Washington U. Sweeps Men's and Women's UAA Outdoor Titles

RESULTS

Pittsburgh, Pa., April 26, 2009 – The Washington University men’s and women’s outdoor track and field teams swept the 2009 University Athletic Association (UAA) Outdoor Championship titles on Sunday, April 26, in Pittsburgh, Pa. The Washington U. women won the UAA outdoor title for the 10th-straight year and the WU men win a team UAA track and field title for the first time since they won the UAA indoor meet in 2007. The Bears win the UAA men’s outdoor championship for the first time since 2006, the last time Washington U. swept the conference outdoor titles.

Sunday’s action meant an array of UAA championships, personal records and NCAA Division III Outdoor Track and Field Championship qualifying marks for Washington University. The women’s team brought home five victories on Sunday, also earning 12 all-UAA honors. The men’s team won an astounding eight UAA event championships during Sunday’s action, also setting one new school record and meeting NCAA provisional qualifying standards in two events.

The new school record came in the men’s 4x100-meter relay, where the team of sophomore Tom Gulyas, junior Iby Umana, senior Todd Mowry and senior Pierre Hoppenot shaved 0.01 seconds off the old school record with a first-place mark of 41.93. The win in the 4x100 was one of three for Hoppenot, who was competing in the first UAA Outdoor Championship meet of his career. Hoppenot also won the 100-meter dash with a time of 10.97, and the 200-meter dash, finishing in 22.05.

Washington U. swept the top spots in the men’s and women’s javelin competitions, the 400-meter hurdles and the triple jump. Junior Keith England won the men’s javelin with an NCAA provisional distance of 60.48 meters, topping his old season best mark by more than five meters. Senior Alli Alberts also met provisional standards in the javelin, winning the event with a throw of 38.74 meters.

Alberts was also part of the Bears’ sweep in the 400-meter hurdles. She won that event with her second NCAA provisional standard of the day, a time of 1:03.98, and senior Tanner Coghill represented the men’s UAA champion in the 400-hurdles, submitting a provisional qualifying time of 52.90 in the final and shaving 0.36 off his previous season-best.

Like Alberts in the javelin and the 400-hurdles, Coghill joined senior Danielle Wadlington as the Washington University champions in the triple jump. Wadlington’s distance of 11.65 meters in the triple jump was good for first place and NCAA qualifying marks, while Coghill took down the men’s title with a mark of 14.03 meters.

Wadlington’s victory in the triple jump represented just one of her trio of UAA titles NCAA qualifying marks of the day. She also won the 100-meter hurdles with a qualifying time of 14.58, and ran the final leg of the WU women’s 4x400-meter relay team. Wadlington joined Alberts, senior Krystyn Stowe and senior Erika Wade to win the 4x400 championship with an NCAA provisional time of 3:55.99.

The Red and Green combined to win three other UAA Championships during Sunday’s action. Freshman Erica Jackey took first in the women’s 1,500-meter run (4:40.30), Umana won the men’s 400-meter dash (49.68) and freshman Tyler Jackson placed first in the men’s 110-meter hurdles (15.03).

Jackey also earned all-UAA honors with a third-place finish in the 800-meter run (2:18.15) and freshman Dan Davis made it two Washington University student-athletes earning all-UAA honors in the 110-hurdles with a third-place finish (15.42).

Rounding out the all-UAA performances for the women’s team, Wade came in second in the 400 (57.82), senior Caitlin Molloy was the runner-up in the 100-hurdles (15.55) and the 400-hurdles (1:04.74), Wadlington came in third in the 200 (25.67), senior Aubrey Edwards finished third in the discus (40.84 meters) and the relay team of senior Trudi Pugatch, Wadlington, junior Caitlin Hartsell and Molloy grabbed a third-place finish (49.23).

The Washington U. men featured four additional all-UAA finishes, as senior Todd Mowry came in third in the 200 (22.39), senior Brent Sensenich was the runner-up in the discus (43.17 meters), senior Danny Luce finished third in the discus (41.90 meters) and Umana, Coghill, junior Chris Malaya and sophomore Ben Harmon comprised the second-place 4x400 team (3:20.52).

Washington U. Men and Women Win Four UAA Titles on Saturday

RESULTS

Pittsburgh, Pa., April 25, 2009 – The Washington University women’s outdoor track and field team is ranked first with 86 points and the men’s squad stands in second with 64 team points through one day of competition at the 2009 University Athletic Association (UAA) Outdoor Championships, held Saturday, April 25, on the campus of Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, Pa. The WU women lead second place University of Chicago by 14 points, and the Washington U. men’s squad trails first-place Carnegie Mellon by 16 points.

It was a successful day for both the WU men’s and women’s squads, as they combined to produce four UAA champions and three 2009 NCAA Division III Outdoor Track and Field Championship provisional qualifying marks.

Sophomore Ben Harmon captured two UAA titles on Saturday, winning the pole vault and the long jump. Harmon was just 0.01 meters shy of his personal best height as he cleared 4.44 meters to win the pole vault title. He shattered his prior personal best en route to a first-place finish in the long jump, meeting NCAA provisional standards with a leap of 7.12 meters.

Seniors Danielle Wadlington and Aubrey Edwards each met a provisional qualifying mark with a top-three event finish for the Washington U. women. Wadlington placed second in the long jump with a mark of 5.63 meters, and Edwards came in third in the hammer throw with a provisional and Washington University school record distance of 49.52 meters.

Freshman Katie Hered made it a sweep in the pole vault for Washington University, as she won the women’s conference title with a height of 3.37 meters. The WU women took all three all-UAA positions in the pole vault, with senior Jessica Lane placing second and senior Colleen Moreland coming in third, each by clearing 3.22 meters.

The Bears’ fourth UAA title came in the women’s 4x800-meter relay where the team of freshman Elisabeth Stocking, sophomore Kelli Blake, junior Molly Schlamb and senior Alli Alberts submitted a stadium record time of 9:27.31, competing in the event for the first time this season.

Washington University also had multiple student-athletes garner all-UAA honors in the women’s 10,000-meter run, as sophomore Taryn Surtees came in second (38:35.57) and freshman Jessica Londeree grabbed third (40:08.59). Junior Hope Rathnam came in third in the 3,000-meter steeplechase with a time of 11:39.80.

In addition to Harmon’s pair of wins, the Washington U. men’s team saw two other student-athletes earn all-UAA finishes during Saturday’s action. Sophomore Dave Spandorfer came in second in the 10,000-meter run with a time of 33:11.15, and junior Alden Black was the third-place finished in the 3,000-steeplechase (9:30.53).

Both Washington U. squads are in prime position to earn more all-UAA honors on Sunday following strong showings in preliminary action, particularly in the hurdle events. For the women’s team, seniors Caitlin Molloy and Wadlington rank first and second respectively in the 100-meter hurdles, and Alberts and Molloy grabbed the top two spots in the 400-hurdle prelims. The men’s freshman duo of Dan Davis and Tyler Jackson stand first and second in the 110-hurdles, and senior Tanner Coghill is second in the 400-hurdles heading into Sunday’s final.

The 2009 UAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships concludes on Sunday, April 26, in Pittsburgh, Pa.