ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – For the first time since the Hoover Administration, the Washington Men’s Track & Field Team earned a top-four finish at an NCAA Championship. The Huskies earned the fourth-place trophy tonight at the Albuquerque Convention Center to cap off an historic indoor season. Luke Houser also earned the NCAA title in the men’s mile, as UW scored 20 of its 31 team points in that event alone.
Four teams take home trophies at the NCAA Indoor and Outdoor Track & Field Championships. Indoors, Washington’s previous all-time high finish on the men’s side was sixth, in 2016. Outdoors, you have to go back to 1930 when the Huskies placed second to find the last top-four team finish.
The Dawgs wound up right behind three SEC powers, as Arkansas won the title with 63 points. Georgia took second with 40, then Florida with 34, and the Huskies with 31 points. Fifth-place went to Texas Tech with 29 points, then Oklahoma State and Texas tied for sixth with 25. Nebraska (24.75), Alabama (19) and Northern Arizona (19) rounded out the top-10.
The team that set the new standard ????#GoHuskies x #NCAATF pic.twitter.com/FvHHR2Adsu
— Washington Track & Field (@UWTrack) March 12, 2023
The women’s team, which concluded its action on Friday, also wound up in a tie for 24th-place in the final standings. That’s the highest for the women at indoors since 2016.
Fifth-year men’s Head Coach Andy Powell talked about the total team effort to achieve this, which saw UW tied for the most men’s entries at the meet with 13.
“What makes it special is all the coaches and all the support staff and all the athletes on the team, whether they’re here or not, they all contributed,” said Powell. “That’s what’s great about track and field. You have a lot of athletes and coaches in different events that come together as one, which is pretty special. This doesn’t happen without all of them.”
Making headlines all season with their sub-four-minute exploits, Washington had four men in the mile final tonight. Out of Brian Fay, Nathan Green, Luke Houser, and Joe Waskom, it was anybody’s guess who might lead the squad, but the goal was to post as many points as possible.
The four hung back early, but then Fay moved up front and soon Houser and Waskom joined, while Green continued to wait. With two laps to go, Houser was up front and pushing the pace hard. On the final lap, Waskom joined him in the lead while Green moved up into the top-five.
Waskom, the…
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