Complete results (PDF)
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TACOMA – On a typical track day, Dusty Duncan will be racing with the leaders in the sprints.

On Saturday, the Seattle Pacific freshman not only was racing with the leaders in a much longer event, he was the leader at the finish line -- and a record-setting one at that.

Duncan opened his spring track and field season in fast fashion, winning the 800 meters in the best time ever posted at the UPS Outdoor Preview. Duncan (Lynden, Wash./Lynden HS) crossed the line in 1 minute, 56.79 seconds, easily eclipsing the old mark of 1:59.03 set by SPU alum Scott Van Hess – a record that had stood since 2003. It also was a provisional qualifying time for the Great Northwest Athletic Conference meet in May.

Falcon freshman Evan Bradford also bettered Van Hess' previous record. Bradford was third on Saturday in 1:59.27.

Duncan was one of five Falcon winners in the traditional season opener at Baker Stadium on the University of Puget Sound campus, keeping SPU rack up 38 points for second place in the team standings behind Western Washington (91). And, he wasn't the only Seattle Pacific athlete – nor the only one from Lynden -- who stepped out of his comfort zone to emerge victorious.

Sophomore Nate Seely, who might normally be found in the 800 (he just won his second straight GNAC indoor title in that event on Feb. 19) switched to the 400 on Saturday, and took first place in 50.12 seconds. That also was a conference provisional qualifying time.

“I thought our Lynden boys were quite special,” Falcons head coach Karl Lerum said. “They swapped events and swapped performances. While those aren't their events for conference (in May), they showed their range with what they did in those events.”

Falcon sophomore AJ Baker (Au Gres, Mich.) made it back-to-back UPS victories in the 3,000-meter steeplechase. Baker hit the wire in 9:44.95. That not only was a personal best (his previous was 9:45.60), it was 20 seconds faster than his winning time of 10:05.26 in the 2010 UPS meet. It was a GNAC provisional qualifying mark.

“He ran his PR, and that's exciting for the first meet in March,” Lerum said.

Sophomore Ryan Endresen (Portland, Ore.) stepped right back into form in the 400-meter hurdles, with a winning time of 56.00 seconds that put him on the GNAC provisional qualifying list.

Then, Duncan, Endresen and Seely teamed up with freshman Dustin Bratten (Sammamish, Wash./Skyline HS) to close the meet by winning the 4x400 relay, logging a time of 3:25.34.

Sophomore Billy Martin (Edmonds, Wash./King's HS) bettered the previous meet record in the javelin. But the three guys who finished ahead of him also broke it. Martin, in his first college javelin completion, threw it 169 feet, 7 inches (51.70 meters), bettering the old mark of 169-3 (51.60 meters) set in 2005 by former Seattle Pacific star Chris Randolph. The official new record belongs to Western Washington's Alex Harrison, who won on Saturday with a toss of 196-1 (59.76 meters).

Martin's mark made him a provisional GNAC qualifier, following up on his provisional qualifying performance in the hammer on Friday. He took third in that event at 142-7 (43.45 meters). That was well beyond his previous personal best of 137-11 (42.03 meters).

Senior Jace Derwin (Snoqualmie, Wash./Mount Si HS) made a GNAC provisional mark of 167-5 / 51.02 meters in the javelin, taking fifth place on Saturday.

The Falcons return to Tacoma next Saturday for the Pacific Lutheran Invitational on the PLU campus.

NCAA MEN'S TRACK AND FIELD

UPS Outdoor Preview

Saturday, March 5, 2011

Baker Stadium/Tacoma, Wash.

 

Team scores – 1, Western Washington 91; 2, Seattle Pacific 38; 3, Puget Sound 34; 4, Lewis & Clark 27; 5, Puget Sound Alumni 1.

 

100 – 1, Mark Pangilinan (WWU) 11.04. SPU placer – 5, Micah Grounds 11.57.

200 – 1, Kevin Carpenter (L&C) 23.48. SPU placer – 6, Grounds 23.82.

400 – 1, Nate Seely (SPU) 50.12*. Other SPU placer – 5, Dustin Bratten 53.78.

800 – 1, Dusty Duncan (SPU) 1:56.79* (meet record, breaks old record of 1:59.50 set by Scott Van Hess of Seattle Pacific in 2003). Other SPU placer – 3, Evan Bradford 1:59.27.

1,500 – 1, Blake Medhaug (WWU) 4:02.72. SPU placers – 2, Jacob Wahlenmaier 4:05.59; 3, Nathanael Sleight 4:09.46; 12, Stephen York 4:22.87; 16, Matt Edell 4:38.71.

10,000 – 1, Chip Jackson (WWU) 32:28.94. No SPU competitors.

110 hurdles – 1, Karsten Schick (WWU) 16.42. No SPU competitors.

400 hurdles – 1, Ryan Endresen (SPU) 56.00*. No other SPU placers.

3,000 steeplechase – 1, AJ Baker (SPU) 9:44.95*. No other SPU placers.

4x100 relay – 1, Lewis & Clark 44.36. No SPU team.

4x400 relay – 1, Seattle Pacific 'A' (Bratten, Duncan, Endresen, Seely) 3:25.34. Other SPU placer – 6, Seattle Pacific 'B' (Nate Johnson, Sleight, Bradford, Baker) 3:41.89.

High jump – 1, Josh Larso (WWU) 6-2 / 1.88m. SPU placer – 2, Johnson 5-10 / 1.78m.

Pole vault – 1, Josh Winters (WWU) 14-5¼ / 4.40m. No SPU competitors.

Long jump – 1, Michael Haas (UPS) 20-2½ / 6.16m. SPU placer – 5, Johnson 18-9 / 5.71m.

Triple jump – 1, Evan Koreyasu (WWU) 40-11 / 12.47m. No SPU competitors.

Shot put – 1, Aaron Lucas (L&C) 46-10 ¾ / 12.29m. No SPU competitors.

Discus – 1, Nelson Westlin (WWU) 147-10 / 45.07m. No SPU competitors.

Hammer – 1, Michael Hoffman (WWU) 172-9 / 52.66m. SPU placer – 3, Billy Martin 142-7 / 43.45m*.

Javelin – 1, Alex Harrison (WWU) 172-9 / 52.66m (meet record, breaks old record of 169-3 / 51.60m set by Chris Randolph of Seattle Pacific in 2005). SPU placers – 4, Martin 169-7 / 51.70m*; 5, Jace Derwin 167-5 / 51.02m*.

 

*GNAC provisional qualifier.