RESULTS
St. Louis, Mo. – With another dominant effort, the nationally ranked Washington University in St. Louis track & field teams won both the men's and women's 2022 UAA Outdoor league titles on Sunday at Bushyhead Track at Francis Olympic Field.
The No. 2 ranked women have now won five consecutive UAA championships, while the men's team claims its third consecutive.
In total, the WashU track & field programs have won 39 combined outdoor UAA titles, with the men's program holding 21 and the women with 18.
For the first time ever, the Bears scored in all 42 events combined at both the indoor and outdoor UAA Championship.
WashU won 14 individual UAA championships throughout the weekend, with the women's team claiming eight and the men winning six. In addition, the Bears set 18 new top-20 national marks and 30 new all-time top-10 performances.
The women's team finished with 286 points, rolling to a wide-margin first-place finish, while the men held off Carnegie Mellon 207-202 in a close battle.
Top Women's Performances
First-year Yasmin Ruff had a career-best performance in the Pole Vault, claiming a first-place finish with a new PR mark of 3.84m, which ranks third on the DIII performance list and is fourth all-time in school history.
Emma Kelley was the UAA champion in the 400m (56.34), outlasting Dudley (56.90), as the Bears took home the top two spots. Nationally, Kelley and Dudley currently rank eighth and 14th and are both fourth and fifth in the Bears' all-time top performers list.
WashU was the UAA champ in both the 4x400 and 4x800 relays. Dudley, Gupte, Forman, and Kelley teamed up and ran 3:49.20, which lists second best in the nation.
Kelley won her third UAA title on the weekend as a member of the 4x800 relay squad (Lindsay Ott, Grace Bristow, Helena Dasilva) who set a new meet record (9:00.06).
Another first-year who had several incredible performances was Lauren Gay, who was the UAA champion in the 100m (12.15) and was runner-up in both the 100 Hurdles (14.54) and the 200m (25.07).
Gay was also a part of the 4x100 relay squad (Mycah Clay, Natalie Swinehart, Alicia Gupte) that won the UAA title with an impressive race, combining for a time of 47.08 which ranks third nationally and second all-time in school history.
In total, Gay set four new top-20 national marks and top-10 WU all-time performances, ranking fifth nationally in the 200 and 15th in the 100m and 100 Hurdles. In addition, she lists second on the Bears' performances in the 100m and 200m.
WashU swept the podium in the 100m, with Swinehart (12.18) and Clay (12.24) posting second and third-place finishes. Swinehart's efforts in Saturday's prelims list her at fourth all-time in school history.
The Bears finished 2-5 in the 200m, setting four new top-10 performances in the process along with Gay. Swinehart placed third, while Katherine Dudley and Alicia Gupte claimed fourth and fifth-place finishes.
The Bears placed two top-five finishes in the Long Jump, as Alicia Gupte was second (5.76m) and Laura Bucchieri (5.35m) was fifth. Gupte ranks eighth nationally in the event and is now third in school history for the event, while Buccheiri lands a spot at No. 10 on the all-time performers list.
Just like Gay, Gupte also finished the UAA Championships with four new all-time top-10 performances and set five new top-20 national marks.
Gupte, who was a member of the 4x100 and 4x400 relay championship teams, was the runner-up in the Triple Jump, setting a new with a new PR of 12.07m. Zi'Onay Walker tabbed a third-place finish (11.88m) as WashU earned two spots on the podium.
Gupte lists fourth all-time in school history in the Triple Jump and her new mark of 12.07m lists fifth nationally.
Emma Walter earned a runner-up finish with a great race in the 5000m, clocking in at 16:58.10, which ranks 18th on the DIII performance list and is also fifth all-time in school history.
WashU's depth and dominance showed with another gritty effort in the 10,000m run as they swept the podium finishes. Sophia Young was the UAA champion checking in at 36:56.47), Zarya deSouza was second (37:13.59) and Kiera Olson placed third (37:25.12).
Senior Ava Forman was the champion in the 400 Hurdles, soaring to the top with a time of 1:02.70.
WU posted another podium finish in the 800m with Grace Bristow and Aoife Dunne earning second (2:13.78) and third place (2:14.75), respectively. Dunne's time of 2:13.06 in the prelims currently lists 15th in the nation.
Dunne also finished in third place in the 1500m (4:37.21) setting a new all-time top-10 mark on WashU's performance list.
In the 3k Steeplechase, Carmen Rottinghaus achieved second place (11:29.95), while Julia Patterson finished right behind her in third (11:33.21).
Becca Tarter tied for runner-up with a strong showing the High Jump (1.58m) and Amanda Katz also posted a tie for second in the Pole Vault competition (3.37m).
Krista Sudar was second in the Shot Put (12.51m) which now moves up to fourth all-time in school history. Sudar also ranks fourth on the Bears' performance list after another strong showing in the Hammer Throw, where she set a mark of 47.93m for a fourth-place finish.
Along with Sudar, Taylor Simpson set a new all-time top performance mark (40.58m) in the Hammer Throw, as she now lists eighth-best in school history.
Top Men's Performances
Sophomore Will Houser won the UAA title in 800m in a competitive field, crossing the line at 1:51.89. Houser ranks 14thin the nation, while teammate Drew Sidamon-Eristoff earned a podium finish at runner-up (1:52.52).
Jackson Cox, who placed fourth overall in the event, set a new all-time WU top-10 performance in the prelims (1:52.40).
In the 1500m, Jacob Ridderhoff set a new season-best time (3:49.55) as he used a late sprint to the finish line to hold off the rest of the field for a first-place finish. Also earning a podium finish in third place was Jeff Candell, who notched a time of 3:51.25. Candell ranks sixth all-time on the Bears' performance list.
On the final event on Saturday evening, Cullen Capuano vaulted his way to a UAA title, coming through in the clutch down the stretch of the final lap (32:10.66) battling back to defeat Sam Craig of Chicago, who led for a majority of the bell lap.
The Bears dominated the 110 Hurdles on Sunday, as Gio Alfred and Andrew Whitaker finished 1-2. Alfred (14.60) just beat out Whitaker (14.63) to take home the championship for the event.
The men's 4x800 relay team (Thomas Penney, Jackson Cox, Ben Gasper, Jacob Ridderhoff) earned the UAA title with a strong performance of 7:36.75, marking one of five UAA team titles WashU earned on the opening day of the championships.
Junior Michael Snyder recorded a first-place mark in the High Jump, 2.01m mark, which ranks fifth all-time in school history for outdoor events and lists 13th on the DIII performance list.
WashU also placed second and third in the 4x100 relay (Whitaker, John Harry Wagner, Jared Harrison, Matt Moore) at 42.32 and took home a third-place effort in the 4x400 relay (Jack Henry Whetstone, Whitaker, Alex Cobin, Wagner) at 3:18.87.
Tommaso Maiocco boasted a strong performance in the Pole Vault, clipping a 4.80m mark to earn a spot on both the DIII performance list (15th in the nation) and on the Bears' all-time outdoor list (6th).
Matt Moore achieved a new PR in the Long Jump with a runner-up finish, 7.31m. Moore's 7.31m mark lists second best in program history and is currently the 14th best mark in DIII.
Abayomi Awoyomi was third overall in the Triple Jump with a 13.81m mark, earning his spot on WashU's top-10 performance list with the eighth-best mark, while Harry Wagner also finished in third in the 400m (48.97).
Michael Ly and Jeff Candell received podium finishes in the 3k Steeplechase. Ly tallied a time of 9:17.44, while Candell was right behind finishing at 9:18.65.
Nolen Bowerman recorded two top-10 performance marks in the Hammer Throw (44.22m) and the Shot Put (13.52m).
Moore and Whitaker rolled to new PR's in the 100m prelims on Saturday with Moore taking the top time (10.77) and Whitaker (10.95) which rank sixth and 10th on the Bears' all-time top performers list, respectively.
