Three Dawgs Make NCAAs Via Fayetteville
NCAA WEST PRELIMINARY CHAMPIONSHIPS
May 22-25 | Fayetteville, Ark. | John McDonnell Field
ESPN+ Live Streams: Thursday (1-5pm PT) | Friday (5-9pm PT) | Saturday (5-9 pm PT)
Live Results
Thursday (Times Adjusted Due To Weather)
6:30 am – Women's Hammer – Beatrice Asomaning (flight 2)
10:30 am – Women's Javelin – Natalie Holmer (flight 1)
1:30 pm – Women's Pole Vault – Sara Borton, Nastassja Campbell, Amanda Moll, Hana Moll
1:30 pm – Women's 1500m, First Round – Chloe Foerster, Sophie O'Sullivan, India Weir
2:50 pm – Women's 800m, First Round – Samantha Friborg, Wilma Nielsen, Marlena Preigh
3:20 pm – Women's 400m Hurdles, First Round – Kapiolani Coleman
3:30 pm – Women's Shot Put – Kaia Tupu-South (flight 3)
4:10 pm – Women's 10,000m, Semifinals – Haley Herberg
Friday
3:15 pm – Men's 1500m, Quarterfinals –Nathan Green, Luke Houser, Joe Waskom
3:40 pm – Men's Steeplechase, Quarterfinals – Sam Affolder
4 pm – Men's Triple Jump – Trevontay Smith (flight 3)
5:25 pm – Men's 400m Hurdles, Quarterfinals – Jonathan Birchman
6:10 pm – Men's 5000m, Semifinals – Leo Daschbach
Saturday
11 am – Women's Discus – Kaia Tupu-South (flight 1), Beatrice Asomaning (flight 2)
3:15 pm – Women's 1500m, Quarterfinals – Chloe Foerster, Sophie O'Sullivan, India Weir
4 pm – Women's Triple Jump – Lauren Heggen (flight 1)
5 pm – Women's Shot Put – Kaia Tupu-South (flight 3)
5:05 pm – Women's 800m, Quarterfinals – Samantha Friborg, Wilma Nielsen, Marlena Preigh
5:25 pm – Women's 400m Hurdles, Quarterfinals – Kapiolani Coleman
6:10 pm – Women's 5000m, Semifinals – Julia David-Smith
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – NCAA West Preliminaries began today for the Husky track and field squads, with the men taking the stage on the first of four days at John McDonnell Field at Arkansas. Shifting focus from the team's Pac-12 title just ten days ago, the Dawgs got right back to work on building their roster for the NCAA Outdoor Championships.
UW had a productive first day, as three field event standouts punched their tickets to nationals in Eugene. Pac-12 Champions Chandler Ault and Prestin Artis both moved on in the javelin and long jump, respectively, as did Max Manson, who was the Pac-12 pole vault silver medalist. On the track, four Huskies moved from round one into the quarterfinals where they'll have a shot at Eugene on Friday.
Day one focused on the men's events, as the women start on Thursday before it's back to the men on Friday, and the women close things out on Saturday. All athletes in Fayetteville are aiming for the top-12 to move on to Eugene, Ore. for the NCAA Championships on June 5-8.
Much as he did in winning the Pac-12 javelin title less than two weeks ago in Boulder, Chandler Ault wasted zero time punching his ticket to a second-straight NCAA Championship. On his first attempt, Ault powered out a throw of 251-6, virtually assuring himself a top-12 finish with that one throw. In round two, he was just one inch shorter, at 251-5, and he threw 236-7 on his last attempt, which also would have qualified if that was his best of the day.
Ault finished second overall in the meet, going to Eugene on a roll. He now has four throws over 250-feet over his last three competitions. This will be the fourth time in the past five championships that the Dawgs have a men's javelin thrower.
Sophomore Jack Olsen capped his season finishing 31st overall in the javelin today with a best of 206-4.
The second of UW's Pac-12 Champions, Prestin Artis, then followed Ault's lead and punched his ticket to Eugene. Artis was seeded just 20th in the field based on outdoor season-bests, but he delivered when it mattered yet again, getting an outdoor PR of 25-8 on his second attempt that shot him up the leaderboard. That would finish in fifth-place overall to advance to the final site.
Artis, who was fifth at the NCAA Indoor Championships in March, now has a chance to earn a second All-America honor this year. His jump of 25-8 also moved him up to No. 2 on the Husky outdoor lists, behind only World Record-breaker Phil Shinnick from 1963.
The third Husky qualifier of day one was Max Manson in the pole vault. Manson, who was the Pac-12 runner-up, showed his senior experience today as he cleared four of his five attempts to have about as drama-free of a competition as pole vault qualifying can get. Manson came in ranked just 17th in the field, but he had first attempt makes at 16-7 ½ and 17-1 ½, then a second-attempt clearance of 17-5 ½. Sixteen men were left at that point going to 17-9 ¼, and Manson erased any lingering doubts by getting a first-attempt make at that bar, which is the highest he's made this outdoor season. The twelve qualifiers were decided at that height, with Manson tying for third overall. He also reached NCAA Indoors in March, and will be going for his first nationals podium.
Also vaulting was Simon Park, who had a third-attempt make at 16-7 ½ but was unable to go higher today, finishing in a tie for 33rd overall.
Along with Ault and Artis, the third Pac-12 Champion for the men is Joe Waskom, but he traded in the steeple, which he won at conference, for his more familiar 1,500-meters. Waskom, Luke Houser, and Nathan Green, all national champions in either the mile or the 1,500m, all had no trouble in advancing from round one to the quarterfinals today.
Green won his heat in the fastest time of the day in 3:39.97, and he shut it down with 20-30 meters left. Waskom also went from the back of his heat into the lead on the bell lap and took that to the line to win in 3:40.32. Houser controlled his heat from the front and notched second-place to move on in 3:42.49. The three will try to make it three years in a row of all advancing to nationals on Friday.
Ronan McMahon-Staggs was the other Dawg in the 1,500-meter heats but he was unable to get the wheels turning late and he finished 10th in his heat in 3:44.22.
Senior Jonathan Birchman led a trio of men in the 400-meter hurdles first round as he auto advanced to Friday's quarterfinal with a third-place finish in his heat in 51.34 seconds. Birchman got the 12th spot a year ago to nationals and he'll look to reach the top-12 for a second time in two days.
Freshman Jonathan Frazier and junior Matthew Wilkinson came up just shy of advancing today. Frazier couldn't quite get his rhythm out of the inside lanes and he finished 26th overall in the field of 48 in 51.65 seconds. Wilkinson had the best run of his season, as he clocked 51.67 for 27th overall, after he came in ranked 46th in the field.
Late Wednesday night, in fact early Thursday morning, Jayden White finally threw likely the final time in his All-America Husky career. The men's hammer had been moved from the first event to the last event due to weather, and White was in the final flight, throwing his first attempt after 1 a.m. local time. He went 214-feet on his opener then 216-11 in round two, but he needed a couple more feet to break into the top-12 in round three and came up short at 215-11. The five-time All-American and indoor weight throw School Record-holder wound up 14th overall tonight, just outside the cut line.
Thursday's schedule has changed drastically due to impending storms in the area, and Beatrice Asomaning will now kick things off for the women at 6:30 a.m. Pacific, then the first track events have moved up three hours to 1 p.m., with the first Huskies at 1:30 p.m. in the 1,500-meters.
Washington Results – NCAA West Preliminaries
Fayetteville, Ark. | John McDonnell Field
Day 1 of 4 (Men's Events)
Men's 1,500m, First Round
Heat 1 of 4: 10. Ronan McMahon-Staggs, 3:44.22
Heat 2 of 4: 2. Luke Houser, 3:42.49Q (advances to quarterfinal)
Heat 3 of 4: 1. Nathan Green, 3:39.97Q (advances to quarterfinal)
Heat 4 of 4: 1. Joe Waskom, 3:40.32Q (advances to quarterfinal)
Men's 10,000m (top-12 to NCAAs): 30. Tyrone Gorze, 29:58.83; 45. Evan Jenkins, 31:12.52; -- Jamar Distel, DNF.
Men's 400m Hurdles, First Round
Heat 1 of 6: 4. Matthew Wilkinson, 51.67
Heat 2 of 6: 3. Jonathan Birchman, 51.34Q (advances to quarterfinal)
Heat 4 of 6: 6. Jonathan Frazier, 51.65
Men's Pole Vault (top-12 to NCAAs): tie-3. Max Manson, 17-9 ¼ (ADVANCES TO NCAAS); tie-33. Simon Park, 16-7 ½
Men's Long Jump (top-12 to NCAAs): 5. Prestin Artis, 25-8 (ADVANCES TO NCAAS)
Men's Hammer (top-12 to NCAAs): 14. Jayden White, 216-11
Men's Javelin (top-12 to NCAAs): 2. Chandler Ault, 251-6 (ADVANCES TO NCAAS); 31. Jack Olsen, 206-4
Huskies Advancing to NCAA Championships in Eugene, Ore. (through day one)
Chandler Ault, Men's Javelin
Prestin Artis, Men's Long Jump
Max Manson, Men's Pole Vault
Jami Schlueter, Men's Decathlon (advances without Prelim competition)