THE SCHEDULE:         Seattle Pacific at GNAC Championships
                                       Friday, May 14, field 4 p.m.; running 4:45 p.m.
                                       Saturday, May 15, field 10:45 a.m.; running 12:30 p.m.
                                       McArthur Field at W. Oregon University/Monmouth, Ore.
                                       Continuously updated results at www.gnacsports.com
   
       
       Weekly release, with stats and updated qualifying list (PDF)
       Meet program, with schedule on Page 2 (PDF)
       Women's heat sheets
       Men's heat sheets
       Overall GNAC preview    

SEATTLE – If it seems as if it has been awhile since the last Great Northwest Athletic Conference track and field championships, there's a reason for that:

It really has been a while.

For the first time since 2008, the eight conference track programs will gather to determine the best of the best when they head to McArthur Field at Western Oregon University on Friday and Saturday. Friday is a light day, with a handful of field event finals, and running preliminaries except for the finals-only 3,000-meter steeplechase and the 10,000 meters. Field events start at 4 p.m., with running at 4:45.

The bulk of the action will take place on Saturday. Field events begin at 10:45 a.m. with the women's hammer. The first running event is the women's 4x100 relay at 12:30 p.m. The last event is set for 3:25 p.m., with awards starting at 3:30.

Last year, all eight teams had arrived at Western Oregon and were making their final preparation on the evening before the meet when conference officials made the decision to cancel it because of the possibility of a swine flu case on the campus. Further, it was determined that there was not sufficient time to reschedule the meet prior to the NCAA Championships.So the only conference titles that went into the 2009 books were the women's heptathlon and the men's decathlon, which had been decided earlier in competition at Central Washington University.

This is the final stop prior to the NCAA Division II Championships, which are set for May 27-29 at Johnson C. Smith University in Charlotte, N.C.

FOLLOW IT ONLINE
Meet results will be available within a few minutes after each event on the GNAC home page at www.gnacsports.com.

HOW'S THE WEATHER DOWN THERE?
Conditions should be just about right -- if not a bit warm -- for the weekend meet. The forecast for Friday calls for a few clouds and temperatures of 75 degrees. Saturday is about the same, with some clouds and a high of 72.

SPEAKING OF THE FALCONS
Seattle Pacific comes into the meet as the favorite to win the team title. But favored or not, the Falcons have plenty of motivation to bring home the trophy.

“Our women have talked all year long about trying to win the team championship,” head coach Karl Lerum said. “Our seniors have only won it their freshman year. Sophomore year, we lost it by four points and junior year, it was canceled So they're focused on trying to win it.”

Lerum said a number of events -- the high jump, long jump, 800 and 1,500 -- will be key.

“Those are the events where we have to go out as a team and produce,” he said.

The men are seeded to score in the mid to upper 30s, and are within reach of chasing down Northwest Nazarene, the team immediately in front of them, based on entry times and marks.

“I'm excited for what our men potentially can accomplish,” Lerum said. “We have a solid group of middle distance guys who are working their way down in times. And our two jav throwers (Nate Wagner and Jace Derwin) keep working their way up the charts.”

As always, the Falcons will be mindful of the stopwatch and the tape measure. But their big focus in Monmouth will be on their counterparts from the other seven teams.

“Conference is about competing in the race you're in,” Lerum said. “The pursuit of times and marks becomes secondary.”

SCOUTING THE GNACs: WOMEN
From the time the season started in early March, the Falcons figured they would be in the running for the conference crown. And now that May is here, that's exactly where they are.

Based on the meet entries and assigning the appropriate points to the top eight marks, SPU is on target to score 225 points. That includes the 22 points it picked up from last week's heptathlon competition in Nampa, Idaho, when four of the top eight finishers wore Falcon uniforms: first-place Crystal Sims (10 points), third-place Jennifer Pike (six), fourth-place Katy Gross (five) and eighth-place Brittany Tri (one).

The Falcons come into the meet with seven top-seeded marks. Furthermore, they are seeded 1-2-3 in the 800 and the high jump, and are 1-2 in the 200 and the 1,500.

Seniors Jessica Pixler (Sammamish, Wash./Eastlake HS), Lisa Anderberg (Edmonds, Wash./Kamiak HS) and Jane Larson (Fall City, Wash./Cedar Park Christian HS) come in with the top three times in the 800. Pixler's mark of 2:04.89 already is six seconds faster than her own conference record of 2:10.93 set in 2007. Anderberg is at 2:10.98, less than a second away from the NCAA automatic qualifying time of 2:10.00, and Larson is at 2:11.19.

Pixler also is the one to beat in the 1,500 meters with her seventh-ranked world time of 4:11.06. She and No. 2-seeded Larson (4:23.05) are both way ahead of Larson's conference meet record of 4:29.66, set in 2008.

Sophomore Brittany Aanstad (Lake Stevens, Wash./Lake Stevens HS) has the top high jump mark of 5 feet, 6½ inches. Falcon teammates Katy Gross (Everett, Wash./Cascade HS) and Ali Worthen (Coos Bay, Ore.) are tied for the second seed, along with Western Washington's Amanda Overdick, all at 5-5¾ -- just a quarter-inch short of the NCAA provisional mark.

Aanstad also is second-seeded in the javelin at 145-0, needing another 2 feet, 7 inches for NCAA automatic. She is the defending champion -- such as it were -- in that event, having won it in 2008 at 147-10. (Even if last year's meet had taken place, Aanstad wouldn't have been able to compete because of injuries suffered in an automobile accident.) The one to beat this year is Western Oregon freshman Carolanne Powers, who comes in at 154-0.

“Brittany has gotten her javelin down -- it really has come back to her,” Lerum said.

Like Aanstad in the jav, junior Melissa Peaslee (Fox Island, Wash./Gig Harbor HS) is the most recent GNAC champion in the pole vault. She's the top seed in this one at 12-5½, nearly a full foot higher than second-seeded Else Couvelier of Western Washington at 11-5¾. Peaslee's winning mark in 2008 was 11-9.

Senior Latasha Essien (Portland, Ore.) is the one to beat in the 200 meters at 25.27 seconds. Junior Crystal Sims (Portland, Ore.), fresh off her heptathlon victory last week, is tied with Montana State Billings' Erika Halle for the second seed at 25.51. The 200 was one of the four events Sims won in the heptathlon.

Essien also is the second seed in the 100 at 12.35, just three-hundredths of a second behind top-seeded Joana Houplin of Western Washington (12.32).

Freshman Amanda Alvarez (Vancouver, Wash./Columbia River HS) is tied with Western Oregon's Ashley Potter for the top seed in the triple jump at 39-8¾. Alvarez put that mark into the books last weekend at the Ken Foreman-Ken Shannon Invitational, and is just 1¼ inches away from automatic qualification to the NCAA meet. 

Other top-3 seeds for Seattle Pacific include freshman Emily Quatier (Portland, Ore.) in the 400 meters and junior Jennifer Pike (Vancouver, Wash./Skyview HS) in the 400 hurdles. Pike, at 1;03.43, is close to the NCAA provisional qual time of 1:03.00.

SCOUTING THE GNACs: MEN
All season, the SPU men have been gaining notice with some solid performances -- enough to climb into the USTFCCCA West Region top 10 toward the end of April.

While the GNAC title likely will come down to a battle between Western Oregon and Western Washington,  the Falcons have put themselves into position to score in the 35- to 40-point range. The Falcons have eight seeds among the top eight, worth 37 points based on the entry marks.

Senior Chad Meis (Renton, Wash./Seattle Christian HS) is the No. 3 seed in the 3,000-meter steeplechase. His time of 9:15.13 is an NCAA provisional. Alaska Anchorage's Micah Chelimo the big favorite at 8:49.31, which ranks No. 2 in all of Division II.

Also with a top-3 seed is senior Nate Wagner (Olympia, Wash./Northwest Christian HS) in the javelin at 191-10. The jav is the one event in which SPU owns a pair of top-8 seeds. Junior Jace Derwin (Snoqualmie, Wash./Mount Si HS) is the No. 6 seed at 190-3.

The Falcons also have two entries who aren't in the top three, but could make a run at a title. Freshman Nate Seely (Lynden, Wash./Lynden HS) is No. 4 in the 800 maters at an NCAA provisional 1:52.90, just four-tenths of a second behind No. 1 Alfred Kangogo of Alaska Anchorage (1:52.50). And in the 400 hurdles, freshman Ryan Endresen (Portland, Ore.) is No. 4 at 54.79. He'll be trying to chase down top-seeded Maurus Hope of Northwest Nazarene (53.20) and the NCAA provisional qual time of 54.00.

LAST TIME AT GNACs
Here is a look at results for current Falcon athletes from the 2008 GNAC Championships:

WOMEN
Brittany Aanstad: 1st in javelin, 147-10; 6th in long jump, 16-7; 7th in triple jump, 34-11¾.
Lisa Anderberg: 4th in 1500, 4:47.42.
Kate Harline: 4th in 5000, 18:29.50
Jane Larson: 1st in 1500, 4:29.66; 4th in 800, 2:16.05.
Jacquie Mattson: 5th in high jump, 5-0¼.
Melissa Peaslee: 1st in pole vault, 11-9.
Jennifer Pike: 6th in 100 hurdles, 15.71; 7th in 400 hurdles, 1:06.77.
* Jessica Pixler: 1st in 800, 2:10.93 (meet record); 1st in 1500, 4:32.80; 1st in 3000, 9:53.80 (meet record)
* Pixler's results are from 2007; she missed 2008 meet due to injury.

MEN
Justin Felt: 5th in long jump, 21-6.
Chad Meis: 2nd in 1500, 3:58.06.

STRANGE, BUT TRUE: PIXLER EDITION
Given all of her track and cross country accomplishments, one would expect to see Jessica Pixler's name all over the GNAC outdoor books. But in fact, this will be just the second conference outdoor championship meet for the Falcon senior. Pixler won three events -- the 800, the 1,500 and the 3,000 -- at the 2007 meet in Bellingham. She set the still-standing conference record of 2:10.93 in the 800, and also set the GNAC standard of 9:53.80 in the 3,000, although that event no longer is contested.

But Pixler missed the 2008 meet with stress fractures in her back, then didn't get to compete last year -- nor did anyone else -- because of the cancellation due to the swine flu scare. Pixler is this year's top seed in the 800 and 1,500, and her entry times are way ahead of the meet records in both events.

STRANGE, BUT TRUE: ESSIEN EDITION

SPU senior Latasha Essien has four straight GNAC indoor 60-meter dash titles to her credit, making her one of just two conference athletes to pull an indoor four-peat. But she has never run in a GNAC outdoor championship meet. Essien injured her hamstring about a week prior to GNACs during her freshman year of 2007. That injury kept her sidelined for all of 2008, and then the 2009 meet was canceled. Essien is the top seed in the 200 and is second-seeded in the 100.

FASTER AND FARTHER
It's expected that most athletes will improve as the season progresses. But some SPU athletes have taken improvement to a different -- and much higher -- level.

-- In the 800 meters, senior Kate Harline's career-best coming into the season was 2:20.20. She's all the way down to 2:15.43 and on the verge of meeting the NCAA provisional qualifying time of 2:14.50.
-- Senior Nate Wagner and junior Jace Derwin had never thrown the javelin until this year. Their first efforts were 160 feet, 5 inches for Wagner and 154-6 for Derwin. Wagner comes into the GNAC meet at 191-10, and Derwin is at 190-3. The NCAA provisional mark is 193-7.
-- Freshman Ryan Endresen had run 300-meter hurdle races in high school, but the college distance is 100 meters longer. He finished his first try at the 400 hurdles in 55.51 seconds. Since then, Endresen has cut that all the way down to 54.79, and is within reach of the NCAA provisional mark of 54.00.
-- Jessica Pixler's career-best in the 1,500 was 4:17.68 coming into the spring. On March 26 at the Stanford Invitational, she ran 4:11.06.
-- In March of 2009, senior Chad Meis ran the 3,000 steeplechase for the first time, and clocked a 9:20.38. He hadn't been that fast since then until two weeks ago on April 30 at the Oregon Relays. Meis won his heat of the steeple in 9:15.13.
-- Speaking of the steeplechase, freshman AJ Baker (Au Gres, Mich.) didn't even break 10 minute in his first attempt, crossing the line in 10:25.26 on March 6 at the season-opening UPS Outdoor Preview in Tacoma. He has cut almost 20 seconds off of that, coming into GNACs as the No. 7 seed at 9:45.84.

DÉJÀ VU' FOR SEELY?
Freshman Nate Seely (Lynden, Wash./Lynden HS) is the fourth seed in the men's 800 meters at 1:52.90, leaving him just fourth-tenths of a second behind top-seeded Alfred Kangogo of Alaska Anchorage. That's the same position he was in at the GNAC indoor championships in February. Seely's entry time for that race was 53 hundredths behind the No. 1 seed. But it was Seely claiming the conference crown by 52 hundredths of a second.

FALCON REPLAY
-- Amanda Alvarez flew past the 39-foot mark it the triple jump and tied the GNAC record for that event last Saturday, and Lisa Anderberg won the 400 meters for SPU in the Ken Foreman-Ken Shannon Invitational at Husky Stadium. Freshman Alvarez, who went a career-best 38 feet, 11 inches in the outdoor season opener on March 6, but hadn't gone that far since then, hit 39-8¾ to take second place. That brought her within 1¼ inches of the NCAA automatic qualifying mark. Falcon senior Anderberg set a personal-best time of 58.05 second to capture the 400, SPU's only victory of the day. Senior Kate Harline (Orem, Utah) set a personal best of 2:15.43 to take fourth place in the 800. She is now less than a second away from NCAA provisional status in that event. Junior Jennifer Pike logged a season-best 1:03.43 in the 400 hurdles, putting her within reach of the NCAA provisional time of 1:03.00.
-- In the men's meet, junior Jacob Wahlenmaier (Everett, Wash./Cascade HS) gave himself an automatic spot in the GNAC 1,500 meters with a personal best time of 4:00.46 to take 17th place overall. Sophomore Nathanael Sleight (Bellevue, Wash./Bellevue Christian HS) ran a career-best 1:57.90 to join the GNAC provisional list in the 800, and freshman Nate Seely, an 800-meter man making his first run in the 400, finished in 50.14 to earn a GNAC provisional spot.

STREAKING

Ryan Endresen has gotten onto a winning roll in the 400 hurdles. The Falcon freshman has won his last three of his last four meets in that event. It started in Ellensburg at the Spike Arlt Invite on April 17 when he went what then was a career-best time of 54.86 -- his first time below the 55-second mark. He won again on April 23 at the Western Washington Twilight meet in Bellingham, going 55.10. His winning margin on the cold, rainy night was the bare minimum one one-hundredth of a second. Then, he put up another personal-best last Saturday of 54.79 to win at the Saint Martin's Invitational. Last Saturday at the Foreman-Shannon Invitational, Endresen finished fourth in 55.20.

WHERE IN THE WORLD…?
Jessica Pixler's world-class performances in the 1,500 and 5,000 earlier this season are still world-class. In the latest rankings from IAAF, the world governing body of track and field, Pixler is No. 7 in the 1,500 with the 4:11.06 she ran on April 16 at the Mt. SAC Relays. Katie Follett from the University of Washington, who edged Pixler that night with a 4:10.66, ranks No. 5.

In the 5,000, Pixler's time of 15:44.07, which she ran on March 26 at the Stanford Track & Field Invitational, ranks No. 30. 

NATIONALLY SPEAKING
-- Jessica Pixler is the NCAA Division II leader in the 800, the 1,500 and the 5,000. In the 800, her 2:04.89 is nearly three seconds faster than No. 2 Anja Puc of Nebraska-Omaha (2:07.55). In the 5K, Pixler's 15:44.07 is 19 seconds better than No. 2 Tanya Zeferjahn of Queens (N.C.), who has a 16:03.51. And in the 1,500? It's still a 1-2 SPU senior tandem of Pixler (4:11.06) and Jane Larson (4:23.05). Larson  is way ahead of third-place Mary Dell of Shippensburg (4:27.25).
-- Senior Lisa Anderberg is eighth in the 800 meters at 2:10.98, with Larson right behind in ninth at 2:11.19.
-- Junior Melissa Peaslee  is part of a three-way tie for ninth among D-2 pole vaulters at 12-5½.
-- Sophomore Brittany Aanstad is seventh in the javelin at 145-0.
-- Freshman Amanda Alvarez is tied for ninth in the triple jump at 38-11. Last week, she was 17th prior to going 39-8¾ in last week's Ken Foreman-Ken Shannon Invitational. That was an improvement of nine inches.
-- Senior Chad Meis is 25th in the steeplechase at 9:15.13. The current 16th-place time is 9:09.65.
-- Freshman Nate Seely is 36th in the 800 at 1:52.90, an NCAA provisional qualifying time. But, he is just 75 hundredths shy of the current No. 16 time of 1:52.15, which would put him into the national meet picture.

POLLING PLACE
The Seattle Pacific women remained No. 7 in this week's USTFCCCA national poll. The Falcons have 122.23 points. Angelo State of Texas remains No. 1, totaling 288.23 points. Also from the GNAC, Western Washington stayed at No. 25 with 42.16.

In the West Region poll, the Falcon women and Chico State switched places again, with the Wildcats climbing past SPU into No. 2. Chico has 432.81 points, Seattle Pacific has 414.19. The Falcons had been No. 3 all season until last week when they moved ahead of Chico. UC San Diego remains No. 1 by a wide margin with 581.44.

SIMS EARNS GNAC AWARD
Junior Crystal Sims was named the GNAC women's track Athlete of the Week on May 10 after her dominating performance in the heptathlon at the conference multi-event championships on May 3-4 in Nampa, Idaho. Sims racked up 4,769 points, and had the winning marks in the 100-meter hurdles, 200 meters, long jump and shot put. It was her first Athlete of the Week honor.

ON THE HONOR ROLL
-- Jessica Pixler was named the GNAC Athlete of the Week on April 19, the 29th such honor of her career. Pixler was tabbed for the weekly award after her two school and GNAC record-breaking runs in the 800 and 1,500 in California on April 16 and 17. Of Pixler's 29 Athlete of the Week awards, seven have been for outdoor track. She also has 12 for cross country and 10 for indoor track.
-- The GNAC selected senior Jane Larson as its Female Athlete of the Week on March 22. At the Oregon Preview on March 20 at Hayward Field in Eugene, Larson went 2:11.75 in the 800 meters to take third place. It was an NCAA provisional qualifying time.
-- On March 8, freshman Amanda Alvarez was the GNAC Female Athlete of the Week for her triple jump performance at the UPS Outdoor Preview. Alvarez went 38 feet, 11 inches at Baker Stadium in Tacoma on March 6.

AROUND THE GNAC
Click on this link for news and notes from the Great Northwest Athletic Conference. Click on this link for a look at the leading GNAC performers in all events.

UP NEXT
For most of the Falcons, the GNACs will be the final meet of the season. However, those who have the marks will head to Johnson C. Smith University in Charlotte, N.C., for the NCAA Division II championships. That three-day meet is scheduled for May 27-29.