CERRITOS, Calif. -- It isn't just most runners who have no chance against Jessica Pixler.
The past two days, history hasn't had much of a chance, either.
For the second time in two days, the Seattle Pacific senior broke a long-standing school track and field record. On Saturday afternoon, it was in the 800 meters, as Pixler ran away with that event at the Beach Invitational, hitting the wire in 2 minutes, 4.89 seconds.
Pixler (Sammamish, Wash./Eastlake HS) bettered the old Falcon standard of 2:06.6, set in 1977 by Susie Griffith. It also beat the Great Northwest Athletic Conference mark of 2:05.23 which was set just last year by Northwest Nazarene's Ashley Puga, and was almost three seconds faster than the Beach Invite record of 2:07.71, set in 2004 by Sherron Rhetta.
On Friday at the Mt. SAC Relays in Walnut, Calif., Pixler ran 4:11.06 in the 1,500 meters. That beat the SPU record of 4:13.12 set by Gitte Karlshoj in 1988 and also broke her own GNAC record of 4:17.68 from last season.
So from early Friday evening to mid afternoon on Saturday -- a span of about 20 hours -- Pixler rewrote a combined 55 years of Falcon track history. She now owns school records in the 800, 1,500 and 5,000. (She set the 5,000 mark of 15:44.07 at the Stanford Track & Field Invitational on March 26.)
Pixler will be able to choose one or more of those events for the NCAA Division II Championships next month in Charlotte, N.C., as she is an automatic qualifier in all three.
“She continues to amaze everyone,” SPU coach Karl Lerum said. “She is running at a level that's a different kind of level.”
The only school distance records missing on Pixler's list are the 3,000, which no longer is an official NCAA event, and the 10,000, which she has not run at the college level.
"She's very talented, and that's showing through, and it's fun to see," said SPU assistant track coach and head cross country coach Erika Daligcon. "Her body is feeling good, and her training is coming together at the right time."
Pixler wasn't the only Falcon shining in the 800. Senior Lisa Anderberg (Edmonds, Wash./Kamiak HS) was ninth in 2:11.03, just five-hundredths of a second off her personal best. Senior Jane Larson did run a personal best, taking 11th in 2:11.03. And senior Kate Harline (Orem, Utah) became a GNAC automatic qualifier with a 2:16.83, finishing 27th and beating her previous best by more than three seconds.
Junior Crystal Sims (Portland, Ore.) posted two career-bests for the Falcons on Saturday. She went 25.51 for 20th place in the 200 meters, and took her first run of the season in the 100, hitting the wire in 12.50, making her an automatic qualifier for the Great Northwest Athletic Conference championships. She already was on the GNAC automatic list in the 200.
“Crystal ran very well,” Lerum said. “You get in good conditions like that (weatherwise), and you can race pretty well.”
NCAA Women's Track & Field
Beach Invitational
Saturday, April 17, 2010
Cerritos College/Cerritos, Calif.
Team scores -- None kept.
100 -- 1, Ashley Tingelstad (N. Dakota) 11.90. SPU placer -- 27, Crystal Sims 12.50.
200 -- 1, Tingelstad (N. Dakota) 24.53. SPU placer -- 20, Sims 25.51.
800 -- 1, Jessica Pixler (SPU) 2:04.89. Other SPU placers -- 9, Lisa Anderberg 2:11.03; 11, Jane Larson 2:11.19; 27, Kate Harline 2:16.83.
400 hurdles -- 1, Sarah Wells (Toronto) 58.43. SPU placer -- 27, Alison Worthen 1:06.69.
High jump -- 1, Erynn James (Marquette) 5-10 3/4 (1.80m). SPU placer -- T12, Aanstad 5-3 3/4 (1.62m).
Pole vault -- 1, Leslie Brost (N. Dakota) 13-8 1/2 (4.18m). SPU placer -- T12, Melissa Peaslee 11-9(3.58m).
Javelin -- 1, Tara Ross (Unattached) 149-10 (45.66m). SPU placer -- 6, Brittany Aanstad 137-1 (41.78m).
