Evan Jenkins of Washington wins epic B1G Ten 10000m in Track Town USA...
EUGENE--It took all of 29 minutes, 24 seconds and 48/100ths of a second, plus a dive across the finish line.
But that dive was the difference between a first and second place finish for Evan Jenkins (Paul Merca photo) as the Husky won the school's first outdoor Big Ten championship to end day one of the Big Ten Track & Field Championships at Hayward Field on the campus of the University of Oregon.
Jenkins was nowhere close to the leaders through the first six kilometers, crossing the mark in 19th place. In fact, he was in the teens until there were four laps remaining of the 25-lap race.
Business picked up with four laps to go when Oregon's Abdel Laadjel took the lead from Wisconsin's Bob Liking, the Big Ten cross country champion.
As it turned out, once Liking was dropped, it became a Washington vs. Oregon dual, with Jenkins, Acer Iverson, and Tyrone Gorze going against five Ducks, led by Aiden Smith.
On the final lap, Jenkins, the native of Camas, put the hammer down, running a last 400 of 58.70, while moving up from fifth at the bell.
The sub-four miler used his closing speed to go into the lead for the first time on the backstretch, and he pulled away from all but Oregon's Smith, who passed on the outside but Jenkins clawed back with both men losing their form and giving every last ounce to get over the line first.
Describing the last straightaway and the battle with Aiden Smith of the home town Ducks, he said, "Both our legs just gave in the last ten meters," as both dived for the finish line.
Smith led a Duck 2-3-4 finish, as he stopped the clock in 29:24.65.
For the Dawgs, Iverson finished fifth in 29:27.08, and Tyrone Gorze was seventh in 29:27.87.
In other finals, Walla Walla native Dash Sirmon of Nebraska finished third in the javelin with a throw of 248-7 (75.77m).
Washington's Carson Olmstead picked a good day to set a personal best, throwing 222-8 (67.86m).
In the women's 10,000-meters, Maeve Stiles and Josephine Welin each ran their first 10k's of the season, and for Welin it was the first of her career. Stiles has been working her way back impressively after a long layoff after cross country. She was 10th tonight in 33:55.59. Welin has also battled back to full health this season and she placed 13th in 34:39.67.
In the men's pole vault, Big Ten indoor champ Scott Toney finished fourth with a best of 18-0 (5.49m), while Washington teammate Mathis Bresko was sixth at 17-8.25 (5.39m).
After the break, Washington's Jami Schlueter stands third in the decathlon with 3939 points, 89 points out of first and 55 points out of second.
Oregon's Koby Kessler leads with 4028 points, followed by Andreas Hantson of Purdue with 3994 points.
In qualifying in the men's 1500, the Dawgs got wins in the first and third sections. In the opening heat, Rhys Hammond ran a tactically savvy race for the win in 3:48.18. In heat three, Nathan Green stepped on the gas on the final lap and powered to the win in 3:45.52. Ronan McMahon-Staggs and Ben MacMillan came up just short of advancing.
Sophie O'Sullivan led all four Huskies through qualifying in the women's 1500, winning the heat in 4:18.86.
Washington had three women in the final prelim heat, and found a way to get all three through. Amina Maatoug was second in 4:16.42, Mia Cochran was third in 4:18.19 as they each auto-advanced, then Julia David-Smith got one of the time qualifiers with a 4:19.89.
In the 400 hurdles, Bodi Ligons and Matthew Wilkinson got the two fastest time qualifying marks, each placing third in their prelim heats. Ligons ran a new PR of 51.00 in the first heat, and Wilkinson came through in 51.23 in heat two. They'll let it rip in Sunday's final at 2:12 p.m.
SIMMONS DEFENDS BIG SKY LONG JUMP CROWN IN SACRAMENTO...
Egypt Simmons successfully defended her long jump title at the Big Sky championship meet at Hornet Stadium on the campus of Sacramento State University Friday.
After opening with two straight fouls, Simmons got a mark of 19-0 (5.79m) to get into the finals, albeit in fourth place.
In the fourth round, Simmons popped the winning jump of 20-8 (6.30m) to claim Big Sky championship number two. After a foul in the penultimate round, she closed with a jump of 20-3.5 (6.18m).
Eagle teammate Kimberly Smith was just off the podium, finishing fourth with a best of 20-0.25 (6.10m).
In other finals, Saira Schoener threw a season-best 137-1 (41.78m) in the javelin to finish fourth overall.
Logan Ashbeck posted a season-best 202-11 (61.86m) in the javelin to take fourth. Cort Gebbers led the Eagles in the discus with a fourth-place throw of 172-9 (52.65m), and Mason Moore added to the team's point total by placing eighth with a personal-best mark of 161-7 (49.25m).
Maddy Shekhawat won his heat in the 110-meter hurdles and placed second overall with a time of 14.13, securing a spot in the final. Former Husky Daniel Gaik also qualified for finals, winning his 400-meter heat in 47.31. Owen Higgins advanced in the 800 meters after winning his heat in 1:50.94. Sydney Thweatt continued the streak of personal bests, advancing to the women's 400-meter hurdles final with a time of 1:01.30 — the ninth-fastest in program history.
The Big Sky championship meet concludes Saturday.
KATIE MOON FINISHES THIRD IN DOHA DIAMOND LEAGUE MEET...
In Doha, Qatar, former Pullman resident and reigning world champion Katie Moon finished third in the women's pole vault at the Wanda Diamond League stop Friday night.
Moon, competing in her outdoor season debut, cleared 15-2.25 (4.63m), as Molly Caudery of Great Britain won with a best of 15-7 (4.75m).
In the men's 400 hurdles, Washington State alum CJ Allen finished fifth with a time of 49.90.
NOTE: The Big Ten, Big Sky, Wanda Diamond League, and the sports information offices of Washington and Eastern Washington contributed to this report.
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