Husky men finish fourth, while women finish fifth at Big Tens...
The Husky men scored 67 points, as Oregon pulled off a surprising 106-99.5 victory over USC, thanks to a disqualification of the Trojans in the meet-ending 4 x 400 relay, which would have given USC a 107.5-106 win.
Washington finished the women's team competition with 50 points, as Oregon won decisively, scoring 131 points.
On the day, the Huskies got wins from Nathan Green (UW Athletics photo) in the 3000 in 7:53.88, Chloe Foerster in the 800 in 2:03.27, and Amina Maatoug in the 3000 in 9:09.06.
In perhaps one of the most surprising developments of the meet, Washington's men's mile squad, which qualified five runners into the 10-man final, only scored ten points in that event.
With USC the pre-meet favorite to take the men's team crown, Washington was probably at best, the second or third best team going into the championship based on what it showed during the regular season.
However, with five entries in the ten man field in the mile, it was a bit of a surprise to see the Huskies come away with only ten points in their strongest event.
Oregon's Elliott Cook and Tomas Palfrey ran 1-2 for the first five laps of the eight-plus lap race, running the first quarter in about 64 seconds, and the second in roughly 65 seconds. In the first half of the race with the field tightly packed, only Husky senior Leo Daschbach and fellow Dawg Cole Lindhorst were able to find the room to get close to the Duck duo.
Ronan McMahon-Staggs got near the front with three laps to go as Daschbach started to fade, while Lindhorst held his ground.
In the chaotic free for all that was the final lap, Michigan's Trent McFarland, who ran the fastest time in Friday's qualifying round, managed to find some room to take the win in 4:03.56, just ahead of Cook's 4:03.79.
Lindhorst was third in 4:03.93, just in front of Palfrey at 4:05.03, while McMahon-Staggs was sixth in 4:05.48, and Rhys Hammond was eighth in 4:08.83.
In the men's 800, Kyle Reinheimer worked his way from eighth at the 400 to finish third in 1:47.88, while Justin O'Toole was seventh in 1:49.35.
Perhaps having learned their lesson from the mile earlier in the day, Washington's Jamar Distel controlled the race from the front in the 3000, leading for 11 of the 15 laps, before Nathan Green, who ran the 1600 on the winning distance medley relay the night before, put the hammer down over the final 600 to win in 7:53.88, ahead of Wisconsin's Adam Spencer (7:55.38) and Bob Liking (7:58.85).
Acer Iverson finished seventh for the Dawgs in 8:00.34.
Jami Schlueter finished second in the heptathlon with a final score of 5561 points, as Nebraska's Adria Navajon, who was second going into the 1000 meter run, beat Schlueter by almost ten seconds (2:49.60 to 2:59.41) to get the overall win with a final score of 5579.
Schlueter, who was third at the break with 3140 points, won the 60 hurdles in 8.14, then finished fourth in the pole vault at 15-3 (4.65m) to take the overall lead going into the 1000. The two men in front going into the second day, Illinois' Rafael Raap, did not start the 1000, and Oregon's Koby Kessler, didn't clear a height in the pole vault.
The Huskies got points in the triple jump, as Trevontay Smith finished sixth with a leap of 50-4.75 (15.36m).
In the women's 800, Chloe Foerster won the race, running a meet record 2:03.27 to out battle defending Big Ten champ Hayley Kitching of Penn State by 2/100ths of a second, while Amina Maatoug was fourth in 2:04.08.
In a very tactical race, Maatoug came back to win the 3000 in 9:09.06, while Julia David-Smith took eighth in 9:15.40.
Kaia Tupu-South finished seventh in the shot put with a throw of 56-1 (17.09m).
Bellingham native Jacob Andrews of USC finished third in the men's 400, running 46.20. He was also part of USC's second place 4 x 400 team which ultimately was disqualified for a violation.
EAGLES GET WINS FROM SHEKHAWAT, PHENNICIE, AND SIMMONS...
As a team, the Eagle men's squad finished in a tie for fourth with 48 points, while the women placed seventh with 41 points. Host Northern Arizona again swept both titles, scoring 188 points in the men's competition, and 205 in the women's race.
Conference leader Maddy Shekhawat won the men's 60 hurdles in a time of 7.64.
Kristian Phennicie won the men's 60 in a photo finish over Northern Colorado's Jerome Campbell, with Phennicie getting the nod in 6.733 to 6.737.
Defending conference triple jump champion Egypt Simmons (photo courtesy EWU Athletics), perhaps still stinging over failing to defend her long jump title Friday, bounced back, winning the triple jump with a school record 43-7 (13.28m), not to mention a meet record, and the all-time best mark in the event in conference history.
Former Husky Daniel Gaik finished second in the men's 400, running 47.07. Owen Higgins was third in the men's 800, in a time of 1:51.91.
Shekhawat, who is number 14 in the 60 hurdles, and Simmons, who sits outside the top 20 in the triple jump, will await to see if they get to advance to the NCAA championships in Virginia Beach in two weeks.
WWU'S JAKOB BRAUNSTEIN DROPS MISSILE IN OUTDOOR SEASON OPENER...
Western Washington's Jakob Braunstein launched the javelin 219-4 (66.86m) to highlight the Ed Boitano Invitational in Tacoma, hosted by the University of Puget Sound on Saturday.
For many of the area's Division II and III schools, this meet has been the traditional opening meet of the outdoor season.
Braunstein, who finished fifth at last year's GNAC championship meet in the javelin, threw 219-4 (66.86m) in the fourth round.
Any of his four fair throws was good enough to take the victory, but the throw puts him for the time being, as the national leader in Division II.
REDHAWKS FINISH SIXTH & SEVENTH IN WAC...
At The Podium in Spokane, Seattle University finished sixth in the women's team competition, and seventh in the men's team competition at the Western Athletic Conference indoor championships.
The SeattleU women scored 22 points in the eight-team field. Its highest individual finish on Saturday a fourth place finish in the 3000 by Azalea Groleau, who ran 9:45.18.
Its men's team earned yet another last place finish, scoring 11 points in the seven-team competition. Alex Jensen was the top placing men's individual, finishing sixth in the 800 in 1:51.97.
Grand Canyon won the men's team title in a close battle with Utah Valley, scoring 157 to UVU's 154. Utah Valley won the women's team crown with 169 points over second place Tarleton State's 148.
NOTE: The Big Ten, Big Sky, and Western Athletic Conference, along with the sports information offices of the University of Washington, Eastern Washington University, University of Puget Sound, and Seattle University contributed to this report.
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