Pole Vault Trio Moves On To Nationals

NCAA WEST PRELIMINARY CHAMPIONSHIPS
May 22-25 | Fayetteville, Ark. | John McDonnell Field
 
ESPN+ Live Streams: Friday (12-4pm PT) | Saturday (5-9 pm PT)
 
Live Results
 
Friday (Pacific) (TIMES ADJUSTED DUE TO FORECAST -- ADJUSTED AGAIN FRIDAY MORNING)
2 pm – Men's 1500m, Quarterfinals –Nathan Green, Luke Houser, Joe Waskom
2:25 pm – Men's Steeplechase, Quarterfinals – Sam Affolder
2:45 pm – Men's Triple Jump – Trevontay Smith (flight 3)
4:10 pm – Men's 400m Hurdles, Quarterfinals – Jonathan Birchman
4:55 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
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
6:10 pm – Women's 5000m, Semifinals – Julia David-Smith

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – The three Dawgs that swept the pole vault podium at the Pac-12 Championships all were flying high again today at NCAA West Prelims in Arkansas. Nastassja Campbell, and sisters Hana and Amanda Moll became the first three members of the UW women's team to earn their tickets to the NCAA Outdoor Championships via top-12 finishes at John McDonnell Field.
 
The second day of the four-day meet saw the women take over after the men's competition began on Wednesday. Friday will be the final day for the men and Saturday will be the women wrapping things up. The West Prelim meet cuts fields of 48 athletes in every individual event down to 12, who will move on to the NCAA Outdoor Championships in Eugene, Ore. on June 5-8.
 
Along with the three pole vault qualifiers, the Huskies had four women move into the quarterfinal rounds on the track, two apiece in the 800-meters and the 1,500-meters. They must all get through one more round on Saturday to join the fun in Eugene.
 
The Huskies had four women looking to crash the top-12 in the vault in what proved to be a long, tough competition.
 
Sara Borton was the first Husky to come in at 12-11 ½ which she cleared. The two-time All-American then made 13-5 ¼ and cleared 13-9 ¼ on a first attempt but Borton couldn't get the next bar at 14-1 ¼ and would up 16th overall.
 
Amanda Moll and Nastassja Campbell both needed third attempt makes at their opening heights to get things going. Moll came in at 13-5 ¼ and got that on her final attempt. She then cleared 13-9 ¼ on her second, and then made 14-1 ¼ on her first to get securely into qualifying position.
 
Campbell came in at 13-9 ¼ and after two misses, she got on the board with a clearance. She then cleared 14-1 ¼ on her second attempt.
 
Hana Moll, the Pac-12 and NCAA Indoor Champion, also came in at 13-9 ¼ and made that on one try. She had a miss on her first attempt at 14-1 ¼ but then cleared it on her second. After all the jumping was done at 14-1 ¼, exactly 12 women had cleared it, and that ended the competition, with the Dawgs comprising a quarter of the qualifiers out of the West.
 
First up for UW on the track today were the women's 1,500-meter opening heats. In the second heat, Pac-12 Champion Chloe Foerster ran second for much of the way until taking the lead on the final lap and maintaining it to the finish to win in a time of 4:19.05. India Weir was eighth in the same heat in 4:26.15 and would not advance.
 
In the fourth heat, Sophie O'Sullivan had to navigate a lot more traffic on her way up to the front of the pack but she made a move on the backstretch of the final lap to open up a lead. Easily safe in the top-five, O'Sullivan eased up and was only passed inches from the finish as she took second in 4:20.35 to move on.
 
Foerster and O'Sullivan will be racing for Oregon on Saturday.
 
They'll be joined by Wilma Nielsen and Samantha Friborg, as they both moved through the first round of the 800-meters.
 
Nielsen was jostled a bit on her final lap in her opening heat but had time to gather and push ahead and secure an automatic top-three advancing spot with a time of 2:07.54. Then Friborg pulled away and got the victory in the fourth heat in a time of 2:04.09. Senior Marlena Preigh came up short of the cut from 48 down to 24 as she was sixth in her heat and 32nd overall in 2:08.28.
 
Three women's throwers all had top-30 finishes today, two of them posting season-bests. In the shot put, Kaia Tupu-South had her best mark of the outdoor campaign on her first toss, throwing 55-5 ½. She came up just three spots shy of advancing, in 15th overall, just five inches away from the No. 12 mark, but ending her shot put season on an upswing. Tupu-South will have the discus on Saturday as well.
 
Senior Natalie Holmer, on the final throw of her collegiate career, hit the best throw of her career to vastly outdo her seeding in the javelin (No. 36) and finish 21st overall. Holmer would not have made it to Prelims were it not for a huge PR on her third attempt at Pac-12s two weeks ago, and she had more of that third-round magic today. She threw 159-7, a foot farther than her Pac-12 best, on what would be her last throw as a Dawg. That moved her up to No. 8 in school history as well.
 
First up this morning was senior Beatrice Asomaning in the hammer. Asomaning had a best of 184-11 to finish in 30th-place overall. Like Tupu-South, she will throw the discus on Saturday.
 
Making her NCAA Prelims debut to cap her freshman season was Kapiolani Coleman in the 400-meter hurdles today. Coleman had dropped a big PR of 58.53 (alt. adjusted) at Pac-12s but she couldn't quite find another PR today. Coleman was sixth in her first round heat and 36th overall in a time of 1:00.12.
 
The last event on the track tonight saw the final run as a Dawg for two-time First Team All-American Haley Herberg. Herberg was looking to make a third NCAA Outdoor 10,000-meter final but she came up a few spots short, finishing 16th overall in 34:52.44. She goes out at No. 2 in school history in the 10k, as well as the indoor 5k School Record-holder and No. 2 in the 5k outdoors, while also pocketing a Pac-12 individual cross country title.
 
 
Washington Results – NCAA West Preliminaries
Fayetteville, Ark. | John McDonnell Field
May 23, 2024
Day 2 of 4 (Women's Events)
 
Women's 800m, First Round
Heat 2 of 6: 3. Wilma Nielsen, 2:07.54Q (advances to quarterfinal)
Heat 3 of 6: 5. Marlena Preigh, 2:08.28
Heat 4 of 6: 1. Samantha Friborg, 2:04.09Q (advances to quarterfinal)
 
Women's 1,500m, First Round
Heat 2 of 4: 1. Chloe Foerster, 4:19.05Q (advances to quarterfinal); 8. India Weir, 4:26.15
Heat 4 of 4: 2. Sophie O'Sullivan, 4:20.35Q (advances to quarterfinal)
 
Women's 10,000m (top-12 to NCAAs): 16. Haley Herberg, 34:52.44
 
Women's 400m Hurdles, First Round
Heat 1 of 6: 6. Kapiolani Coleman, 1:00.12
 
Women's Pole Vault (top-12 to NCAAs): 6. Amanda Moll, 14-1 ¼ (ADVANCES TO NCAAS); 7. Hana Moll, 14-1 ¼ (ADVANCES TO NCAAS); 11. Nastassja Campbell, 14-1 ¼ (ADVANCES TO NCAAS); 16. Sara Borton, 13-9 ¼
 
Women's Shot Put (top-12 to NCAAs): 15. Kaia Tupu-South, 55-5 ½
 
Women's Javelin (top-12 to NCAAs): 21. Natalie Holmer, 159-7
 
Women's Hammer (top-12 to NCAAs): 30. Beatrice Asomaning, 184-11
 
Huskies Advancing to NCAA Championships in Eugene, Ore. (through day two)
Nastassja Campbell, Women's Pole Vault
Amanda Moll, Women's Pole Vault
Hana Moll, Women's Pole Vault
 
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)