Ten athletes with connections to the Huskies’ program scheduled to compete in Budapest, including distance runners Izzi Batt-Doyle, Brian Fay, Kieran Lumb, Sophie O’Sullivan, Sam Tanner and Joe Waskom connected to recent success under Andy Powell and Maurica Powell

By Keenan Gray of DyeStat

When Athletic Director Jen Cohen and the University of Washington made a monumental hire in the summer of 2018 to bring in the husband-and-wife coaching pair of Andy Powell and Maurica Powell to take over the reins of the Huskies’ cross country and track and field programs, the opportunity to build something great was well on its way.

As one of the first significant hires Cohen had made since taking over the administrative title in 2016, bringing in the Powells could arguably be one of the most important coaching moves in the history of Husky track and field, given their incredible success at the University of Oregon for 13 years. 

The success has since carried over from “TrackTown, USA” and the impact of the Powells’ presence over the last five years has been an upward trajectory that has shot through the roof during the 2022-23 season.

In a year full of numerous sub-4-minute mile performances, a collegiate record in the women’s distance medley relay and a Pac-12 Conference men’s track and field title for the first time, the Huskies have turned themselves into a national brand.

And while there’s been team success, the individual excellence has reached even greater heights at the global level, presenting the University’s student-athletes with a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to compete at this year’s World Athletics Championships in Budapest, Hungary.

A total of six former and current athletes under the Powells’ guidance at Washington will compete for their respective nations at this year’s event, starting Saturday and running through Aug. 27, a number doubling the previous program-best amount from other World Championships.

“It’s an extraordinary opportunity for the University of Washington just in terms of the development of our current athletes,” said Maurica Powell, the Huskies’ Director of Track and Field and Cross Country. 

“It’s just sort of a launching pad into the professional careers of our recently graduated athletes. Anytime you can get to a global championship that has familiar faces, I think it’s a really positive thing for young athletes.”

The group features Joe Waskom for the United States, Sophie O’Sullivan and Brian Fay for Ireland, Kieran Lumb for Canada, Sam Tanner for New Zealand and Izzi Batt-Doyle for Australia.

Waskom, O’Sullivan, Fay and Lumb will be making their global championship debuts, with Tanner racing in his second World Championships and Batt-Doyle will be running in her first global meet since the 2021 Tokyo Olympics.

Waskom will be one of three Americans to race in the opening rounds of the 1,500 meters Saturday, joining former Oregon standout Cole Hocker, representing the Oregon Track Club, and Notre Dame graduate Yared Nuguse, representing On Running.

Waskom finished second July 8 at the Toyota USATF Championships, and was able to secure enough points to climb up the World rankings to qualify for the U.S. roster, despite failing to run the qualifying standard of 3:34.20.

“It’s been a dream of mine to represent the U.S. on the international stage,” said Waskom, who ran a personal-best 3:34.64 on July 14 in Italy.

“I can’t believe this is my first time representing the U.S. and it’s a senior World’s team.”

Also in the 1,500 field will be Lumb and Tanner, who were roommates with Waskom at Washington. Fay, the Huskies’ school record holder in the 5,000 and another roommate and close friend of Waskom, will race Aug. 24 in the 5,000 semifinals. 

“For me personally, it’s pretty special because two of my current roommates are also going to Budapest and Sam Tanner was my roommate before Kieran and Brian,” Waskom said. “It’s pretty cool to have three of my roommates at this meet.”

Rising star O’Sullivan has plenty to be excited about heading into Budapest.

Coming off a gold medal July 16 for Ireland at the European U23 Championships in the women’s 1,500 in Espoo, Finland, and an unofficial all-dates collegiate record Aug. 4 by clocking 2:37.08 in the 1,000 in Switzerland, O’Sullivan continues to show growth in her much-improved junior season.

“I feel like I’m doing well, and I feel good about giving it a crack and trying to make the semi and get the rounds,” O’Sullivan said. “I think I’m with a good group and I feel like it’s a group where everyone is battling each other, and everyone thinks they can make the next round.”

Just 30 years after her mom, World gold medalist Sonia O’Sullivan, made her World Championships debut for Ireland in 1993 in Stuttgart, Germany, Sophie will be achieving the same feat in Budapest.

“I always love being a part of the Irish team,” O’Sullivan said. “They’re always a great bunch to be around. It’s not something I would have picked out from the start of the year, so I think it’s a great opportunity and I’m excited to see what I can do.”

As for Batt-Doyle, an All-America first-team competitor in the 10,000 and graduate of Washington in 2019, she’ll be racing Aug. 26 in the marathon. 

With the six athletes from the Powell regime representing Washington in Budapest, three other Husky alumni and a future Husky recruit will also bring their talents to the global stage, elevating the total to a program-record 10 athletes competing at the same World Championships from the university, an accomplishment Maurica Powell is proud of.

“Pretty awesome to have so many people with ties to Washington,” Powell said. “I think good representation across the board, different nationalities and different teams represented in different areas. We’re super excited.”

Former 400-meter hurdles standout Gianna Woodruff, a 2015 graduate and representing Panama, is set to race in her fourth World Championships. Last year at the World Championships at Hayward Field in Eugene, Ore., Woodruff was seventh in the 400 hurdles final.

Two years ago, she was also seventh in the Tokyo Olympic final.

Distance standouts Amy Eloise-Markovc, a 2018 graduate representing Great Britain, and Lindsay Flanagan, a 2014 graduate representing the U.S., will each race in their second World Championships. Markovc is competing in the 5,000, with Flanagan running the marathon. 

Incoming freshman Hana Moll, the national high school outdoor record holder in pole vault at 15-1.50 (4.61m) as well as the reigning World U20 champion from Capital High in Olympia, Wash., will make her senior World Championships debut with the U.S. after finishing third July 9 at the Toyota USATF Outdoor Championships.

“To think about 10 Huskies making the championships is pretty cool,” Waskom said. “It’s pretty unbelievable…you wouldn’t think that we were all going to end up here. There’s always that possibility, but for everything to happen and everything to come together in the right way is pretty special.”

In light of the University of Washington becoming one of the newest members of the Big 10 Conference for the 2024-25 school year, this historic moment for the track and field program is another phase Andy Powell and Maurica Powell have now reached and hope to continue to grow in for the years to come. 

While it may be considered “The Big Dance” of track and field, Maurica sees this meet as any other one. 

“It’s more than anything we need to make the moment not bigger than it is, because it really isn’t,” Powell said. “Yes, it’s a global championship, but it’s still three and three quarters laps around the track, or it’s still you’re holding the pole down the runway and there’s a bar. It’s not any different practically than any other competition they’ve participated in.”

Powell has all the confidence the Washington athletes will be ready to go.

“It just becomes how you best manage your attitude and your effort at this competition the same way you did in the ones before, and if kids wrap their minds around focusing on the things they can personally control and getting the best out of themselves on the day of competition, they’ll do pretty well.”

The goal is simple: it isn’t just to show up and race; it’s to show up and race well. First-timers like O’Sullivan and Waskom want to make the most of their time in Budapest.

“I think I just want to leave there knowing that I did all I could,” O’Sullivan said. “That’s really all you can do. I’m just going to run the heat and try to make the semi, and if we can do it, I’ll just keep doing all I can.”

Waskom has demonstrated an impressive ability during his Washington career to navigate running rounds successfully, winning the NCAA Division 1 title in the 1,500 last year and placing second June 9 in the final in Austin, Texas, in addition to his performance at the U.S. nationals at Hayward Field.

“I would love to make the final; I would be happy making the semifinal,” Waskom said. “Most importantly, I just want to execute the race plan that Andy gives me…Championships like these aren’t ever guaranteed again. I really want to make the most of being there and make the most of the opportunity that’s been given to me.”