It’s amazing how an injured athlete can impact a team sometimes.

The Washington men’s track team was hoping to finish fifth or better at the Pac-10 championships this weekend, but the Dawgs fell short on an injury to senior sprinter Jordan Boase. The last time the Huskies finished better was in 2006 with a fourth-place finish.

“This conference is unforgiving and unbelievable,” said UW head coach Greg Metcalf. “Our men’s track team was the 14th-best team in the country and was ninth in the Pac-10 this weekend.”

Boase, favored to win in the 400 meters and 200 meters, routinely won the 400 but took himself out of the 200 after feeling a slight pull.

Metcalf speculated that the Huskies could have finished sixth or seventh had Boase been able to compete.

However, there were positives for the Huskies, as the women’s team improved from ninth last year to sixth this year.

The UW also won five individual Pac-10 titles, the most since 1998, when the Huskies matched that total.

Redshirt freshman Mel Lawrence continued her dominance in the women’s 3,000-meter steeplechase, outpacing her competitors by nearly 20 seconds with a time of 9:54.13 and breaking women’s distance coach Kelly Strong’s meet record.

“[My family and coach] joke that I’m always the bridesmaid, never the bride, so I’m really happy that I got this,” Lawrence told gohuskies.com. “[Coach Strong] told me this week that if her record was going to go down, she had a specific person she wanted it to go down to.”

Senior Anita Campbell also dominated her distance event, winning the 10,000-meter by more than a minute with a time of 34:13.27. It was only her second time ever running the event.

“Coach Metcalf has been trying to get me to run 10k for three years now,” Campbell told gohuskies.com. “My first couple of years, I wasn’t ready. It’s a big commitment, but now it’s a good race for me.”

Katie Follett, perhaps the UW women’s most consistent distance runner, successfully defended her Pac-10 title in the 1,500 meters, edging out her closest opponent by just four-tenths of a second.

“She ran fantastic down the home stretch,” Metcalf said. “She led most of the race.”

The Huskies also had a strong showing in the men’s pole vaults with Scott Roth, Jared O’Connor and Ryan Vu placing first, fourth and eighth, respectively.

“This is my first big win,” Roth told gohuskies.com. “I’ve vaulted at nationals and things like that, but I’ve never won a big meet. So it’s very exciting for me.”

Reach reporter Honsen Lin at sports@dailyuw.com.