Hana Moll wins second career NCAA pole vault title with outdoor collegiate record...
EUGENE--There's an old phrase often used by athletes in the vertical jumps: "No risk it--no biscuit"
While it wasn't the eighteen points the pre meet prognosticators slotted the Washington Huskies for in the pole vault, twins Hana (Paul Merca photo) and Amanda Moll went 1-3 in the event to give the Huskies sixteen points entering Saturday's competition.
After clutch third attempt makes by the Molls at their second bar of 14-4.75 (4.39m) to stay alive in the competition, they and defending outdoor champ Chloe Timberg of Rutgers, who hadn't missed her previous heights, elected to pass the next height of 14-6.75 (4.44m), and let the four other remaining vaulters sort themselves out.
Erica Ellis of Kansas, Anna Willis of South Dakota, Emily Fitzsimmons of Oregon, and Gennifer Hirata of South Dakota, all cleared that height, and joined the top three seeds at the next height of 14-8.75 (4.49m).
The foursome were eliminated at that height, while Hana cleared on the first attempt to take the lead, and Amanda and Timberg needed third attempt clearances to continue.
The trio went to the next height of 15-0.75 (4.59m), which Hana cleared on her first attempt.
After a miss, Timberg passed to the next height of 15-2.75 (4.64m) for two all-or-nothing shots at retaking the lead.
Amanda missed all three attempts at 15-0.75 (4.59m) to finish third with a best 14-8.75 (4.49m).
Timberg's two attempts at 15-2.75 (4.64m) were unsuccessful, while Hana, last year's indoor champion and 2023 Budapest world championships finalist, clinched the win with a first attempt make.
As the only one in the field remaining, Hana took a shot at the outdoor collegiate record set by Amanda of 15-8.25 (4.78m) at Hayward at the Big Ten championships last month, raising the bar to 15-8.5 (4.79m).
After two misses, Hana cleared on her third attempt to claim the outdoor collegiate record, then called it a day.
In the only track final of the evening, Gonzaga's Rosina Machu (Paul Merca photo) finished seventh, running a personal best and school record, finishing the 10000 meters in 32:15.49 to become the school's first ever first-team All American in any event.
Freshman teammate Logan Hofstee finished 21st in a time of 34:01.59.
QUALIFYING ACTION...
In the 1500, both Sophie O'Sullivan and Chloe Foerster of Washington advanced to Saturday's finals, finishing first and seventh in heat 2.
O'Sullivan controlled the race from the front, clocking 4:09.39, while Foerster grabbed the final time qualifier for Saturday's final, running 4:10.62.
Amina Maatoug of the Huskies was eighth in heat 1, finishing in 4:12.71.
The steeplechase saw Maggie Liebich of Washington finish fifth in the second heat in a personal best 9:37.40 to advance to Saturday's final.
Carnation native Braelyn Baker of Duke grabbed the second of the three time qualifiers in the 400 hurdles, finishing fourth in the third semifinal, running a personal best of 56.35.
She ran the leadoff leg on the Blue Devils' 4 x 400 relay, as Duke advanced to Saturday's finals. Duke finished second in 3:28.98.
Arlington native Jaden Roskelley of BYU finished 19th in the decathlon, scoring 7475 points.Here's who's competing Friday with Washington ties:
TIME EVENT
5:12 PM 1500 Meters Nathan Green
5:24 PM 3000 Steeple Rob McManus
7:21 PM 4 x 400 Relay Jacob Andrews
TIME EVENT
11:45 AM 100 Hurdles Sofia Cosculuella, Alaina Brady
12:45 PM High Jump Sofia Cosculuella, Alaina Brady
2:45 PM Shot Put Sofia Cosculuella, Alaina Brady
6:43 PM 200 Meters Sofia Cosculuella, Alaina Brady
ESPN will have live coverage of day 3 of the NCAA outdoor championships starting at 5 pm Pacific, while ESPN+ ($) will have dedicated field event streaming coverage starting at 11:45 am with the heptathlon.
WOODRUFF GETS WORLD CHAMPS STANDARD IN OSLO...
Washington alum Gianna Woodruff got one big obstacle out of the way with her third place finish in the 400 hurdles at the Bislett Games in Oslo.
Woodruff ran a season best 54.45, as training partner Dallilah Muhammad won the event in a time of 53.34.
Woodruff's mark was under the world championships standard of 54.65. She ran 54.54 three days earlier at the Fanny Blankers-Koen meet in Hengelo, and just missed the standard on May 31st.
GRAND SLAM TRACK CANCELS LA STOP...
According to a report from Front Office Sports, the Grand Slam Track stop at Drake Stadium on the UCLA campus in Los Angeles has been cancelled.
In its first season, GST has completed three track meets, in Kingston, Jamaica; Miami, and Philadelphia, which ended last week and was downsized to two days from three.
GST claimed it would award $12.6 million in prize money in year one, so if it eliminates LA that could save more than $3 million, plus event and travel costs. The meet was scheduled for June 28–29 at UCLA.
With the cancellation of the final meet, there are obvious questions as to whether the racers and challengers will get whatever monies they were owed in prize and appearance fees.
NOTE: The sports information office of the University of Washington, Front Office Sports and the NCAA contributed to this report.
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