Sage Watson and Lisanne Hagens Win Pac-12 Titles

Sunday, May 14

Eugene, Ore.

12:45 PM

University of Arizona

Pac-12 Championships

Results Sage Watson Interview

05/14/2017 | Track and Field

Results Sage Watson Interview

By: Arizona Athletics

EUGENE, Ore. – Sage Watson and Lisanne Hagens were the stars of the show today for the Wildcats as they each took home a Pac-12 title. Watson won the women's 400-meter hurdles and Hagens won the women's high jump. All in all, Arizona finished with three Pac-12 Champions after Bailey Roth won the 3000-meter steeplechase yesterday.

"I thought we did a great job of coming back and fighting and competing at a high level," head coach Fred Harvey said. "Sage Watson was the performance of the meet and she dominated the top two hurdlers she will have to compete against for a national title. I'm also really proud of Claire Green with the way she competed in the 5K. We are looking forward to getting going in the first round of the NCAA Championships."

Watson's blazing time of 55.01 is the fastest time in the country to date and is also the fifth-fastest time in the world. Additionally, that is a season-best for her and it is also the third-fastest she has ever run the 400-meter hurdles. At this moment, two Wildcats own top-five marks in the world in the 400-meter hurdles as former Track Cat Georganne Moline sports the top time in the world at 54.66.

"I followed my race plan, believed in myself and I gave it my all," Watson said. "This means the world to me. It is my senior year and this is what I came to do."

Hagens is now the back-to-back Pac-12 champion as she was the only high jumper to clear 5-10.5 (1.79m). Six of the last eight Pac-10/12 high jump titles have gone to Wildcats as Brigetta Barrett won three straight from 2011-13 and Liz Patterson won in 2010. Hagens joins Barrett and Tanya Hughes as the only Wildcats to win back-to-back high jump conference championships.

Freshman Karla Teran finished right behind Hagens as she took second place after clearing 5-9.25 (1.76m). Teran is the first Wildcat freshman since Erin Aldrich to finish in the top two in the conference championships. Aldrich took second in 1997.

In her second 5K of her career, Claire Green took fourth place overall with a time of 16:14.02. Green was in the middle of a pack up front for the last five laps, making for a thrilling race.

Viktor Gardenkrans took third place in the discus throw in a thrilling competition. The sophomore tossed a mark of 183-4 (55.89m), which is his fourth best mark of his career. Clay Cashman finished in 14th and Grayson Fleming took 15th.

The men's 4x400 relay was a doozy as the team of Bryce Houston, Michael Demby, Miles Parish and Zakee Washington took second place with a time of 3:08.26. It was neck-and-neck between the Wildcats and the Trojans for the duration of the race, but USC was able to squeak out with a win.

In the women's 4x400 relay, Diana Gajda, Jasper Gray, Watson and Brena Andrews clocked a time of 3:37.73, good for a third-place finish. They were just short of a season-best.

The women's 4x100 relay team of Savaughn Christman, Andrews, Pamela White and Gray earned a third-place finish as they clockced a time of 45.48, just .2 seconds short of their season-best time.

In the men's 4x100 relay, the squad of Darnell Sayles, Isaac Hing, Houston and David Egbo ran much better today as they clocked a time of 40.69 for fifth place. That is .08 second short of their season-best time.

In the men's 400-meter race, Miles Parish took fourth place with a time of 46.85 while Zakee Washington clocked a time of 47.26, good for a sixth-place finish.

Carlos Villarreal took fifth place in the men's 1500-meter race with a time of 3:56.06 while Savannah Whitehead finished in 12th place in the pole vault. Additionally, Emma Ljungberg finished in 12th place in the discus throw and Hunter Davila took 18th in the 5K.

In the team competition, the women's team finished in eighth with 46 points and the men's team took ninth with 50 points.

Next up is the Tucson Elite Meet at Roy P. Drachman Stadium, which will feature some of the best throwers in the country. The meet will take place on Thursday, May 18 and Saturday May, 20. More information can be found at ArizonaWildcats.com.

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