cole Lindhorst, who was advanced to the final after taking a fall Friday night, was unable to start due to the injuries he sustained in the fall.
Oregon's Matthew Erickson won the race in 1:46.43.
Seattle Prep alum Will Floyd of the University of Georgia (Paul Merca photo) won the 400 meters, running a facility record 45.43 to win the second of a two-section final.
He also helped the Bulldogs win the 4 x 400 relay in 3:03.44.
In the heptathlon, Washington's Jami Schlueter finished 12th with a final score of 5619 points.
He ran 8.23 in the 60 hurdles, cleared 15-0 (4.57m) in the pole vault, and ran the 1000 in 2:48.64.
Washington finished in a tie for 19th with 14 points, as USC won with 39 points, with Georgia second at 33.
DIVISION II RECAP...
In Indianapolis, Central Washington sophomore Emy Ntekpere (photo courtesy Great Northwest Athletic Conference) won the NCAA Division II national title in the triple jump on Saturday afternoon at Fall Creek Pavilion, breaking her own Great Northwest Athletic Conference record to become the second woman in conference history to top the national field in the event.
Ntekpere’s second attempt of 42-3.5 (12.89m) would have been enough to win gold on Saturday, but she cleared 42-8 (13.00m) on her fourth try to leave no doubt. Ntekpere’s previous PR of 42-1.25 (12.83m) came earlier this winter as she broke the conference record and put her name at the top of the national performance list at the NCAA Division II Indoor Track and Field Championships at Fall Creek Pavilion.
Ntekpere also landed first-team All-America honors in the high jump, finishing in sixth place as she cleared 5-10 (1.78m) on her second attempt. The PR effort broke the GNAC record of 5-9.75 (1.77 meters), set by Danielle Ayers-Stamper of Seattle Pacific in 2005 and equaled by Tayler Fettig of Central Washington in 2014. Ntekpere became the ninth woman in conference history to earn All-America in the high jump and the first since 2020. Kaylee Diamond of Grand Valley State made it over 5-11.25 (1.81m) to secure the national title in the event.
Teammate E'lexis Hollis improved upon last year's fourth place finish in the 60, as she finished third in a time of 7.36.
Bec Bennett of Western Washington set a PR in the 400 meters for the second time this weekend, posting a time of 54.03 seconds on her way to a seventh-place finish and first-team All-America honors.
The Australian junior shaved 0.29 seconds off her prelims time of 54.32 seconds on Thursday, maintaining her spot as No. 2 on the GNAC all-time indoor performance list.
Annika Esvelt claimed her second All-America award of the weekend, cruising to a seventh-place finish in the women’s 3,000 meters. The Seattle Pacific senior posted a time of 9:28.94, just a hair off her personal best of 9:24.80 which she ran earlier this season.
Western Washington’s Kora Cook made her national championship meet debut on Saturday, as she qualified for the women’s high jump. The sophomore cleared 5-5.75 (1.67m), tying for 14th place.
The Wildcats finished in a tie for ninth with 19 points, as Pittsburg State took home the women's team title with 63 points.
Western Washington and Seattle Pacific finished in a tie for 36th with 4 points.
Central Washington’s Johan Correa became the fourth man in GNAC history to finish fourth or better in the 800 meters, as he posted a time of 1:49.56 in the finals on Saturday.
Isaiah Webster of the Wildcats was fourth in the men's triple jump, bounding a personal best of 50-3.25 (15.32m).
Western Washington's Kevin McDermott finished in tenth place in the 3000 with a time of 8:02.95.
Central Washington finished in a tie for 18th place with 10 points.
NOTE: The NCAA, USTFCCCA, Great Northwest Athletic Conference, along with the sports information offices of the University of Washington, Washington State University, Western Washington, Seattle Pacific, and Central Washington University contributed to this report.
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