National championships aren’t gift-wrapped. Though these perennial powerhouses may have their appeal, recruiting isn’t easy. Neither is signing.

The fall will soon be upon us and Flotrack is ranking the top NCAA recruiting classes for the fall. Who will have an immediate impact on a team’s top five? What team is built for longevity?

The University of Washington Men

All statistics are based on the ASICS Fast 100 Rankings. The cutoff times selected were the 100th fastest marks in the country last season. See the complete list here.

# of sub-15:30 5k – 7
# of sub-9:08 3200m – 5
# of sub-4:13 1600m – 2
# of sub-1:53 800m – 0
# of NXN / FL Qualifiers – 4

The Wood Report: The University of Washington Men (#26)
“The great news for Washington is that Greg Metcalf has signed one of the best recruiting classes they have had in years along with some key transfers... Two of the best cross country runners in the state of Washington over the past few seasons both decided to sign at UW (although Gardner initially signed with Air Force).”

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I’ve only been to Washington a handful of occasions. Not often enough to say that I know the state well, but often enough to see a common trend. Each time I’m up there the same two things happen (a) everyone says that it was sunny before I arrived in town and (b) the track and field competition is always top class.

Some elite high school athletes I’ve talked to have joked about forming an all-state team and competing against other states in track. Others say that the Nike Borderclash between Oregon and Washington is the most important meet of the fall. It’s cool to dream, right?

The University of Washington men and coach Metcalf (and crew) aren’t dreaming. While we said that “Life is good at UDub” in our recruiting ranking for the number three Washington women, we didn’t just mean for one UW team. We meant for both.

Here are the results from the 2013 Washington Outdoor State Championships 3200m.

Event 306 Boys 3200 Meter Run 4A
Meet: 8:50.65 R 1989 Chris Lewis
Name Yr School Finals
Section 1
1 1446  Gardner, Andrew    12 Mead         8:54.48 10
2 1389  Goodwin, Sumner    12 Lewis and Cl 8:58.07 8
3 1678  Gilbert, Colby     12 Skyview      8:58.48 6
4 1227  Coughlin, Jamie    12 Garfield     8:59.48 5
5 1596  Stevens, Johnathan 12 Redmond      9:03.79 4
6 1242  Peloquin, Tristan  10 Gig Harbor   9:09.27 3
7 1235  Beck, Wolfgang     11 Gig Harbor   9:12.07 2
8 1234  Stanish, Cameron   11 Garfield     9:15.53 1
9 1673  Symmes, Keegan     12 Skyline      9:17.53
10 1580 Ottesen, Michael   12 Puyallup     9:25.04
11 1026 Purtzer, Quentin   11 Bellarmine P 9:29.10
12 1528 Van Haitsma, Nate  12 Olympia      9:34.29
13 1059 Barringer, Charlie 10 Bothell      9:39.17
14 1791 Christman, Cole    10 Wenatchee    9:43.79
15 1078 Kaler, Andrew      12 Camas        9:53.74
16 1010 Flannery, Tyler    12 Auburn       10:02.76

What do the top five all have in common? They’re all Huskies.

Andrew Gardner (Fairwood, WA); Mead Senior HS
View Fast 100 rankings
1600m – 84th
3200m – 16th

UW’s best recruit was one of their last signings. We thought Gardner was heading to Air Force this fall, but there might have been some Metcalf magic in May that changed Gardner’s mind.

While Gardner has some blistering finishing speed on the track, we’ve always been mightily impressed by his cross country chops. In his three appearances at Foot Locker Finals, he’s finished 4th (2010), 6th (2011), and 11th (2012).

Note: We picked him to finish sixth last year, but had a tough day.

Gardner didn’t end his fall in Balboa Park, CA. He first repped Team USA at the NACAC cross country championships in January, where he finished ninth in 19:26 (6k). The next month he finished sixth at the USA Cross Country Championships (24:52.60) and punched his ticket to Poland for the World Cross Country Chanpionships. In Bydgoszcz, Gardner finished 42nd in the junior race in 23:30 (short 8k).

He was the 2012 Gatorade Cross Country Athlete of the Year for Washington, but that goes without saying.

Sumner Goodwin (Spokane, WA); Lewis and Clark HS
View Fast 100 rankings
3200m – 28th

Gardner wasn’t the only Spokane, WA local to make the move to Seattle for college. Goodwin is another national-level talent who has some cross country talent. Last fall, Goodwin trotted through the NXN course to finish seventh overall.

Colby Gilbert (Vancouver, WA); Skyview HS
View Fast 100 rankings
3200m – 30th

The seventh signing for the Huskies (might as well just make a freshmen team) was another local big talent. At the WA State Cross Country Championships, Gilbert improved on his eighth place finish as a junior with a third place finish last fall.

Last spring, he was third at the state 3200m (above) and ninth in the 1600m.

Jamie Coughlin (Seattle, WA); Garfield HS
View Fast 100 rankings
3200m – 36th

Another top-50 distance ranked distance runner? Depth, your name is UW. It’s not the biggest surprise to find that Jamie chose to run at Washington. After all, his older brother Jack recently graduated from there and his cousin Kenna Patrick was a UW letter-winner from ’08 to ’10.

In the final 3200m of his high school career, Coughlin just dipped under the 9-minute barrier with a 8:59.48 fourth place finish at the WA State Meet (also above).

AJ Yarnall (Saugus, CA); Saugus HS
View Fast 100 rankings

Yarnall may not have run outdoor track last spring, but he did enough in the fall to impress us. He finished second at the CIF California State Cross Country Championships in 15:10 and then took 41st at NXN in 18:04.

He was also named the boys cross country runner of the year by both the L.A. Daily News and Santa Clarita Valley Signal. We would have liked to see what he could have run on the track later that year, but beggars can’t be choosers.

Jonathan Stevens (Redmond, WA); Redmond Senior HS
View Fast 100 rankings
3200m – 62nd

Stevens rounds out the top five from the 3200m at the WA State meet, where ran a PR of 9:03.79. He also finished runner-up to Gardner in the 1600m in 4:16.29.

He finished his senior year with a win over future teammate, Coughlin, at the BorderDuel Track Classic (what did we say about an all-WA team) in 15:01.30

Keith Williams (Spokane, WA); North Central HS
View Fast 100 rankings
1600m – 34th

The first non-pure distance runner for UW. Williams won the WA 3A 1600m championship in 4:14.60 and finished third in the 800m in 1:54.01.

Though he’s more of a mid-d guy, it’s not like the fall was a complete wash in preparation for winter track. Williams finished 8th at NXN Northwest (15:53.10) and went on to place 54th at nationals (18:11.00).

If there’s anything we know about UW’s mid-d runners and the fall, it’s that they mean business.


Throwback Thursday.

Reuben Riordan (Tacoma, WA); Charles Wright Academy
View Fast 100 rankings

For the second year in a row, Riordan took third at the WA State Cross 1A Country Championships. That spring, he was the state runner-up in the 3200m, but finally captured a state title with a 4:25.98 win in the 1600m.

Mason Fletcher (Puyallup, WA); Puyallup Senior HS
View Fast 100 rankings
800m – 71st

Last but not least is an actual true middle-distance recruit. Fletcher is an 800m specialist who finished third at the WA State Meet in 1:52.89 and is one of three people on the team who has not filled out his bio on gohuskies.com.