Complete Friday results
MONMOUTH, Ore. -- The way Melissa Peaslee figures it, she now has some time to add a few more inches to her pole vault.
On Friday night, the Seattle Pacific junior had more than enough inches to win her second straight Great Northwest Athletic Conference championship.
Peaslee cleared 11 feet, 9¾ inches on her final try, giving her the crown outright by four inches over Northwest Nazarene's Karina Elzinga on a balmy evening at Western Oregon University's McArthur Field.
“I've been working on it a lot in practice, and I was hoping it would come through in a meet,” said Peaslee, who won the 2008 crown at the exact same height, but didn't get a chance to defend it last year when the meet was canceled due to a swine flu scare on the Western Oregon campus. “But I have two weeks to practice for nationals and get it take care of.”
Peaslee (Fox Island, Wash./Gig Harbor HS) took three tries at what would have been a meet-record height of 12-5½ -- which also is her season high -- but came up short on all three.
“My first one had so much height, and I just came down on it,” she said. “It has been great conditions all day, and then the wind switched to a headwind.”
While Peaslee was the only winner, the Falcon women delivered some other outstanding performances as they purse the conference crown that they last won in 2007. Through Friday's events, SPU and Western Washington are tied at 68.5 points apiece.
Senior Jessica Pixler (Sammamish, Wash./Eastlake HS) broke a meet record in the 800 meters when she won her heat in 2:10.66. That broke her own mark of 2:10.93 which she set in 2007. Pixler, who has an NCAA Division II-leading time of 2:04.89, was well in front of the field by the time she came out of the first turn.
In the other heat the 800, SPU seniors Kate Harline (Orem, Utah), Jane Larson (Fall City, Wash./Cedar Park Christian HS) and Lisa Anderberg (Edmonds, Wash./Kamiak HS) went 1-2-3, and will join Pixler in the finals. They cross the line virtually together, with Harline at 2:16.47, Larson at 2:16.58 and Anderberg at 2:16.62.
Sophomore Brittany Aanstad uncorked a personal-best javelin throw of 149 feet, 10 inches that got her second place in the meet and was more than two feet better than the NCAA automatic qualifying mark. Aanstad's best mark this season had been 145-0, set last week in the Ken Foreman-Ken Shannon Invitational. She went 145-2 on her first throw Friday, then went 149-10 on the next one.
Carolanne Powers of Western Oregon won in a meet-record 154-9. Aanstad was hoping to catch Powers and break 150. But now, she at least is guaranteed another chance of doing both at nationals on May 27-29 at Charlotte, N.C.
“So close, but so far,” Aanstad said. “I just feel like there's more in the tank that isn't coming out yet. No one likes to finish second. But it still feels good to be secured going to nationals.
Sophomore Natty Plunkett (Bellevue, Wash./Newport HS) placed second in her first try at 10,000 meters. Plunkett ran an NCAA provisional time of 36 minutes, 40.80 seconds. It was her first try at 10K in any competition, whether track, cross country, or road racing.
SPU runners will be the ones to beat at virtually every distance in Saturday's finals, owning top seeds in the 100, 200, 400, 800, 1500, and 100 hurdles.
Junior Crystal Sims owns the top times in the 200 and 100 hurdles. Sims, winner of the GNAC heptathlon on May 3-4 in Nampa, Idaho, logged a personal-best 14.45 in the hurdles, half a second better than her previous mark and fast enough for an NCAA provisional qualifying time. She also had a PR of 25.13 in the 200.
Sims also finished sixth in the long jump on Friday at 17-6¼.
Senior Latasha Essien, who has four indoor 60-meter dash titles to her credit, made good on her very first race in the GNAC outdoor championships. Essien (Portland, Ore.) ran to the best time of the prelims in the 100, stopping the watch in 12.11 seconds -- beating the NCAA provisional standard by .01. She also is the second seed behind Sims in the 200 meters at 25.41.
Essien missed the 2007 and '08 outdoor championships with a hamstring injury, and then, last year's meet was canceled. The hamstring has kept her to a very limited schedule this spring, but she said it was no issue whatsoever on Friday.
“I felt pretty amazing,” she said. “Every day is different. I just have to take it as it comes. I hit my provisional time for nationals (in the 100), so that was great. My goal was just to get into finals -- then I'll let it all hang out.”
Freshman Emily Quatier (Portland, Ore.) has the top time of 57.97 for the 400 meters. That's just .01 off her career best.
Freshman Trinna Miranda (Tigard, Ore.) appeared to have the performance she needed to win the long jump, going 17-11¾ on her last try -- just three-quarter of an inch shy of her career best. But then, Western Oregon's Ashley Potter came up and launched one of 18-4¼ to win it, and Emily Warman of Western Washington went 18-3¼ to snag second.
Miranda might have been disappointed with the final standings, but not with her own performance.
“It felt really well. I'm happy with what I did, because the last few meets haven't been the greatest for me,” Miranda said. “I've been behind the board. (Tonight), I was right on the board, and it felt really well.”
NCAA Women's Track & Field
GNAC Championships
Friday, May 14, 2010
McArthur Field/Monmouth, Ore.
Team scores -- 1, (tie) Seattle Pacific and Western Wshington 68 1/2; 3, Northwest Nazarene 54; 4, Western Oregon 38; 5, Central Washington 21; 6, Alaska Anchorage 11; 7, Montana State Billings 10; 8, Saint Martin's 1.
FINALS
10,000 -- 1, Lauren Briehof (WWU) 36:16.89. SPU placer -- 2, Natty Plunkett 36:40.80.
3000 steeplechase -- 1, Courtney Olsen (WWU) 10:50.62. SPU placers -- 10, Kayla Wilkins 12:10.83; 12, Krysta Carrick 12:32.80; 13, Mary Williams 12:40.76.
Pole vault -- 1, Melissa Peaslee (SPU) 11-9 3/4 (3.60m). Other SPU placers -- 4, (tie) Kjersti Gedde 11-1 3/4 (3.40m); 9, Michaela Caldwell 10-6 (3.20).
Long jump -- 1, Ashley Potter (WOU) 18-4 1/4 (5.59m). SPU placers -- 3, Trinna Miranda 17-11 3/4 (5.48m); 4, Amanda Alvarez 17-9 1/2 (5.42m); 6, Crystal Sims 17-6 1/4 (5.34m); 7, Natalie Nobbs 17-5 1/4 (5.31m); 10, Katy Gross 16-9 3/4 (5.12m); 11, Brittany Aanstad 16-8 3/4 (5.10m); 15, Athena Alvarez 16-5 1/4 (5.01m); 16, Kira Lewis 16-3 (4.95m).
Discus -- 1, Alexi Halvorson (MSB) 135-8 (41.36m). No SPU competitors.
Javelin -- 1, Carolanne Powers (WOU) 154-9 (47.16m). SPU placers -- 2, Aanstad 149-10 (45.68m); 10, Brittany Tri 119-9 (36.50m); 12, Carly Andrews 119-4 (36.38m).
PRELIMINARIES
(Top 8 overall (including heat winners) to finals)
100 -- Heat 1: 1, Latasha Essien (SPU) 12.11. Heat 2: 1, Crystal Sims (SPU) 12.17.
200 -- Heat 1: 1, Sims (SPU) 25.13. Heat 2: 1, Joana Houplin (WWU) 25.79. Heat 3: 1, Essien (SPU) 25.41; 2, Emily Quatier (SPU) 26.07 (9th overall).
400 -- Heat 1: 1, Quatier (SPU) 57.97; 4, Jennifer Pike (SPU) 59.89 (7th overall). Heat 2: Sarah Brownell (WWU) 58.08.
800 -- Heat 1: 1, Jessica Pixler 2:10.76. Heat 2: 1, Kate Harline (SPU) 2:16.47; 2, Jane Larson (SPU) 2:16.58 (4th overall); 3, Lisa Anderberg (SPU) 2:16.62 (7th overall); 8, Kelsey Brown 2:23.89 (15th overall).
100 hurdles -- Heat 1: 1, Kaitlyn Reid (WOU) 14.87; 3, Kira Lewis 15.43 (7th overall); 6, Katy Gross 15.65 (10th overall). Heat 2: 1, Sims (SPU) 14.45.
400 hurdles -- Heat 1: 1, Reid (WOU) 1:04.44; 2 Pike (SPU) 1:05.53 (4th overall); 3, Lewis (SPU) 1:06.60 (5th overall). Heat 2: 1, Ardrienna Everett (UA) 1:02.37; 2, Natalie Nobbs (SPU) 1:05.22 (3rd overall).
