Six New Dawgs Sign During Fall

SEATTLE – Over the course of the fall, the Husky track and field team has continued to put the pieces in place for whatever 2021 will bring. While the current student-athletes are champing at the bit to put their training to the test, Head Coaches Maurica and Andy Powell welcomed six new Husky commits for the class of 2021-22.
 
The talented group is sure to make an instant impact, with some of the PRs amongst the signees already on par with some of the UW all-time Top-10 marks. Featured in the class is the nation's No. 1-ranked boys recruit according to MileSplit.com, Nathan Green of Borah, Idaho. Green is one of four current high school senior commits who have outstanding résumés in spite of missing their conventional junior track seasons. The remaining two recruits are collegiate senior transfers that will continue their academic and track careers in Seattle.
 
The two transfers are Sophie Cantine from Princeton, and Brian Fay, an international transfer from Dublin City University in Ireland. Both are distance runners. Cantine is returning home, as she is a Seattle native and graduate of Seattle's Lakeside High School.
 
Along with Cantine, two more commits come from in-state. Sprinter Anthony Smith hails from Snoqualmie and attends Eastside Catholic. Julia David-Smith is an Issaquah native (Issaquah H.S.) and the younger sister of current Husky distance runner Camila David-Smith.
 
A major addition to the throws group is Kaia Tupu-South, coming all the way from Auckland, New Zealand, and joining a growing tradition of Huskies from New Zealand that includes recent grad Lilli Burdon, and current distance runners Sam Tanner, and Kirstie Rae.
 
Cantine was a Washington State Championships runner-up in cross country, and in both the 800m and 1,600m during her prep career. At Princeton, she posted a mile PR of 4:41.49 in 2020 and she advanced to the quarterfinal round of NCAA East Prelims in the 1,500-meters in 2019. She raced at the 2018 NCAA Cross Country Championships, taking 117th-place after finishing eighth at Mid-Atlantic Regionals to earn All-Region honors.
 
Brian Fay has been a rising star in Irish distance running with impressive personal-bests across a wide range of distances. The Dublin native was runner-up in the 2019 Irish Cross Country Championships and first among the U23 classification. He also was 20th at the 2018 European U23 Cross Country Championships. On Dec. 19, Fay raced a 10,000-meters in Northern Ireland in a time of 28:41.71, which would be the No. 2 time in UW school history. Fay also owns a mile PR of 4:00.45, a 5,000-meters PR of 13:51 that would rank sixth in school history, and a steeplechase PR of 8:45 that would be one second out of the Top-10 list.
 
Julia David-Smith dominated the Washington 4A State XC Championships in 2019, winning by 56 seconds as a junior. She went on to finish 18th at the prestigious Nike Cross Nationals meet, establishing herself as one of the top juniors in the nation in 2019-20. In her most recent track season in 2019, just a sophomore, David-Smith ran a mile PR of 4:49.17 at the Twilight Relays and she won the WA state track title at 1,600-meters in 4:50.35.
 
Boise, Idaho's Nathan Green has racked up a collection of Idaho state cross country and track titles despite having his 2020 outdoor track season canceled. As just a sophomore, Green showed his potential by taking sixth in the mile at the 2019 Brooks PR Invite at Husky Track, running 4:06.20 for a 16-year-old age group record. Green did get to race a fall 2020 cross country season in Idaho, and he went undefeated, winning a third-straight state title. Green was the Nike Cross Northwest Regional runner-up in 2018 and 2019 and finished 11th overall at Nike Cross Nationals in 2019 when he was the top junior finisher.
 
Anthony Smith has shown great sprinting range at a young age. Back in the 2020 indoor season, Smith ran a 60-meters PR of 6.83 in the Dempsey Indoor. He was able to get a few races in during the outdoor season, including at the Desert Dream Last Hurrah where he ran a 100m PR of 10.62 seconds and a 400m best of 48.06. Smith was third at the 2019 Washington State Meet in the 200-meters as just a sophomore. In the 2020 AAU Junior Olympic Nationals, Smith placed second in the 100m, fifth in the 200m, and 10th in the 400m.
 
Tupu-South is a junior national champion in New Zealand, whose PRs of 50-8 in the shot put and 176-1 in the discus would already rank in the Husky Top-10 lists, the discus mark ranking third. She's won junior national titles in both the shot put and the discus, and had qualified for the World U20 Championships set for 2020 before the event was postponed. Her 2020 discus PR ranked sixth in the world amongst U20 athletes.
 
 
2021 Washington Track & Field Recruiting Class
 

Sophie Cantine – Distances – Princeton (Lakeside High School)
Mile – 4:41.49  |  3,000m – 9:23.93

Julia David-Smith – Distances – Issaquah High School
2019 Washington 4A XC Champion  |  Mile – 4:49.17  |  3,200m – 10:21.15

 
Brian Fay – Distances – Dublin City University
Mile – 4:00.45  |  5,000m – 13:51  |  Steeplechase – 8:45  |  10,000m – 28:41.71

 
Nathan Green – Distances – Borah High School
Mile – 4:06.20  |  3,200m (indoors) – 8:57.80  |  5,000m (XC) – 14:54

 
Anthony Smith – Sprints – Eastside Catholic High School
60m – 6.83  |  100m – 10.62  |  400m – 48.06

 
Kaia Tupu-South – Throws – Westlake Girls High School
Shot Put – 50-8  |  Discus 176-1