Waskom wins Huskies’ fifth straight NCAA mile title

Joe Waskom won Washington a fifth straight title in the mile, his second individual title after kicking off the streak in 2022.

Joe Waskom brought things full circle in his final race as a Husky.

Two years ago, the NCAA Championships were at Hayward Field in Eugene, Oregon. Washington hadn’t won a national title in a track event since 2007. But Waskom upset the rest of the field that evening, kicking off Washington’s streak of dominance in the mile.

Nathan Green and Luke Houser were in the final that year, too. Houser won the indoor mile in 2023, then Green beat out Waskom for the outdoor title last season. It rotated back to Houser for the indoor title this season, and so it was only natural that things swung back around to Waskom on Friday night.

Waskom sat at No. 7 with 200 meters to go after being boxed in a bit by a tightly contested pack. He had to take the long way around, moving to the outside to get a clearer picture of the group in front of him. From lane three, Waskom found another gear as the rest of the pack began to fade.

The Hayward Field crowd was prepared to give an ovation for their hometown favorite, Oregon’s Elliott Cook. But Waskom powered past Cook with mere meters to spare and finished in 3:39.48, snatching the title back for the Huskies.

Green and Houser were in the final this year, too. Houser ran from the front for most of the race, but setting the pace turned out to take too much of his energy at the end, and he faded to No. 12. Green held on to the peloton and finished at No. 10, only 1.5 seconds slower than Waskom.

None of Washington’s trio entered the meet with the fastest qualifying times – the Huskies were seeded No. 8, No. 10, and No. 14 entering the prelims on Wednesday. But Waskom told ESPN after the race that their qualifying times don’t really matter:

People always love fast times. It’s what gets media attention. But in our reality we don’t really care much for all that publicity stuff. We care about getting this title today. Our prep was for any single race plan…if it was 3:34 today we all could have done it, if it was 3:55, we were ready for anything, and I think that’s what makes us go five in a row. We were ready for anything on this day.”

Washington becomes the first program since Villanova in 1979-81 to win three straight outdoor 1500m titles. The Huskies also finished No, 15 in the team score, landing in the top 15 for the third straight year for the first time since 1977-79. Head coach Andy Powell has also now coached half of the last 14 outdoor 1500m champions between his time at Oregon and this current streak.

Miler Sophie O’Sullivan closes the season for the Huskies women on Saturday evening.