Complete women's results
Complete men's results
NAMPA, Idaho -- Points weren't the only things that came in bunches for the Seattle Pacific Falcons in Saturday's Great Northwest Athletic Conference indoor track and field championships.
A whole lot of other things did, too.
A pair of individual victories -- both in meet-record time -- for Jessica Pixler. A fourth consecutive 60-yard dash championship for Latasha Essien, also in meet-record time. A fourth straight SPU title in the distance medley relay, again in a meet record. A third straight high jump win.
And one more: For the seventh time in seven GNAC indoor meets, the Falcon women finished atop the team standings.
Almost everything that SPU needed to go its way did go its way on Saturday at Jackson's Track. The Falcons came up big in the distances, even bigger in the jumps. Add in a pole vault victory for junior Melissa Peaslee, the high jump title for Brittany Aanstad, plus depth points from all over the lineup, and Seattle Pacific racked up 179½ points, enough to beat perennial challenger Western Washington by 20.
Since the GNAC started indoor track in 2004, Seattle Pacific has been the only school to claim the women's crown. As expected from the outset, this one was tight: The 20-point margin matched its smallest ever. In 2006, the Falcons prevailed over Central Washington, 154-134.
“They earned it,” SPU coach Karl Lerum said. “This is just a really inspirational group. Pixler comes out and sets three meet records (both of her individual events and as part of the distance medley relay), Tash hasn't run since last March and she sets a meet record, Peaslee is on her way and looking like herself again, and Jane Larson comes out and has a total warrior performance in the mile, 800 and DMR.”
But it wasn't just winners on the women's side for the Falcons. Freshman Nathan Seely (Lynden, Wash./Lynden HS) won the men's 800 meters in 1 minute, 54.86 seconds. That made him the first conference indoor champ for Seattle Pacific since 2007 when Eddie Strickler won the 800 in 1:55.23 and current senior Justin Felt, then a freshman, took the long jump.
FULL SPEED FOR PIXLER
Senior distance star Pixler (Sammamish, Wash./Eastlake HS), slowed by an illness last year that resulted in her having to settle for second place in both the mile and the 800, wasn't about to be caught in either one this time. She won the mile in 4:40.39, then less than two hours later took the 800 in 2:08.28.
Both of her times broke the meet records set last year by now-graduated Northwest Nazarene star Ashley Puga. And Pixler did it with room to spare: by nearly two seconds in the 800 (Puga's time was 2:09.86) and by almost seven seconds in the mile (Puga went 4:47.37).
Pixler's 800 run was her first this season and was an NCAA Division II automatic qualifying time. She already had an automatic time in the mile and as part of the distance medley.
Fellow Falcon senior Larson (Fall City, Wash./Cedar Park Christian HS) was a solid second in both events. Larson logged a 4:52.24 in the mile and a 2:14.41 in the 800. She already is an NCAA automatic qualifier in the mile and DMR, and has a provisional mark in the 800.
Essien, because of a lingering hamstring injury, hadn't run competitively since an outdoor meet last March. But she was on her game, running a 7.77 in the prelims, then lowering that to 7.67 in the finals and winning by 21 hundredths of a second. It broke her own conference record of 7.73, which she set in 2007, and was an NCAA provisional qualifying mark.
The victory made Essien just the second member of an exclusive GNAC club. Only Central Washington shot putter Krissy Tandle (2005-09) won four titles in the same event.
SPU's distance medley relay of senior Kate Harline (Orem, Utah), junior Jennifer Pike (Vancouver, Wash./Skyline HS), Larson and Pixler won in 11:36.32. That was a whopping 22 seconds faster than the 11:58.41 record set by a Falcon team in 2007.
JUMPING FOR JOY
Junior pole vaulter Peaslee (Fox Island, Wash./Gig Harbor HS) cleared 12 feet for the first time this season. Junior teammate Terra Schumacher (Sublimity, Ore.) made it a 1-2 finish by going 11-6¼. (Schumacher also was second in the 60 hurdles.)
Sophomore Aanstad (Lake Stevens, Wash./Lake Stevens HS), back in action this winter after missing last year with an injury, led a 1-2-3 Seattle Pacific finish in the high jump. She went 5-5¼. Sophomore Alison Worthen (Coos Bay, Ore.) and freshman Katy Gross (Everett, Wash./Cascade HS) tied for second at 5-3¼.
While the Falcons didn't win the long jump, they did put together an astonishing 2-3-4-5-6-7-8 finish behind Western Washington's Emily Warman. Junior Crystal Sims (Portland, Ore./Jefferson HS) led that effort with a second-place finish at 17-7½.
“I didn't see that coming,” Lerum said. “But it's such a great crew and a fun group that I'm not surprised they did it.”
That performance gave SPU a 29-10 scoring advantage in the long jump. It was one of four events in which they scored more than 20 points. The others were the high jump (26), pole vault (24) and mile (23).
“That's how you win championships,” Lerum said. “It makes us a tough team when we can put in big bunches of points like that.”
BIG DAY FOR SEELY
Seely came into the men's 800 as the fourth seed with a 1:56.45. He cut that by almost two seconds and won by half a second over Western Oregon's Mike Schmidt (1:55.38).
Felt (Eugene, Ore.) was hoping to add a second long jump crown to the one he claimed as a freshman, but wound up third at 22 feet, 9¾ inches. Western Oregon's Matson Hardie won at 23-8.
The Falcons wound up fifth among the seven teams with 39 points. That was a significant jump from last year when they scored just 11 points and finished sixth.
NCAA Women's Track
GNAC Championships
Saturday, February 20, 2010
Jackson's Track at Idaho Center Sports Complex/Nampa, Idaho
Team scores -- 1, Seattle Pacific 179 1/2; 2, Western Washington 159 1/2; 3, Northwest Nazarene 90; 4, Western Oregon 80; 5, Central Washington 51; 6, Montana State Billings 18, 7, Saint Martin's 4.
60-meter dash -- 1, Latasha Essien (SPU) 7.67 (meet record, breaks old record of 7.73 set by Essien in 2007). Other SPU placer -- 4, Crystal Sims 8.00.
200 -- 1, Ellie Siler (WWU) 25.03. SPU placers -- 12, Emily Quatier 26.61; 14, Natalie Nobbs 26.82; 15, Lisette Peterson 26.94.
400 -- 1, Ellie Siler (WWU) 56.93. SPU placers -- 4, Jennifer Pike 58.93; 9, Emily Quatier 59.71.
800 -- 1, Jessica Pixler (SPU) 2:08.28 (meet record, breaks old record of 2:10.18 set by Pixler in 2008). Other SPU placers -- 2, Jane Larson 2:14.41; 9, Kelsey Brown 2:21.14; 12, Lisa Anderberg 2:25.00.
Mile -- 1, Jessica Pixler (SPU) 4:40.39 (meet record, breaks old record of 4:50.38 set by Pixler in 2008). Other SPU placers -- 2, Jane Larson 4:52.24; 4, Kate Harline 5:10.94; 10, Lisa Anderberg 5:24.07.
5,000 -- 1, Sarah Porter (WWU) 16:47.07. SPU placer -- 5, Natty Plunkett 17:56.47.
60 hurdles -- 1, Michelle Howe (WWU) 9.02. SPU placers -- 2, Terra Schumacher 9.07; 5, Jennifer Pike 9.29.
4x400 relay -- 1, Western Washington 3:55.21 (meet record, breaks old record of 3:55.58 set by Northwest Nazarene in 2009). SPU placer -- 2, SPU (Crystal Sims, Emily Quatier, Kira Lewis, Melissa Peaslee) 4:03.16.
Distance medley relay -- 1, Seattle Pacific (Kate Harline, Jennifer Pike, Jane Larson, Jessica Pixler) 11:36.32 (meet record, breaks old record of 11:58.41 set by Seattle Pacific in 2007).
High jump -- 1, Brittany Aanstad (SPU) 5-5 1/4 (1.66m). Other SPU placers -- 2, (tie) Ali Worthen and Katy Gross 5-3 1/4 (1.61m); 7,Jacquie Mattson 4-11 1/2 (1.51m).
Long jump -- 1, Emily Warman (WWU) 18-3 3/4 (5.58m). SPU placers -- 2, Crystal Sims 17-7 1/2 (5.37m); 3, Brittany Aanstad 17-7 (5.36m); 4, Amanda Alvarez 17-7 (5.36m); 5, Kelly Jenkins 17-3 1/4 (5.26m); 6, Natalie Nobbs 17-0 1/2 (5.19m); 7, Trinna Miranda 16-11 1/2 (5.17m); 8, Ali Worthen 16-8 1/2 (5.09m).
Triple jump -- 1, Ashley Potter (WOU) 38-10 12 (11.85m) (meet record, breaks old record of 37-9 1/4 set by Kim Bascom (WWU) in 2007). SPU placers -- 3, Amanda Alvarez 38-2 (11.63m).
Pole vault -- 1, Melissa Peaslee (SPU) 12-0 (3.66m). Other SPU placers -- 2, Terra Schumacher 11-6 1/4 (3.51m); T5, Michaela Caldwell 11-0 1/4 (3.36m); 7, Kjersti Gedde 10-6 1/4 (3.21m).
Shot put -- 1 Joy Warrington (NNU) 45-9 1/4 (13.95m). No SPU competitors.
20-pound weight throw -- 1, Joy Warringson (NNU) 49-10 1/2 (15.20m). No SPU competitors.
NCAA Men's Track
GNAC Championships
Saturday, February 20, 2010
Jackson's Track at Idaho Center Sports Complex/Nampa, Idaho
Team scores -- 1, Western Oregon 171; 2, Western Washington 161 1/2; 3, Central Washington 134; 4, Northwest Nazarene 53 1/2; 5, Seattle Pacific 39; 6, Montana State Billings 16; 7, Saint Martin's 8.
60-meter dash -- 1, Anthony Wright (CWU) 6.89 (meet record, breaks old record of 7.02 set by Ashtin Mott (WOU) in 2008). No SPU competitors.
200 -- 1, Kincaid Nichols (CWU) 22.22. SPU placer -- 17, Micah Grounds 23.35.
400 -- 1, Matt Kaino (WOU) 49.17 (meet record, breaks old record of 49.58 set by Matt Rogstad (CWU) in 2008). No SPU competitors.
800 -- 1, Nathan Seely (SPU) 1:54.86. Other SPU placers -- 5, Chad Meis 1:57.87; 7, Nathanael Sleight 1:58.14.
Mile -- 1, Anthony Tomsich (WWU) 4:14.08 (meet record, breaks old record of 4:15.27 set by Ethan Barrons (WOU) in 2005). SPU placers -- 5, Chad Meis 4:18.78; 10, AJ Baker 4:28.98; 12, Jacob Wahlenmaier 4:35.99.
5,000 -- 1, Jordan Welling (WWU) 14:51.53 (meet record, breaks old record of 15:01.67 set by John Riak (StM) in 2007). No SPU competitors.
60 hurdles -- 1, Andy Loscutoff (WOU) 8.34. SPU placer -- 6, Ryan Endresen 8.92; 9, Nate Johnson 9.14.
4x400 relay -- 1, Western Oregon 3:19.36. SPU placer -- 5, SPU (Micah Grounds, Nate Johnson, Jace Derwin, Nathanael Sleight) 3:30.56.
Distance medley relay -- 1, Western Washington 10:18.80 (meet record, breaks old record of 10:19.74 set by Saint Martin's in 2005). SPU placer -- 3, SPU (AJ Baker, Ryan Endresen, Nathan Seely, Chad Meis) 10:32.07.
High jump -- 1, Brennan Boyes (CWU) 6-4 3/4 (1.95m). No SPU placers.
Long jump -- 1, Matson Hardie (WOU) 23-8 (7.21m). SPU placer -- 3, Justin Felt 22-9 3/4 (6.95m).
Triple jump -- 1, Rendel Jones (CWU) 47-7 1/4 (14.51m). No SPU competitors.
Pole vault -- 1, Ryan Brown (WWU) 16-1 1/4 (4.91m). SPU placer -- 11, Nate Johnson 12-8 (3.86m).
Shot put -- 1, Jason Slowey (WOU) 51-3 3/4 (15.64m). No SPU competitors.
35-pound weight throw -- 1, Tyler Fischer (CWU) 58-3 (17.75m). No SPU competitors.
