University of Washington Women's Track

Licari Coaching Pole Vault » UW Pole Vaulters Sky Towards Rio Olympics (King 5 News; 2016) Over the past 19 seasons, Licari has developed some of the nation's premier pole vaulters, including a pair of Olympians, four NCAA champions with seven titles between them, nine Pac-12 champions combining for 12 titles, and 16 different All-Americans. American record-holder and World Championship gold medalist Brad Walker first rose to greatness under Licaris tutelage. 2016 was yet another year to remember as Licaris vaulters swept the Pac-12 titles for an unprecedented third straight season, Jax Thoirs captured his first NCAA Championship, and Diamara Planell Cruz became the first Olympic pole vault competitor in the history of her native Puerto Rico. Thoirs capped his fantastic Husky career with a win at the NCAA Indoor Championships, the fifth win for a Husky in the indoor mens vault in a 14 year span. He then won a third consecutive Pac-12 title, and finished fifth at the NCAA Outdoor meet in his final college competition.   Planell Cruz soared to a school record 14-7 ¼ clearance at the 2016 NCAA Indoor meet, taking third overall in her final season of eligibility. Moving outdoors and aiming for the Olympics, Planell Cruz cleared the Olympic Standard of 14-9 at the Mt. SAC Relays, which qualified her for the Rio Games. She made the first bar in qualifying before going out in her first Olympics. Picking up the torch for the women was Elizabeth Quick, who won her first Pac-12 title outdoors and made both NCAA Indoor and Outdoor meets, finishing ninth indoors and 11th outdoors for two Second Team All-America honors. Kaitlin Zinsli was also a surprise second-place finisher at the Pac-12 meet.   The 2015 season saw the Huskies dominate the Pac-12 Championships like never before, and three different Huskies made the NCAA podium. The men's and women's vaulters combined to score 51 points at the Pac-12 meet, with the men going 1-2-4-7, and the women sweeping the top-three spots plus adding seventh-place as well. Thoirs successfully defended his Pac-12 title with a PR of 18-6 1/2, and Kristina Owsinski won her first Pac-12 title to go with two MPSF titles, while 2014 champ Planell Cruz took second. At the NCAA Indoor Championships, Thoirs and Planell Cruz each finished in fourth-place, and then at the NCAA Outdoor meet, it was Owsinski's turn, as she broke the school record with a 14-5 1/4 clearance to get the third fourth-place finish of the year for the Husky vaulters. All told, seven Husky vaulters qualified for the NCAA West Prelims, a program-best, including Lev Marcus, who made it to the NCAA Indoor meet as a redshirt freshman with a make of 17-11 1/4.   The 2014 season brought an historic first for Licari, as Washington swept the Pac-12 pole vault titles for the first time, a feat they would duplicate in 2015 and again in 2016. Thoirs won his first mens title, the fourth different UW man to win the Pac-12 title in a six year span. Then Diamara Planell Cruz won the womens title with a dramatic third-try make at 14-0 ½. Washington joined UCLA as the only schools to sweep the mens and womens vault titles in the same year. A 2013 graduate, Logan Miller reached new heights for a Husky womens vaulter. In 2012, Miller vaulted to a school record and moved to seventh in Pac-12 history with a clearance of 14-4 ½ at the Pac-12 Championships, finishing second. Miller went over the 14-foot mark three times, including a vault of 14-3 ¼ at the NCAA Outdoor Championships which earned her fourth-place, best finish by a Husky since Kate Soma's 2005 NCAA title. Miller earned First Team All-America honors and competed at the U.S. Olympic Trials. She came back from a foot injury in 2013 to have her best meet of the year at NCAAs, clearing 13-9 ¼ to finish 12th and earn her third All-America honor. J.J. Juilfs punctuated his first year with Licari by winning the 2012 Pac-12 Championship with a personal-best clearance of 17-10 ¼. Juilfs also made both the NCAA Indoor and Outdoor Championships in 2012, earning All-America Second Team honors. That year saw freshmen Chris Williams and Thoirs go over 17-feet and reach the NCAA Prelims. Williams was the Pac-12 runner-up in his rookie season, and Thoirs set a Scottish record with an 18-0 ½ vault in the summer that he has since surpassed. At the 2012 Olympic Trials, Licari enjoyed a watershed moment, as former Huskies Brad Walker and Scott Roth finished first and third, respectively. Walker qualified for his second U.S. Olympic Team, making the final in London. Roth, unfortunately, did not have the `A' standard so he did not make the trip, but it was his best finish at the U.S. national championships. Walker and Roth were also the two U.S. vault reps at the 2012 World Indoor Championships in Istanbul. The 2011 campaign saw Roth cap off a remarkable career with his second and third national championships, as he won the NCAA title both indoors and outdoors in the pole vault. He became the first Husky since 1979 to win two titles in the same year, and his three career titles placed Roth second in UW history. Roth was a semifinalist for the Bowerman Award, and was the Tom Hansen Pac-12 Medal winner for Washington. He set the outdoor school record at 18-9 ¼, which was the second-best vault in all of 2011 by an American, and Roth finished with seven All-America honors. Roth was not alone on the men's side in 2011. Senior Ryan Vu had only indoor eligibility remaining, but he made the most of it, qualifying for his first NCAA Indoor Championships and tying for 11th-place to earn All-America Second Team honors, the first of his career. Transfer Robby Fegles had just two years with Licari, but raised his PR to 17-2 ¾ in 2012 and took fourth at Pac-12s, and made NCAA Prelims both years. In 2010, Roth took another step up among the nation's elite vaulters. He won every competition he entered during the indoor season, culminating with a victory at the NCAA Indoor Championships for his first national title, and the fourth overall for Licari vaulters. He also posted the top indoor vault by an American in 2010, clearing 18-9 ¼ to win the MPSF Championship. Roth went on to take third at the NCAA Outdoor Championships. Yet it was another Licari disciple who upset Roth to win the 2010 Pac-10 title, as Ryan Vu cleared a career-best 17-7 ¾ to take the win after Roth won in 2009. Vu qualified for his first career NCAA meet in his final outdoor season, tying for 11th overall. Roth won his Pac-10 Championship in 2009 with a season-best clearance of 18-4 ½ and followed that with a West Regional title. He then went on to place second at the NCAA Outdoor Championships to earn his third All-America honor. Roth's fantastic summer ended with an eighth-place finish at the U.S. Track Championships. Licari's successes in 2009 stretched far beyond Roth. In fact, Roth was just one of a trio of Husky men that cleared 17-6 in the vault. Senior Jared O'Connor went over 17-7 and made the NCAA Outdoor final for the second year in a row, while junior Ryan Vu had a big breakthrough, PRing by a foot at the UW-WSU dual and making his first Regionals. Still, the best story from 2009 may have been Andrea Peterson on the women's side. Peterson brought a personal-best of 12-8 into her senior season, but made Regionals for the first time in her final year, and then at the Regional meet she PR'd by seven inches, clearing 13-9 ¾ to take second and make her first NCAA meet. The 2008 season brought similar surprise successes. Indoors, senior Kelley DiVesta continued to improve all the way through her final national meet, as she set a lifetime-best at NCAA Indoors of 13-9 ¼ to earn her first All-American honor, placing seventh. In one of the year's best moments, Jared O'Connor raised his PR by nearly a foot at the final two outdoor meets, winning the NCAA West Regional title and then finishing in a tie for second at the NCAA Championships. Roth broke onto the scene for the first time in 2007. Licari coached the freshman to All-American honors both indoors (11th) and outdoors (8th), and Roth won gold at the 2007 Pan-American Junior Championships in São Paulo, Brazil. Roth's best indoor jump of 18-1 ¾ broke the UW freshman indoor record set by Walker. Licari guided Walker to back-to-back NCAA indoor titles in 2003 and 2004, and a collegiate-best clearance of 19-0 1/4 that is a Pac-10 record, and the sixth-best mark ever by a collegiate vaulter. Licari continued to train Walker during the latter's professional career, guiding the former Husky to gold medals at the 2006 IAAF World Indoor Championships and 2007 IAAF World Outdoor Championships. Walker is now a nine-time U.S. champion, most recently winning the 2013 outdoor title, then going on to take fourth at the 2013 World Outdoor Championships. In June of 2008, Walker cleared 19-9 ¾ at the Prefontaine Classic to break the American record which had stood for eight years. Walker has represented the U.S.A. at the Beijing and London Olympic Games. Washington in 2005 became the first school in America to qualify four women's vaulters for the NCAA Championships, doing so both indoors and out. Senior Kate Soma won the NCAA title outdoors -- Licari's third NCAA champion in as many years -- and was the national runner-up indoors, earning the fourth and fifth All-America honors of her collegiate career. Carly Dockendorf (sixth outdoors) and Ashley Wildhaber (fifth indoors) also earned All-America honors at the NCAA meet, while Stevie Marshalek and Kelley DiVesta each earned NCAA Championships berths. Dockendorf was a converted gymnast who climbed into the top-10 in Canadian history after less than one full calendar year of work with Licari. Dockendorf earned the bronze medal at the 2010 Commonwealth Games for Canada. All five women's vaulters topped the 13-foot mark in 2005 -- a feat never before accomplished by any women's collegiate vault unit -- while Soma's collegiate-best vault of 14-3 1/2 ranked seventh in collegiate history. Walker first entered elite status in 2002, when he won his first of two-straight Pac-10 titles, was runner-up at the NCAA Outdoor Championships, and placed sixth at the U.S.A Championships. His first All-America honor had come in 2001 when he placed seventh at NCAA Indoors. Licari's first pole vault All-American was Matt Phillips, who placed eighth at Outdoor Nationals in 2000, clearing 17-4 ½. Licari Coaching Jumps Licari has also had great success with his jumpers, most notably coaching 2008 grad Norris Frederick into one of the most decorated dual threat jumpers in the nation. In 2008, Frederick was the only athlete in the NCAA who was an All-American in both the long jump and high jump, and he did that both indoors and out. That brought Frederick's All-America total to nine, tied for second-most ever at Washington. Frederick also set personal-bests in both events, and his 26-foot, 7 ¾-inch long jump to win the MPSF title was a school record. He went on to compete in the Olympic Trials in 2008 and again in 2012, where he finished fifth overall. While making his name as one of the best decathletes in the country, 2016 U.S. Olympian Jeremy Taiwo also developed into one of the best high jumpers in school history in 2013. Having never before cleared the seven-foot mark, Taiwo announced the big year to come with a make of 7-4 ½ during a heptathlon indoors in Boise, setting a World Record for a heptathlon high jump. Taiwo would compete only in the high jump at NCAA Indoors in 2013, earning All-America Second Team honors. Taiwo would clear seven-feet several times outdoors, going 7-1 ½ in the decathlon at NCAAs as he finished as the runner-up. Along with Taiwo, Licari coached A.J. Maricich to All-America honorable mention in the high jump in 2012. Maricich emerged as one of the Pac-12's best, as he tied for second at the 2012 Pac-12 Championships and went on to make his first NCAA Outdoors. He cleared a PR of 7-2 ½ at 2012 West Prelims. In 2016, Carson Murray got on the Pac-12 podium with a third-place finish in the high jump, making 7-0 1/2. Working along with volunteer assistant Eric Metcalf in the horizontal jumps, Licaris athletes have developed into Pac-12 contenders. Kasen Covington won the first Pac-12 triple jump title in Washington history in 2013, and he followed that with an MPSF title in 2014, where he broke the UW indoor record with a mark of 51-6 ½. Another great Pac-12 triple jump effort came from Shaniae Lakes in 2012, as she finished second by a mere quarter of an inch. Lakes broke the old school record on four of six attempts that day, with a best of 43-3 ¼ that crushed her old PR and the old school record. In 2010, Lakes broke the women's freshman record in the triple jump, going 41-0 ¼ and reaching West Prelims. 2009 was highlighted by Kelly McNamee in the high jump, as she placed 12th at the NCAA Indoor Championships. McNamee would be a two-time Pac-12 scorer and two-time NCAA Prelims competitor in the high jump. In 2005, J.R. Wolfork was an NCAA long jumper qualifier and Frederick and Warren Eickhoff became the first Husky duo to top seven feet in the high jump since 1989. Licari Coaching Multis Licari also handles the all-around talents on the Husky squad, the decathletes and heptathletes, along with volunteer assistant coach Atanas Atanassov. The two helped develop Jeremy Taiwo into one of the top talents in the NCAA and the country. Taiwo capped his great career with an NCAA runner-up finish in the decathlon in 2013, then he went on to take third at the USA Championships and earn a spot on Team USA at the IAAF World Outdoor Championships in Moscow, Russia. Taiwo's career reached a new pinnacle in 2016 when he made the U.S. Olympic Team for the first time, and finished 11th in the decathlon in the Rio Games. As a senior, Taiwo became the No. 8 decathlon performer in NCAA history with a huge PR of 8,239 points at the NCAA Outdoor Championships in Eugene. That score was also the seventh-best decathlon score ever at NCAAs, but one of the top-six happened to be from Texas Johannes Hock, who edged Taiwo by 28 points for the win. Taiwos indoor season was highlighted by a World Record for the heptathlon high jump that he broke at the Boise State Team Challenge with a clearance of 7-4 ½ en route to a school record heptathlon score of 6,156 points. His overall heptathlon score made him the No. 7 performer in U.S. history and No. 3 in NCAA history. Taiwo became Washington's first Pac-10 Decathlon Champion in 25 years in 2011, as he scored a career-best 7,742 points despite throwing the javelin with his non-dominant left hand due to an injury. Taiwo picked up his second and third career All-America honors in 2011, placing eighth in the heptathlon at NCAA Indoors and 15th in the decathlon at NCAA Outdoors. Jacob Predmore was UW's last multi-event All-American before Taiwo, as he was seventh in the decathlon at the 2000 NCAA Outdoor Championships with 7,426 points. ======================= In all, Licari's athletes have combined for seven NCAA titles, 14 Pac-12 titles, and 57 All-America awards during his 19 years at UW. Licari was head cross country and track coach at Highline Community College from 1991-96 before coming to the UW in 1997. A native of Sumner, Wash., Licari was a prep All-American and state pole vault champion at Sumner High School, and earned All-Pac-10 honors in the event at Washington State. Licari has two daughters, Katelin and Madison.

Sheen joined the Husky staff in the fall of 2008 following a one-year stint at Long Beach State where he was named the 2008 West Region Assistant Coach of the Year. Over the last seven years, Sheen's sprinters and hurdlers have won four Pac-12 titles, and combined for 29 All-America honors. Husky sprinters have earned 16 individual bids to the NCAA Outdoor Championships under Sheen, and the mens 4x100-meter relay has advanced to the final site in four of his seven seasons, a testament to the depth UW has relied upon each year. Sheen has helped Huskies find success across all sprint events, as Washington has qualified athletes to the NCAA Outdoor Prelims in every one of the fourteen possible sprint events, combining the men and women, during Sheens tenure. He has coached a three-time Pac-12 Champion in James Alaka, the 2011 Pac-10 Championships Athlete of the Meet, as well as 2013 Pac-12 Freshman of the Year Chris Williams, the first Husky male to win that award. Sheens athletes currently account for 65 marks on the Husky top-10 lists, indoors and out. The Husky sprinters had a banner meet at the Pac-12 Championships in 2015, as three of the four UW relays made the podium with third-place finishes. Both the men's 4x100m relay and 4x400m relay finished third at Pac-12s, and the women's 4x100-meter group broke a 30-year-old school record at Pac-12s, running 44.57 seconds to finish third, matching the best finish by a women's 4x1 in school history. Senior Gianna Woodruff capped her standout career with a third All-America honor, running a PR of 57.49 in the 400m hurdle semis at NCAA Outdoors to place 12th. The 2014 season saw Woodruff and Kayla Stueckle book return trips to the NCAA Outdoors final site in the 400-meter hurdles, both earning All-America Second Team honors. For Stueckle, that closed the book on a stellar career that saw her lower her hurdles PR every season, and write her name in the Husky top-10 lists fifteen different times indoors and out, thirteen of those on relays. 2013 was one of the most well-rounded seasons for Sheens group, as the Huskies advanced three of four relays to NCAA West Prelims, with the mens 4x100m moving on to Eugene for the semis. Three hurdlers qualified for the NCAA final site for the first time, with Chris Williams posting the No. 2 high hurdles time in school history (13.82 seconds) to advance, and Kayla Stueckle and Gianna Woodruff accounting for two of the twelve 400-meter hurdles spots for nationals, as both broke 58-seconds for the first time in the prelims. Also in 2013, James Alaka wrapped up his record-setting Husky career with a fourth-consecutive NCAA Outdoor appearance at 200-meters. The London native won three Pac-12 titles, becoming the first Husky ever to successfully defend a title, as he won the 200-meters in 2011 and again in 2012 in a career-best 20.45 seconds. He also won the 100-meter title in 2011, the first Husky to sweep the conference sprint titles since 2000. Alaka would also lead the 4x100-meter relay to NCAAs each year from 2011-13, and he had four more top-three finishes at Pac-12s aside from his wins. Alaka also won gold in the 100m and silver in the 200m at the 2012 European U23 Championships. Sheen helped another recent grad, Jordan Carlson, leave no doubt that she was the greatest quarter-miler in school history, as she repeatedly broke her own 400m school record, dropping it to 53.03 seconds. Carlson ran the 400m leg on UW's NCAA Champion distance medley relay in 2012, then took third at the 2012 Pac-12 Championships, the best finish by a Husky in over a decade. Carlson just missed the NCAA final site by .01 seconds, taking 13th at West Prelims. More recent successes on the national stage include Falesha Ankton, who carried a 100-meter hurdles PR of 13.46 seconds into her senior season in 2010. Ankton qualified for NCAA Prelims, then earned the 12th and final spot to NCAAs with a new personal-best of 13.37. In the semis at NCAA Outdoors, Ankton crushed her PR once again with a time of 13.18, good for ninth overall to earn her first hurdles All-America honor in her final Husky race. Also that season, senior Dominique Lauderdale scored for the second straight year in the 100m finals at Pac-12s, and set a best of 11.57 seconds at West Prelims. Current Husky Maurice McNeal enjoyed a sensational freshman season in 2011, qualifying for the NCAA semis at 400-meters and running a freshman school record of 45.60 seconds. He and Alaka were joined on the 4x100m relay by Ryan Hamilton and Colton Dunn, with that group running 39.62 to take third at Pac-10s, the best time during Sheens tenure. They would go on to earn All-America Second Team honors. In his first season at Washington, Sheen helped lay some groundwork while also seeing successes on the national stage. Senior Jordan Boase wrapped up his exceptional career with a fifth All-America award in the 400-meters as he placed third at the NCAA Indoor meet and outdoors won Pac-10 and West Regional titles at the distance. The men's 4x100m relay brought back just one of the four legs responsible for UW's Pac-10 title in 2008, but the reconstituted group came through with a season-best at Regionals to earn a spot at NCAAs. It marked the first NCAA appearance for seniors Kenjamine Jackson and Randy Bacon. Junior Jeff Gudaitis ran on the relay and also reached the NCAA final site in the 400-meters. Sheen's sprinters had a remarkable amount of success during his one year at Long Beach State in 2008. Brent Gray earned All-America honors in the 200-meter dash with a 5th-place finish at the 2008 NCAA Outdoor Championships, and won the 100- and 200-meter dashes at the West Regional meet. Gray was named the 2008 Big West Track Athlete of the Year. All told, four of Sheen's sprinters qualified for the NCAA Outdoor Championships in 2008, and his athletes won 10 Big West Conference titles to lead Long Beach State to the team championship. He also guided LBSU's sprint medley relay to a victory at the prestigious Drake Relays. A native of Rupert, Idaho, Sheen was a four-year member of the Idaho State University track and field team, then served as assistant coach in charge of sprints and relays from 2005-07. During that time he led the Bengal women's team to its first ever Big Sky Conference Championship in 2007, as well as the 2006 Indoor Big Sky title for the men. His athletes won six conference titles, and garnered 25 All-Big Sky Conference honors. Sheen received his bachelor's degree from in physical education from Idaho State in 2002, and followed that up at ISU with a master's in athletic administration in 2003. While completing his studies, Sheen was a graduate assistant at Idaho State. That was followed by one year as a volunteer assistant at the University of New Mexico, before Sheen returned to ISU on a full-time basis in 2005.

Campbell enters her third season working with Head Coach Greg Metcalf.   Washington is the first college coaching stop for Campbell, who competed at Washington from the fall of 2005 until the spring of 2010. A two-time All-American, Campbell is a Husky Hall of Fame member as part of the 2008 womens cross country team. She captured the 2009 Pac-10 title at 10,000-meters and went on to finish third at the NCAA Outdoor Championships that year.   During her first two years as an assistant, Campbell helped the Husky women's team reach the NCAA Cross Country Championships each year, placing 23rd in 2014 and then moving up to 10th in 2015, with Maddie Meyers garnering All-America honors both fall including an eighth-place finish in 2015.   The Huskies have further displayed their distance dominance with top-five finishes in the distance medley relay at the 2014 and 2015 NCAA Indoor Championships. The Huskies finished fifth in 2014 and then were national runners-up in 2015, with Baylee Mires, Eleanor Fulton, and Maddie Meyers racing on both teams. Fulton and Mires both earned First Team All-America status in 2015, Fulton taking eighth in the mile indoors, and Mires eighth in the 800-meters outdoors.   At the 2015 NCAA Outdoor meet, Katie Knight (10k), Charlotte Prouse (3k steeplechase), Anna Maxwell (1,500m) and Amy-Eloise Neale (1,500m) all earned All-America Second Team honors. Knight won her first Pac-12 title and set the meet record at 10,000-meters in 2015, the first Husky to win that event since Campbell in 2009, while Prouse, Maxwell, and Neale all were top-five in their Pac-12 finals.   No student-athlete had a better perspective for Washingtons rise to cross country prominence than Campbell. Her first two seasons she qualified for the NCAA Championships as an individual. As a junior in 2007 she was joined by the full team which finished a then-program-best eighth, as Campbell earned her first All-America honor. The next fall everything came together with an undefeated season, one for the history books.   Coach Metcalf knew what Campbell brought to the table as an athlete and believed that would translate well to the coaching world.   I am thrilled to bring Anita Campbell back into our program, said Metcalf. Anita helped set a standard of excellence at Washington, and the program improved every year she was on our campus. As a member of our 2008 national championship team she brings instant credibility. In her own words this is a dream job for Anita. She shares the same goals I do for our program; she wants to be a part of another NCAA title and help to build the next generation of Husky distance runners.   Campbell made the NCAA Outdoor Championships all four years, and scored a total of 30 points at the Pac-10 Track Championships. She ranks in the UW top-10 in five events and was the indoor school record-holder in the 5,000-meters for three years. She was a two-time First Team All-Pac-10 honoree in cross country and one-time Second Teamer. Never placing lower than 11th at a West Regional meet, Campbell was a four-time All-West Region honoree.   A native of Vancouver, B.C., Campbell is married to another Husky standout, two-time NCAA 800-meter Champion Ryan Brown.