Jimmy Rhoads finishes second in B1G Ten pole vault; Julia David-Smith's 2nd in 5000m leads UW women...
LINCOLN, Nebraska--The tricky winds that swirled through Nebraska Track on the final day of the B1G Ten Track & Field Championships made things difficult on Washington's Jimmy Rhoads (UW Athletics photo), as well as all the athletes competing on both the track and the field, but he survived the elements to finish second in the pole vault Sunday.
Rhoads, the B1G Ten Conference leader outdoors going into the meet at 18-10.25 (5.75m), knew that he would be in a battle for the top spot on the podium against the home town favorite Dyson Wicker of the host Cornhuskers.
Rhoads put himself in a hole against the large field of 25 vaulters when he needed two attempts to clear his opening bar of 17-5.5 (5.32m).
After a first attempt clearance on his second bar (17-9.25/5.42m), he made matters tougher on himself as he needed two attempts to clear the next two heights of 18-1.25 (5.52m) and 18-5.25 (5.62m), while Wicker made both bars on his first try.
Rhoads, who was fourth going into the next height of 18-7.25 (5.67m), elected to pass the height, as did Wicker. Meanwhile, both Kevin and Brian O'Sullivan of Rutgers, who were ahead of Rhoads on fewer misses, took tries at the height, but after accumulating one and two misses each, passed to 18-9.25 (5.72m).
The O'Sullivans were eliminated at that height, while Wicker cleared on his second attempt and Rhoads cleared on his third to move into second.
Wicker, the B1G Ten indoor champ, and Rhoads both missed all three tries at 19-1 (5.82m), but Wicker took the win on fewer misses.
Both vaulters set a new championship meet record, eclipsing the old mark of 18-4.75 (5.61m) set by Daren McDonough of Illinois in 2022.
Reuben Reina, who earlier in the meet, finished fourth in the 1500, earned the Huskies their second podium finish of the day, taking second in the 5000 in a time of 14:08.99.
Reina briefly had the lead on the final straightaway in a tactical race, but was squeezed on the inside by a fading Matan Ivri of Wisconsin, and on the outside by winner Tayson Echohawk, who had enough room to take the win in 14:08.84 to Reina's 14:08.99.
Reina finished with a last 400 of 56.41.
In that 1500, Reina was fourth in a time of 4:01.86, while teammates Tyler Bilyard took sixth in 4:02.73, and Thomas Diamond was tenth in 4:03.25.
Collegiate leader Simeon Birnbaum of Oregon won in 4:00.98, as he finished with a final 400 of 50.85.
The Huskies' Trevontay Smith bounded a wind-aided best (+4.7) of 52-0 (15.85m) to finish fifth in the triple jump, as the vast majority of jumps were wind-aided.
Washington got their final points on the track, as Martin Barco finished sixth in the 800 in 1:48.25, and Jonathan Frazier was eighth in the 400 hurdles in 52.28.
The Husky men's hopes of improving upon their sixth place finish last year took a huge hit in the 400 meters when co-favorite Alex Rhodes pulled up shortly before the 200 meter mark with what appeared to be a foot injury.
In the end, Washington, who we projected to finish sixth with 64.5 points, finished sixth with 57 points, as Oregon won with 121 points. Minnesota and host Nebraska tied for second with 81, while USC, who took a big hit with an injury from star sprinter Garrett Kaalund, was fourth with 70.5, and Ohio State fifth with 62 points.
HUSKY WOMEN FINISH FOURTH...
The Washington women's team entered the third day of competition playing with house money, as the Huskies, who we projected to score 62 points and finish sixth, had 73 points, thanks in big part to their unexpected efforts in the javelin, where they placed 1-4-5, led by Ashley Schroeder's winning throw and school record of 179-6 (54.72m).
Julia David-Smith had the best placing on the day for the Huskies, as she placed second in a very tactical 5000 meter run, finishing in a time of 16:58.99, as Oregon's Dalia Frias won in a mild upset, running 16:58.74, out kicking David-Smith, as well as her more renowned teammates.
Chloe Foerster finished fourth in yet another tactical 1500 meter race, due in part to the winds that swirled all day Sunday, running 4:19.85, while Mia Cochran was eighth in 4:24.41. Oregon's Juliet Cherubet won in 4:16.53.
Foerster came back later and finished sixth in the 800 in 2:05.89, while Chloe Symon was eighth in 2:06.99. Hayley Kitching of Penn State was the winner in 2:01.77.
Sofia Cosculluela, fresh off a third place finish in Saturday's long jump, where she broke a 42-year old school record by going 21-1.5 (6.44m), finished fifth in the 100 hurdles, running a wind-aided 13.16 (+4.9).
Oregon's Aaliyah McCormick won in 12.43, while former Washington State All-American Micaela De Mello was third in 12.63.
Former Husky Kapiolani Coleman, now competing for UCLA, was seventh in the 400 hurdles, running 58.81.
The Huskies finished fourth with a final team score of 88 points, as Oregon won with 110 points. Illinois finished second with 92 points, while USC was third with 90 points.
Washington's 88 points are the most the women's squad has scored in a conference championship since 1998, when they scored 94 points in the Pac-10 championship meet.
All of the Division I schools now await the compilation of results from the various conference championship and last chance meets for the announcement on Tuesday of the qualifiers for the NCAA First Round/West and East Regional meet.
NOTE: The sports information office of the B1G Ten Conference, the University of Nebraska, and the University of Washington, contributed to this report.
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