April 26, 2012
UW-WSU DUAL ON THE TRACK: One of the oldest rivalries in track and field is renewed this Saturday, as the Huskies head east to Pullman to face the Cougars in the annual UW-WSU Dual Meet. Every year the meet produces some of the best drama and fiercest competition of the season, bringing out the best in both squads. Few head-to-head dual meets remain in track and field, but the Husky-Cougar showdown has endured since 1900. The meet is also the last full team trip for the Huskies before the postseason arrives with the Pac-12 Championships just two weeks away. Held at Mooberry Track, field events begin at 11 a.m. and the first running events are set for 1:15 p.m. Scoring for the dual meet goes five points for first in each individual event, three points for second, and one for third. Winning relay teams earn five points while second-place gets shut out, making relays key swing events. Last year, the Husky men earned the victory in the final dual meet in Husky Stadium history, while the WSU women came out on top. UW-WSU DUAL MEET HISTORY: More than one hundred years of history has passed between the Huskies and Cougars on the track. The rivals first squared off in 1900, and the early years were dominated by the Seattleites. Washington won 15 of the first 17 meetings until 1932. The Cougars then strung together eight wins from 1946-53. The biggest run in the series was from 1976 until 1995, when Washington State dominated with 22 consecutive wins, snapped in 1996 when UW scored a 104-97 win in Pullman. Since that time things have been even, with the men's teams going 8-8 against each other. UW posted its greatest Husky Stadium win over WSU in 2007, a 103-60 victory. The Cougar men then won the next three, until the Huskies came back in 2011 with the 83-80 victory in the final meeting in Husky Stadium history, as the track has been removed in the renovation. The women have squared off 35 times prior with UW holding a 20-16 edge. The Huskies were 18-3 against their rivals from 1979 until 1997, when WSU turned it around and took 12 of the next 13 duals. The Husky women snapped a four-meet win streak for WSU in 2009, squeaking out the win by just a third of a point, the closest meet in UW-WSU history. In Pullman, Washington State holds a 35-14-1 edge on the men's side, while the Husky women have a 9-8 all-time lead in Pullman, although the last road win for the UW men was in 2006 while the women last had a win in Pullman in 2004. HUSKIES IN THE RANKINGS: A new set of team rankings came out this Tuesday from the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association, for the first time this season based solely on marks set in 2012. The Husky women's team is ranked 32nd this week, getting a big boost from Katie Flood's new NCAA-leading time in the 1,500-meters. A big chunk of points are also coming from Logan Miller, who ranks 10th nationally in the pole vault, and Megan Goethals, who is 13th in the 5,000-meters. Chelsea Orr also ranks 19th in the 1,500-meters and Amanda Peterson is 21st in the javelin throw. The Husky men dropped to 76th in the rankings this week, as they lost preseason points from Maurice McNeal, out with an injury. Joe Zimmerman is currently 22nd in the nation in the javelin, and J.J. Juilfs is in a tie for 24th in the pole vault. FLOOD PICKS UP PAC-12 WEEKLY HONORS: Sophomore All-American Katie Flood was named Pac-12 Women's Track Athlete of the Week for the week of Apr. 16-22, after she moved into the NCAA and U.S. lead in the 1,500-meters with a win at the Mt. SAC Relays on Apr. 20. The Des Moines, Iowa native won the invitational section at Mt. SAC, cutting seven seconds off her previous career-best with a time of 4:11.66. That ranks as the seventh-fastest time in Pac-12 history, and the fourth-fastest time so far in the world this season outdoors. It is the first Pac-12 Athlete of the Week award this season for Washington, and the first of Flood's career. It's just the latest honor in what has been an amazing 2012 on the track. Flood capped off a record-smashing indoor season by anchoring UW's distance medley relay to the first NCAA indoor title in Husky women's track history. She also ran school record and NCAA leading times in the mile and 3,000-meters, drawing a national spotlight and earning a spot on the Bowerman Watch List, a 10-athlete list of athletes contending for national athlete of the year honors, basically the Heisman Trophy of college track. This past fall, Flood capped off one of the best cross country seasons in Washington history with a seventh-place finish at the NCAA Cross Country Championships, earning her first cross All-America honor, and leading UW to second overall. She had previously won the inaugural Pac-12 Cross Country Championships, becoming the third Husky ever to win the conference title. But since stepping back onto the track this indoor season, Flood is proving that no record is safe, as she has made a huge leap from an already impressive freshman season. With the year of experience and consistent training, Flood put her name into the NCAA recordbooks. In her debut at the UW Invitational, Flood lowered the UW 3,000-meter record by more than 13 seconds down to 8:55.31, which ranked her as the No. 6 indoor performer in NCAA history, and the No. 5 American collegiate indoors or outdoors at 3,000-meters. Two weeks later at the Flotrack Husky Classic, Flood dropped nearly 20 seconds off her mile PR, running 4:28.48, which is the fourth-fastest time in NCAA history, and dropped six and a half seconds off UW's school record. Two of the three women ahead of Katie on the list won gold (Jenny Simpson at 1,500m) and silver (Sally Kipyego at 10,000m) medals last summer at the IAAF World Championships. At the MPSF Championships, Flood ran the 1,600m anchor leg on UW's distance medley relay, which won in a school, MPSF, and Dempsey record time of 10:55.01, another NCAA leader. Both of Flood's individual times were the fastest in the NCAA since 2009. The DMR of Chelsea Orr, Jordan Carlson, Baylee Mires, and Flood went on to win the NCAA title in Nampa, Idaho on March 9. Flood was named the West Region Women's Indoor Track Athlete of the Year by the USTFCCCA. ALL ROADS LEAD TO IOWA: For the second straight year, the outdoor track season heads towards Des Moines, Iowa for the NCAA Championships from June 6-9. Athletes will reach the final site by qualifying through the preliminary rounds, held at two different locations. The western half of the country will be in Austin, Texas for the West Prelims on May 24-26, and the eastern half will meet in Jacksonville, Florida. There are no set NCAA qualifying standards anymore; athletes will qualify for the prelims by ranking in the top 48 in their event in their respective region. For relay teams it will be the top 24. The top-12 finishers from each regional meet then advance to Des Moines. Therefore most events will feature initial fields of 96 athletes over the two sites, that will be whittled down to 24 that advance to Iowa. BRYANT, CARLSON, AND FLOOD ROLL AT MT. SAC RELAYS: A pair of school records was joined by yet another sensational run from sophomore Katie Flood, highlighting a weekend at the Mt. SAC Relays. Elisa Bryant, the fifth year senior, headed off on her own to the Beach Invite hammer throw at Cerritos College. She set the school record during her sophomore year in 2009, throwing 190-6, but a back injury forced her to redshirt the following season. Friday, Bryant surpassed her three-year-old mark with two throws, one traveling 192-7, but the new record going 193-10. Flood showed she's ready to roll with an NCAA- and U.S.-leading time at 1,500-meters, as she won the invitational section at Mt. SAC in a new career-best of 4:11.60. The sophomore's time is the No. 3 mark in school history, and No. 7 in Pac-12 history. Carlson broke her own 400-meter dash school record for the second time this season, running 53.73 seconds to finish fourth out of 43 competitors in the open heats. Megan Goethals broke 16-minutes for the second time outdoors and third time in her career with a time of 15:58.12. Carlson was back later in the day to help post another Top-10 time in the Husky recordbooks, as she ran the anchor leg on the 4x400-meter relay which ran the fastest time since 2006. Michelle Fero, Kayla Stueckle, and Gianna Woodruff led to Carlson as the Huskies ran 3:43.76, which ranks ninth in school history. Leading the way for the jumps crew was Robby Fegles, who won the B-flight pole vault with a new career-best clearance of 17-2 ¾. Logan Miller was back in action after her 14-foot clearance two weeks prior. She went 13-7 ¼ Friday, the second-best mark of her career. In the triple jump, junior Shaniae Lakes ramped her season-best up to 40-11 ½. Ryan Hamilton continued his strong start, as he lowered his PR in the 100-meters, running 10.59 seconds, and he also anchored the 4x100m relay, which won its heat in 40.77 seconds, with Matt Anthony handing to James Alaka, then Sam Rucker to Hamilton. Alaka was sixth in the 200-meter invitational, going 20.92.Stueckle was just off her PR in the 400-meter hurdles, and went under the one minute mark for the second time in her career, running 59.91 seconds to take second in section two. Woodruff also registered a PR as she went 1:01.90. The Husky women's 4x1 again ran the No. 9 time in school history, at 45.99. In the multi-events, sophomore Shelby Williams had an impressive two days, scoring a career-best 4,679 points, more than 300 points better than her top mark a year ago, and the new No. 7 mark in school history. |
