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Hammer, Javelin, 10k Score Big For Huskies At Pac-12s

by gohuskies.com
May 14, 2021

2021 Pac-12 Championships
May 14-16 | Loker Stadium (USC)

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LOS ANGELES – A trio of big scoring events on the first day of the Pac-12 Track & Field Championships added up to a day one lead for the Husky men's team at USC's Loker Stadium. Four Dawgs reached the podium, with a runner-up finish in the javelin from Dalton Sugg, and third-place finishes from Zach Annanie (javelin), Andrew Jordan (10k), and Haley Herberg (10k).
 
There were only three scored events on the men's side and yet the Dawgs racked up 39 points, on what Head Coach Andy Powell called "almost an ideal day." Arizona, Stanford, and USC are all tied for second with 14 points. "We had people setting PRs and just finishing one or two spots better than they were expected to and so it's great to already get nearly forty points on the board."
 
The women scored 15 points to sit tied for fourth with 3 of the 21 events scored just three points behind Arizona State and Oregon in first with 18 points.
 
The day started off great for the Huskies in the men's hammer throw as both Jayden White and Connor Jost threw PRs and finished higher than their seed coming in. Jost, a fifth-year senior in his first Pac-12s, went 203-5 on his third attempt, but then added nearly four feet to his PR on his sixth and final throw, going 207-8 to finish seventh. White had a 217-1 toss in his third round, one inch off his PR, but then added a foot and a half to that PR in his last attempt, as he went 218-8 to move up one spot into fourth-place.
 
Coming in seeded fifth and eight, White and Jost wound up fourth, and seventh, to score seven combined points for the Dawgs. Jost also moved up two more places to No. 7 on the Husky top-10 list. Redshirt freshman Sam Van Peursem finished 14th overall with a best toss of 188-6.

 
The next final was the men's javelin, and the Dawgs put three in the top-five and two on the podium. Dalton Sugg, who waited three years from the end of his 2018 season to compete again in 2021, had the patience and perseverance pay off today as he tossed a PR of 220-9 to take runner-up honors. Sophomore Zach Annanie joined Sugg on the podium as he was third at 211-5, then redshirt freshman Brady Gockel took fifth overall at 200-4 to give the Dawgs 18 points in that event.

 
In the women's javelin, Ida Eikeng came over from finishing up the first four events of her heptathlon competition, and she took fourth in the javelin on just four attempts, throwing a best of 167-0 to earn five points. Freshman Kathleen Horn made the final but settled for ninth, with a best of 150-6.
 
The first track final was the men's 10,000-meters, and the Husky put three in the top-six. Andrew Jordan, an indoor All-American in the 5,000-meters, stepped up to the 10k for the first time on the track and he took third in 28:43.72, the third-fastest time in school history. Tibebu Proctor was a few seconds back in fourth-place in 28:49.34. Then junior Talon Hull, running his first track race of the season, and first since March of 2019, placed sixth in what was also his first 10k. Hull ran 28:51.62, putting him at No. 6 in school history. It was 14 more points from the event for the men.
 
The women's 10k also saw a couple of the fastest times in program history, from Herberg and freshman Naomi Smith, both running the distance for the first time in their careers. Herberg led for much of the 25-lap race and then held on to take third in 32:51.96, the No. 2 time in UW history behind only All-American Izzi Batt-Doyle. Smith finished up in 33:22.67 to place fifth and break the UW Freshman Record by more than a minute. It's also the No. 8 time overall in school history.
 
Andrea Markezich and Camila David-Smith had PRs in 9th and 10th in the 10k. Markezich ran 34:19.16 and David-Smith finished in 34:35.21. Hannah Waskom was 15th in 34:51.67.
 
The decathlon and heptathlon both got underway this afternoon, with a trio of Huskies on the women's side and two Dawgs in the decathlon.
 
Through four events on the women's side, Ida Eikeng is leading the way with 3,571 points, Lyndsey Lopes sits third with 3,422, and 2019 Champion Hannah Rusnak is fourth with 3,376. Stanford's Allie Jones is breaking up the Husky party with 3,504 points to sit second.

 
In the first women's even, Eikeng led the Dawgs and was second overall with a time of 13.67 that moves her up to No. 7 in school history. Lopes was a little off her season-best but was third overall in 13.74, and Rusnak was seventh overall in a time of 14.35.
 
The Huskies took the top two spots and tied for third in the high jump, all with season-bests. Rusnak and Lopes tied for the event win, clearing 5-7 ¾, and Eikeng had a clearance of 5-6 ½ to tie for third.
 
It was another Husky 1-2 finish in the shot put, as Eikeng won with a best of 44-11 ½ and Rusnak set a PR to take second at 42-2 ¼. Lopes went 34-11.
 
Lopes then got the win in the 200-meters to end day one. She ran 24.25 for a season-best. Eikeng was third in 24.55 and Rusnak was ninth in a time of 25.40.
 
In the decathlon, Ollie Thorner started out with a great 100-meters time of 10.87, slightly wind-aided, while Parker Kennedy had a season-best time of 11.30. The second event, the long jump, saw another PR for Thorner at 22-7, with Kennedy leaping 22-3 ¾. In the shot put, Thorner was fourth at 40-4 ¼ and Kennedy was 10th at 36-9 ¾. Thorner cleared 6-2 in the high jump to take second while Kennedy cleared 5-9 ¼. In the final event of the day, Kennedy was third with a 400-meters time of 49.78 and Thorner was fourth at 49.86.
 
Through five events Thorner is sitting in third-place with 3,817 points while Kennedy ranks seventh with 3,539.
 
The first track prelim of the day was the men's 1,500-meters, and all four Huskies maneuvered their way into Sunday's 12-person final. In the first of the two heats, Sam Tanner set the pace early on and auto-advanced with a time of 3:42.02. Dustin Nading was sixth in the heat in 3:43.25 and advanced with a time qualifier and a new PR
 
In heat two, Luke Houser posted a new PR of 3:43.39 to finish second, just ahead of Mick Stanovsek who was third in 3:43.56, both moving through.
 
The women followed suit by getting all three of their 1,500-meter entries into the final. In the first heat, Allie Schadler moved through with one of the time qualifiers in 4:19.62. In the second prelim, Madison Heisterman finished second in 4:21.38 and Anna Gibson took fifth for the final auto advancing spot in 4:21.80.
 
Cass Elliott and Jonathan Birchman both moved on to the final in the 400-meter hurdles with strong runs today. Elliott cruised to a heat win in a time of 51.36. The freshman Birchman got the first time qualifier as he ran a new lifetime-best of 52.58 to make his first final. Senior Julian Body just barely missed out as he was ninth in 52.84, but he will look to make the 110m hurdles final on Saturday.
 
Senior Darhian Mills had a tough go of it in her 400m hurdles prelim as she placed 10th overall in 1:00.91 and did not advance to the final.
 
In the 200m prelims, Olivia Ribera was 15th for the women in 24.11, and Kemuel Santana was 14th for the men in 21.52.
 
Saturday's action starts with the decathlon at 1 p.m., the heptathlon at 2 p.m., the first field event final at 3:30 p.m., and then track events go at 4 p.m.
 

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