Huskies Punch Tickets to NCAA Indoor Track Meet

Washington could have as many as 14 qualifiers in the NCAA field Monday.

SEATTLE - Freshman Amanda Miller set a school record at 800 meters and moved into 16th in the national collegiate rankings Saturday, one of five NCAA-qualifying performances by Washington athletes at the UW Last Chance Qualifier at Dempsey Indoor in Seattle.

Of the five Huskies to best the NCAA standards Saturday, four currently rank among the top-16 nationally in the event, and are likely to receive bids to next week's NCAA Indoor Championships in Fayetteville, Ark. The final national-meet field, which will be announced on the NCAA website Monday at 7 p.m. EDT, will include roughly 16 athletes per individual event, and 12 teams in each relay.

Including the UW's qualifiers Saturday, a total of 14 Huskies are currently in position to make the NCAA indoor field, more than in any other year in school history.

"I said it before the year, this was the most talented team I've ever gone into a season with," said third-year head coach Greg Metcalf. "I can't wait to walk into the Randall Tyson Center in Arkansas with however many folks we end up qualifying, and watching heads turn as they see how many people we brought. That's going to be a big day for Washington track and field."

A freshman from Wenatchee, Wash., Miller put a full second between herself and any other UW women's runner all-time in the 800 meters, her second-place time of 2 minutes, 7.32 seconds a second below her own school record of 2:08.33 set earlier this year. Including results from around the nation this weekend, Miller's time places her 16th on the national descending order list, putting her squarely on the bubble for an NCAA berth.

Joining Miller on the bubble was senior,,,, Full Article