2017 Track & Field Season Preview

January 13, 2017 | Track & Field

By: UW Athletic Communications

Washington's 2017 track season kicks off on Saturday as the Huskies host the UW Indoor Preview, the first of four big action-packed weekends in the Dempsey. The Huskies return a dozen athletes who have NCAA Championship experience along with a number of veterans that helped UW to a program-best second-place finish at Pac-12s on the men's side last year, and a fourth-place women's finish that also tied the best in team history. A large group of freshmen and newcomers is joined by a familiar face in a new coaching role, as former volunteer Eric Metcalf takes over the sprints group this season. Head Coach Greg Metcalf and assistant coaches Eric Metcalf, Jason Schutz, Pat Licari, and volunteer coach Mark Macdonald shared their thoughts on their event groups as the season opener arrives.

Elizabeth Quick became the third different Husky in three years to win the Pac-12 women's pole vault title in 2016.

Jumps/Vault/Multis

Returning 2016 Conference Scorers and NCAA qualifiers

Men
Casey Burns, Triple Jump (7th at Pac-12s; 30th at NCAA Prelims)
Josh Gordon, Heptathlon/Decathlon (5th at MPSFs; 6th at Pac-12s); Long Jump (43rd at NCAA Prelims)
Cole Jensen, Heptathlon/Decathlon (7th at MPSFs; 8th at Pac-12s)
Carson Murray, High Jump (3rd at Pac-12s; 27th at NCAA Prelims)
Chase Smith, Pole Vault (5th at Pac-12s; 8th at MPSFs; 16th at NCAA Prelims)

Women
Kate Adler, Long Jump (8th at MPSFs)
Kennadi Bouyer, Long Jump (8th at Pac-12s; 3rd at MPSFs; 45th at NCAA Prelims)
Savannah Burr, Triple Jump (7th at Pac-12s)
Tori Franzen, Pole Vault (7th at MPSFs)
Elizabeth Quick, Pole Vault (Pac-12 Champion; 9th at NCAA Indoors; 11th at NCAA Outdoors)
Kaitlin Zinsli, Pole Vault (2nd at Pac-12s)

Additional Returner
Kristina Owsinski, Pole Vault (Injured in 2016; 2015 Pac-12 Champion; 4th at 2015 NCAA Outdoors)

Assistant Coach Pat Licari

What areas are looking strong to you heading into the start of the indoor season?
The pole vault group is rocking. They are large in numbers and quality. Liz Quick in her final season, she just missed the podium at both nationals last year, so looking to get into that top-eight for sure. Chase Smith is looking great after a good freshman year. Kaitlin's doing really well after getting second at Pac-12s last year, I'm hoping she can take it beyond the conference level this year, maybe see some nationals action. Lev Marcus has been looking really good. He's been kind of a roller coaster ride but he is healthy and excited to see what he is going to do. Then we get Kristina Owsinski back for outdoors. She's looking great in her recovery and is jumping again, so really excited about her return in spring.

The multis group is coming off a great year with Josh and Cole having good conference showings, they are looking great again this year, hoping that NCAAs is within reach for both of them.

Then our men's high jumpers, with Carson Murray getting third at Pac-12s last year, he's shown some big meet ability in the high jump, just looking for him to jump more consistently at and around his PR and if he can just get another inch or two on that PR he could get himself to nationals. Then with our freshman Bryce Fausset and Cole has always been a solid high jumper so that group should be pretty strong.

How have the freshmen been looking so far through the fall?
Well we have some great freshmen vaulters in the Weiler twins, and Zach Shugart who had an outstanding high school career. Jake Bowler is another guy who was coached by Scott Roth's dad, so he comes from a place we're familiar with.

I mentioned Bryce in the high jump but he comes in with some great credentials and should help us right away. (Volunteer multis coach) Atanas is excited about adding Carly Lester to that group of multis. She's not a freshman but new to the multis and she has shown a lot of promise in her first fall of training to be a multi-eventer instead of just a hurdler. So she will be the replacement to C.J. Smith.

Any returners you see having a breakout season?
Well, I think you can look at just about all the returners and they all are hoping to surpass last season. Casey Burns in the triple jump was banged up last year, he's hoping to get back to those marks from the end of his first year here. Savannah Burr we have back just for outdoors and she was really a great surprise, like to see her move up the Pac-12 and get to prelims. We talked about Liz, but she's always been a great competitor from day one. In all of the big meets, whatever she's capable of she'll do that and then some. Can she get on the NCAA podium in her senior season? There are several other vaulters on the women's side who are looking good so can they get to that 13-foot mark or higher and contribute at Pac-12s, that's the goal.

Carson Fuller made it to the finals of the U.S. Olympic Trials in the javelin last summer and returned for a fifth year.

Throws

Returning 2016 Conference Scorers and NCAA qualifiers

Men
Carey Campbell, Hammer (4th at Pac-12s)
Carson Fuller, Javelin (4th at Pac-12s; 15th at NCAAs; 12th at US Olympic Trials)

Women
Onyie Chibuogwu, Hammer (5th at Pac-12s; 41st at NCAA Prelims)
Katherine Taylor, Javelin (8th at Pac-12s)

Assistant Coach Jason Schutz

What are you most interested in seeing from your group in the early part of the season?
We're just getting back into training obviously. We have a lot of new faces this year so I am excited to see in my second year our returners' progression from the first year. They have come a long way, so I'm excited to see that progression take shape in a meet. We have some really talented young freshmen and transfers so I'm excited to see them step into a uniform and see where they start.

What returners do you think are poised to reach a new level?
I think Onyie Chibuogwu and Carry Campbell coming off the outdoor seasons that they had last year in just their sophomore years of competition; both had great summers, their fall training went really well and so I think that indoor is going to be a good indicator of where we are going to be with outdoor and what we need to gear up and focus on and train pretty hard in the early parts of the year. I think those two are going to take that next step this year and they look really good.

Carson Fuller made a final at the Olympic Trials last summer and from a technical standpoint made a lot of really good improvements on things that should add to him taking the next step this year and scoring at the national championship.

Denham Patricelli is coming back off an injury and he is a really talented guy if we can keep him healthy and use his physical abilities. That should be really exciting.

How have the new faces made their way through fall, and who might make some early contributions?
We have a lot of in-state kids that are really excited to be here at Washington. Jose Padilla is a guy that threw really far in high school and has great size and great strength for a guy that is just a freshman. I think he's going to make the transition really quickly, he's going to compete for us indoor and I think he will have a really good freshmen year and be a big factor for us early on.

Then a couple of the javelin guys that we brought in, Dalton Sugg and Jacob Wachtendonk, are really talented, they should be able to step in really soon and contribute for us.

On the girl's side, Emmy Engle was one of the top javelin throwers in the country in high school last year. She's someone that is a really good athlete and is working really hard and she will be really good for us this year as well. I also think Angel Nkwonta coming in is going to throw the hammer really well for us, even though it will take some time to develop

Where would you say the strengths will be this season?
We have a lot of athletes in the javelin group, a lot of talent and a lot of athletes that threw far in high school. There's a lot of ability in that group, so they should lead the way for us, but we are starting to get some hammer throwers in here and our hammer throwers are still fairly young. In the future with some of our commits and guys like Jose and Jack Lembcke that are still developing, we are going to be really good in the discus moving forward. I think those three events are going to continue to be really strong for us and Jose has such great size and strength that he is going to be a heck of a shot putter, and Jack was one of the top guys in high school in the country, so they will go a great job for us as well. I think on the men's side we should be pretty good across the board and on the women's side we need to keep building some depth.

Ryan Croson made the Pac-12 400-meter final as a true freshman last year, placing seventh overall.

Sprints/Hurdles/Relays

Returning 2016 Conference Scorers and NCAA qualifiers

Men
Ryan Croson, 400m (7th at Pac-12s)
Eric Simpson, 110m Hurdles (8th at Pac-12s)
4x100m Relay: Andrew Brown (5th at Pac-12s)
4x400m Relay: Brown, Croson, Jacopo Spanò (7th at Pac-12s; 8th at MPSFs; 19th at NCAA Prelims)

Women
Kennadi Bouyer, 60m/100m/200m (2nd at MPSFs and 8th at NCAA Indoors in 60m; 8th at Pac-12s and 20th at NCAA Outdoors in 100m; 7th at Pac-12s in 200m)
4x400m Relay: Hannah Derby, Carolyn Birkenfeld, Alexis Ford (5th at Pac-12s; 6th at MPSFs; 23rd at NCAA Prelims)

Assistant Coach Eric Metcalf

What are you most excited to see from your group as the first races come up this week?
Well first and foremost, I'm very excited to get to meets because fall training and just practicing every day and pushing on the kids and just running, running, running with no reward in the near future is hard. So now that we have meets I feel good about the fact that when they step on the track for practice, that at the end of the week there's going to be a meet and they'll get to see the fruits of their labor.

Are there any returners that you think will take a big step this season or are hoping will do that?
For the women I look forward to Imani Apostol being a breakout athlete, just because I know where she was in high school, what she did last year which wasn't close to her high school performances, and how hard she works. So it's looking like she's going to surpass everything she did in high school already. So if I had to pick one, she would be a good candidate. On the men's side, I think Jacopo Spanò, getting back to where he was as a World Juniors competitor, I'm looking forward to big things from him. I honestly feel that he feels that he can run fast again. Last year and previous years I don't know if he really felt like he can, but now he's confident, and he's worked hard, and I think he'll run faster than he's ever run.

How has the group of newcomers fit in so far and what do you like about their potential?
We have a lot of new faces on the women's side that are very strong at 400-meters. I don't mean it as in one person will go out and run 51 seconds and make it to the NCAA finals, but I know that as a group, running 4x400s and 4x100s and doing everything that a track team needs, that they can be really good and help this team a lot. That's Laura Anuakpado and Whitney Diggs, two senior transfers I think will really help us. I'm thinking in the first meet, they break the school record in the 4x400, whoever is on it. We have five, six, seven people who could actually run it but I think no matter which four we put out there, that the first time, we're going to break the school record and make it look more respectable.

With the young guys, it's just them finding their way. A lot of them have never really run indoor track. But they've worked real hard and I expect big things from them. But it's different when they step on the track and actually have to run, and they're the young ones that have to look up to people, and hear these names see fast times. So I expect big things but you don't know until you get out there for the first time. It's different from all the new girls because all the women pretty much have transferred and they're used to being in the spotlight and having to compete against people of this caliber.

It sounds like the women's 4x4 should be a strength, what other events do you think will be ones to watch?
Well Kennadi is actually faster now than she was last year, so hopefully she'll be doing big things. But I think just as a group, I don't want to say particular events, but I think the women as a group, they will look different. Kennadi will do her thing, then you've got Sarah Stavig, I look forward to big things from her. Then the 400 runners as a group, I think they'll score more points at meets and they'll look better as a group than we've looked in past years. That's what I'm looking forward to, just the fact that people can say 'oh, UW has sprinters.' More so than expecting a certain number of wins or rankings, I want the group as a whole to be respected and I think this group of girls will bring that when it's all said and done.

On the men's side I would definitely say the 4x4 gives us good chances to score as well. We have a group of guys who can run good 400s. It's funny because Jacopo is not truly a 400 runner and Khalil Winfrey could probably help in the 4x4 but he's not truly a 400 runner. But it's just them as a collective group deciding 'okay I'm willing to do this for the team and make the team better.' If they do, with the sprint speed that those guys have, that will make the 400 group better. I think that is an event that those guys could really shine in from a group perspective.

Volunteer Assistant Coach Mark Macdonald (Hurdles Coach)

What are you most looking forward to seeing from your hurdles group heading into the opener?
It's a small but motivated and talented group. Starting with Eric Simpson, he's ready for this first meet to be his best thus far. After making the Pac-12 final last year, he's more confident and has that behind him now so now he can think more about placing high. I think he has thoughts of winning it, which now with Devon Allen gone you never know, I don't know who else is up there, but he's so motivated and works hard that he's going to be good for sure.

Freshman Oscar Herrera has been a very pleasant surprise. I see him being the same level as several of the other guys that I've had in the past that end up running fifty-point (in the 400m hurdles). So he's someone I've been very impressed with; he's going to be the big surprise on the team. It depends how quickly Oscar develops but he could be a guy that makes the Pac-12 final this year, just to put a lot of pressure on him (laughs).

Then we have Morganne Hill and Darhian Mills in the women's hurdles. Darhian is the all-time Washington state record-holder, and now she looks like it. She's doing great. She's still evolving towards a 400-hurdler. She's really talented, really motivated, but needs to get her mind around running 400 hurdles. She's evolving into the type of tough person to do that. But her top end is off the chart, she's going to be great. Morganne had a little injury setback but again is tough and motivated. The combination of the two is great. Morganne is very hard-nosed. They both had that freshman slump last year, so as a coach I have the benefit of getting them when they have that behind them, so it will be easier for me to work with them going forward with that tough year out of the way.

Katie Knight won the Pac-12 title at 10,000-meters last year and was a Second Team All-American at NCAAs.

Middle and Long Distances

Returning 2016 Conference Scorers and NCAA qualifiers

Men
Andrew Gardner, Steeplechase (4th at Pac-12s; 18th at NCAA Outdoors)
Colby Gilbert, 3,000m/5,000m (Pac-12 Champion in 5,000m; 8th at NCAA Indoors in 3,000m; 13th at NCAA Outdoors in 5,000m)
Fred Huxham, 5,000m (7th at Pac-12s; 17th at NCAA Prelims)
Blake Nelson, 1,500m (22nd at NCAA Outdoors)
Johnathan Stevens, 1,500m (29th at NCAA Prelims)
Distance Medley Relay: Gilbert, Nelson (2nd at NCAA Indoors)

Women
Izzi Batt-Doyle, 5,000m/Steeplechase (8th at Pac-12s in 5,000m; 17th at NCAA Prelims in Steeplechase)
Hannah Derby, 800m (47th at NCAA Prelims)
Kaylee Flanagan, 10,000m (6th at Pac-12s; 33rd at NCAA Prelims)
Katie Knight, 10,000m (Pac-12 Champion; 15th at NCAA Outdoors)
Anna Maxwell, 1,500m (4th at Pac-12s; 14th at NCAA Outdoors)
Maddie Meyers, 1,500m/5,000m (7th at Pac-12s in 5,000m; 18th at NCAA Prelims in 1,500m)
Amy-Eloise Neale, 1,500m (5th at Pac-12s; 10th at NCAA Outdoors)
Charlotte Prouse, Steeplechase (3rd at Pac-12s; 9th at NCAA Outdoors)

Head Coach Greg Metcalf

What has you most excited about this group coming off the fall?
In the month of January, especially for the middle distance kids, we haven't run time trials or super big efforts, so you get a firm idea of where they are. The month of January also determines do we have the pieces to take a shot and go qualify in the distance medley relay? Then putting the uniform on the freshmen for the first time and seeing what they can go do. The sheer opportunity that the Dempsey provides our distance runners to stay home and compete.

Looking at the mid-distance group specifically, Mason Fletcher has made lots of progress and I'm excited to see him stand on the starting line and go run fast. He's a senior and he's worked hard at this and is very dedicated. So I'm excited to watch him lead the middle distance group and get after it. Hannah Derby had flashes of brilliance last track season, and she's in her third year now which is hard to believe but looking for her to lead the way as well.

Then I'm excited to just watch Amy-Eloise Neale. She's coming off the best season of her career this fall, plus a great 2016 track season, so I'm excited to see where she goes and what she does. Will we go run one mile at the NCAA Championships, will she run 3k, will she be on a DMR? Those things will take shape over the next month.

On the men's side, listening and talking to Colby Gilbert, I'm excited to see him get on the track and see where he is. Same thing with him as with Amy, can he double at (NCAA) Indoors, is he on a high-quality DMR? What is Blake Nelson capable of doing? Johnathan Stevens had good moments in the fall, can he have his best indoor season? Colby was disappointed with how the fall ended, but he's a great athlete and he's put it in the rearview mirror and he has big-time goals in the upcoming track season. I'm a believer that he will have a phenomenal rest of the year.

Are there any returners that are poised to reach a new level this year?
We graduated Izaic Yorks and Aaron Nelson, Eleanor Fulton and Baylee Mires, but we have a lot of talent returning so who's the next one that can have that breakout track season and can make a Pac-12 final or get to the NCAA Championships and that's the exciting unknown.

Fred Huxham's a kid that was on the cusp last year. Can he be at the NCAA Championships in the 5k indoors and out? Andrew Gardner was an outdoor qualifier last year, does he take the next leap and have a great indoor season that springboards him to potentially be an NCAA finalist outdoors? Johnathan ran 3:43 and 13:57 last year, he's a guy that we want and need to have a productive season. On the women's side, we return a Pac-12 Champion and NCAA qualifier in Katie Knight, so what kind of progress can she make towards June? Amy made an NCAA final, but what we saw from her this fall, her goals have changed. Then Anna Maxwell hasn't made an NCAA final, so Anna and Amy are the next two where we want to see what they can do at the NCAA Championships, can they get to that final bell with a shot.

Kaylee Flanagan and Izzi Batt-Doyle I think both had very nice moments during the cross country season. As we progress towards the outdoor track season, can Izzi make the NCAA Championships at 5k, steeple, or 10k? Kaylee, as a senior, Lindsay Flanagan made the NCAA Championships in the 10k as a senior, so can Kaylee go do the same thing? She's worked hard, the fall for Kaylee didn't end as she would have liked it to, but she's been very purposeful and is excited. Emily Hamlin was kind of on the fringe all fall, we kind of challenged her a little bit, she's a very talented kid and is a girl that maybe runs a leg on a DMR at the NCAA Championships, I think she's poised to have an improved 2017.

How have the freshmen progressed through the fall season and who could make some early contributions?
Obviously Nikki Zielinski and Kaitlyn both got a chance to run at the NCAA Championships as freshmen which is a big deal. Kaitlyn ended up as our second girl at the NCAA meet, and Nikki made massive improvements. Kaitlyn came back from the break looking energized, she had a really nice cross country season and is an incredibly tough young woman. But the goal for freshmen is to be very patient. Nikki will probably redshirt indoors, but Katherine Penner, Briegan Bester, and Micaela Kostecka we'll put uniforms on all three of them and I think they have some talent and we'll get to see how they function in races. The men's group is a large one that still needs some time but I'm excited about Nick Laccinole and Gavin Parpart and Nate Beamer, you saw flashes of wonderful potential but didn't really see it on race day yet. So that's the exciting part to find some freshmen who big picture next fall can slide into our group to solidify our men's cross country group as well.