Washington had never won a Pac-12 championship in track and field until last year, when the Huskies broke through to win the conference.
Now, Washington eternally reigns supreme. The Huskies men won the final Pac-12 title on Sunday night, earning back-to-back championships and ensuring that the Pac-12 trophy will forever reside on Montlake.
UW scored 150 points at the meet, edging out USC (141) and California (95) for their title. Washington won with its depth this year – whereas last year the Huskies set a program record with 7 individual titles, the team won only 3 gold medals en route to their first-place finish this time around.
The Huskies got off to a hot start on Friday, winning both of the first two events contested at Colorado’s Potts Field. Chandler Ault set a school and meet record with a 3-foot PR throw of 254-3 in the javelin, breaking Kyle Nielsen’s record by 10 inches. In the long jump, Preston Artis won the first individual title in the event for UW since 2006 with a jump of 25-6 1/4 in one of the strongest fields in recent memory.
Former Washington baseball pitcher Brice Crider and sophomore Jack Olsen added points in the javelin, finishing at No. 6 and No. 8, respectively.
Four Huskies made the 10k finals, led by redshirt freshman and budding star Evan Jenkins. The Camas, WA native separated from the pack late to finish in second, running a 29:40.61. Redshirt freshman Jamar Distel finished No. 5, senior Leo Daschbach was No. 7, and freshman Tyrone Gorze came in No. 10 to earn UW 14 points in the event.
Saturday brought five more podiums, led by a curse-breaking gold medal from Joe Waskom in the steeplechase. In 2021, Waskom misread where the finish line was in the event was and had to settle for second place. At the 2023 championships, Waskom lost a shoe midway through the race, costing him another chance at the title.
No such issues this time around. The senior, whose laces were double knotted just in case on Saturday, finished two and a half seconds in front of runner-up Sam Affolder, who powered past Colorado’s Kole Mathison to give the Huskies a 1-2 finish in the event.
Hammer thrower Jayden White came into the event ranked just seventh despite finishing No. 4, No. 2, and No. 4 in his first three Pac-12 championships. His season best of 225-4 in the fifth round put him at No. 5 on Saturday.
Pole vaulters Max Manson and Simon Park finished No. 2 and No. 3 behind Cal’s Skyler Magula, who beat out Manson via tiebreaker. Magula cleared 17-6 1/4 on his second attempt, whereas Manson required three tries. Decathlete Jami Schlueter added a No. 2 finish after spending most of the event in the lead, which he eventually ceded to Oregon’s Rafael Rapp.
In Sunday’s 1500m, where four Huskies made the finals. 2023 Pac-12 champion Nathan Green led the pack for UW, as he, Luke Houser, Waskom, and Ronan McMahon-Staggs finished in second, third, fourth, and fifth. The effort won Washington a combined 23 points in the event.
Green and Houser also finished No. 4 and No. 5 in the 800m to add 9 more points. Triple jumpers Trevontay Smith and Kunle Akinlosotu finished No. 3 and No. 4 to tack on 11 points.
Jonathan Frazier and Jonathan Birchman finished No. 2 and No. 3 in the 400m hurdles, both setting massive PRs of 49.87 and 50.00, respectively, along the way. Frazier also broke the UW freshman record by more than half a second and finished a surprisingly high 5th in the 110m hurdles.
With only two events to go, the Huskies needed three points to clinch the conference title over USC. That burden landed on the shoulders of Daschbach and Jenkins, UW’s finalists in the 5k.
Jenkins finished No. 8 with a time of 14:27.90, earning just one point. Daschbach, a senior from Arizona, delivered the rest, finishing in 14:20.30 and earning his career-best conference finish. The four points from the No. 5 finish clinched the title for the Huskies.
Washington now awaits the official announcement of the NCAA West Regional qualifiers, which comes on Thursday, where the team is expected to earn roughly a dozen bids.
