Huskies remain in women's D1 top ten after conference championship weekend...
NEW ORLEANS--After conference championship weekend in Division I, the University of Washington women's track team stayed inside the top ten in the latest USTFCCCA Division I National Track & Field Rating Index released Tuesday.
At the Big Ten championships over the weekend, the Huskies got national top 20 performances from Amanda Moll (Paul Merca photo), who broke her own collegiate outdoor record in the pole vault, when she cleared 15-8.25 (4.78m), an inch over her previous record of 15-7.25 (4.76m).
Maggie Liebich, who ran a personal best 9:48.84 in the 3000 steeplechase in only her second race at the distance to finish second, despite falling over the final water barrier, ran a national top 20 time.
The other top 20 mark came in the shot put, where Kaia Tupu-South threw an outdoor personal best of 56-10.25 (17.33m) to finish fifth.
Washington lost one spot from its number 9 ranking last week.
The nation's top five women's D1 teams are in order: Georgia, Texas A&M, Arkansas, Texas Tech, and BYU.
Big Ten teams in the top 25 include number 6 USC, number 7 Oregon, number 12 Illinois, number 18 UCLA, and number 23 Nebraska.
Both Washington State and Washington are outside the men's national top 25, with Washington State, who was idle last week at 44, and Washington at 50.
The national mens D1 top five are in order: USC, Texas A&M, Tennessee, Arkansas, and Georgia.
Big Ten teams in the top 25 include number 6 Nebraska, number 10 Minnesota, number 22 Wisconsin, and number 24 Iowa.
The NCAA will announce the field for the West First and Second Round Championships, which will be contested in College Station, Texas this week.
DIVISION II...
The Central Washington women's team remains in the number 13 spot in the USTFCCCA Division II National Track & Field Rating Index released Tuesday.
The rankings were adjusted to reflect the athletes competing in this weekend's NCAA Division II championships this weekend in Pueblo, Colorado beginning on Thursday.
Grand Valley State, Pittsburg State, Adams State, West Texas A&M, and Azusa Pacific are the nation's top five women's teams heading into this weekend.
No GNAC men's teams are ranked in the top 25 heading into the national championships. Alaska Anchorage is the highest ranked team in the men's index at number 33, while Western Washington is ranked 46th.
Pittsburg State, West Texas A&M, Wingate, Grand Valley State, and Angelo State are the nation's top five men's teams.
BROOKS BEASTS SIGN BOISE STATE ALUM KRISTIE SCHOFFIELD...
Schoffield was an Olympic Trials finalist at the 800 meters last year, where she was sixth in 2:01.04.
At this year's USA indoors in New York, she finished fifth in her heat in 2:02.92.
Schoffield was the 2022 NCAA 800m outdoor champion, and has a personal best of 1:59.80, set in 2022.
“We’re thrilled to welcome Kristie to the Brooks Beasts,” said Garrett Heath, Head of Sports Marketing at Brooks. “Her talent, mental toughness and unique perspective on running make her a perfect fit for Brooks. As an NCAA champion and 2024 Olympic Trials finalist, she's consistently shown that she has what it takes to compete at the top of the sport, and she's driven to continue pushing those limits within the team environment. We're excited to support her as she chases those dreams."
NEWS AND NOTES:
While the results did not affect the team scoring and placings, all competitors in the men's pole vault at the Big Ten championships in Eugene on Friday had their marks invalidated due to an equipment error.
The upright pegs used to set the bar on were the 75 mm pegs used for high school competition, instead of the standard 55 mm pegs used at the collegiate, national and international levels.
There was a high school meet contested at Hayward Field the previous weekend, and the pegs on the top of the standards were not switched to the international pegs.
Simon Park of the Huskies, who finished with a season best 17-0.25 (5.19m), may end up as the odd man out for the NCAA regionals because of the equipment error. His mark would have been the last mark to qualify for regionals.
In the official results, all placings were kept, but not the marks for the purpose of the NCAA descending order lists...
On Sunday at the Seiko Golden Grand Prix in Tokyo, Washington alum Brian Fay finished third in the men's 3000, running 7:41.09. Australia's Jude Thomas won in 7:39.69...
At the West Coast Last Chance meet in San Francisco hosted by San Francisco State on Saturday, Gonzaga's Jessica Frydenlund set a personal best in the steeplechase, running 10:21.68 to put herself inside the West Region top 48 and a spot unofficially in the NCAA West Regional meet in College Station, Texas next week...
Seattle University's time in the Western Athletic Conference mercifully came to an end, as the Redhawks finished dead last in both the men's and women's team competitions at the WAC track & field championships in Arlington, Texas.
Their only podium finish (top 3) came from Lilianne Hargreaves, who finished third in the women's 1500 in 4:27.13.
They will again not qualify any athletes to the NCAA West Regional meet, continuing a streak that goes back to 2016, when Shaddye Melu qualified in the high jump.
Melu and javelin thrower Dylan Burnett in 2014 remain the only two to qualify for the West Regional in school history.
The Redhawks will join the West Coast Conference next season, and will go to a distance-only model similar to Gonzaga and Portland. They will compete in cross country and outdoor track. Fortunately for SeattleU, the WCC only sponsors cross country as a championship sport.
NOTE: The USTFCCCA, the University of Washington, Gonzaga University, Brooks Running, and the Western Athletic Conference contributed to this report.
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