Complete results men's results (PDF)
        Complete women's results (PDF)

SEATTLE – Go for it? Or back off?

Back off?

Or go for it?

For Seattle Pacific sophomore weight thrower Billy Martin, the strategy was a little bit of both on Sunday morning at the UW Indoor Open track and field meet.

It worked to record-setting perfection.

Martin, who didn't even land a legal throw in his only previous indoor meet this season, landed all three of them on Sunday at Dempsey Indoor in the University of Washington campus -- shattering the school record, obliterating his personal best, and putting himself in excellent position for a spot at next weekend's Great Northwest Athletic Conference indoor championships.

And that was just on his first attempt.

By the time his morning's work was complete, Martin (Edmonds, Wash./King's HS) had heaved the 35-pound weight a distance of 45 feet, 3 inches (13.79 meters). That was nearly 6½ feet beyond the SPU record of 38-10 1/2 (11.85 meters) and almost 10½ feet farther than his own PR of 34-9½ (10.60 meters). The school standard by Andrew Matschiner had stood since 2008, and Martin's mark had been set last year as a freshman.





Martin took 10th place overall.

“Just qualifying for conference was my one goal (today), and it was really nice to get it on the first toss and just be able to relax after that,” Martin said. “That (45-3 on the second throw) was kind of unbelievable. I was not expecting to throw that far today – especially since really, I was just still focusing on going slow and was expecting to be in that 41-42-foot range. So hitting that 45 was really fun.”

Added Howie Kellogg, who serves as a volunteer assistant coach for the Falcons and is himself a masters competitor in the throws, “Karl (Lerum, Seattle Pacific's head track coach) asked last year if (Martin) could train with me. He's doing really well, and I'm really excited for him. He's only a sophomore, and I think he'll hit 50 feet by the time he's a senior. It's just a matter of strength and confidence and more time to throw.”

Martin wasn't the only Falcon making some personal-best waves on Sunday. Freshman distance runner Alli Cutting was doing the same thing in the women's meet.





Cutting (Sequim, Wash./Sequim HS) wiped out her personal best in the mile, coming across the line in 5 minutes, 3.73 seconds. That was a drop of 18.13 seconds from her season-opening time of 5:21.90 at the UW Indoor Preview on Jan. 15, put her onto the GNAC automatic qualifying list and well within striking distance of the NCAA Division II provisional qualifying mark of 5:01.60.

“I've been wanting to get faster, but just haven't been able to hit those times that I know I can do,” said Cutting, who took fifth place overall. “In the past, I've been fighting some illnesses. … (but) this past week has been really good. I kind of changed some dietary things, and that has been helpful. I'm kind of mentally getting stronger, and with feeling better, my state of mind has improved, too.” 

FINAL CHANCE FOR CONFERENCE 
Martin, to borrow a cliché, had a monkey on his back. Throwers in large meets such as those at Dempsey must make a minimum distance on their first attempt in order to have subsequent attempts measured by the officials. But at the UW Indoor Preview on Jan. 15, Martin fouled on his first throw – and so essentially was done for the day without a mark to his name.

In the month since then, he started training with socks on his shoes to simulate the slicker surface of the board at Dempsey. Then, heading into Sunday's meet – essentially his last shot to qualify for GNACs – he made his strategic decision about how to approach that first throw:

Back off – just a bit.

“Last time I was here, I was kind of too excited and trying to go for it too much. So I was out of control. This ring is a little faster here than the gym where I throw at SPU. It's a lot easier to lose your footing. I knew going into today the No. 1 thing I had to focus on was go slow and get my foot in and just finish at the end.”

On his first try, his feet stayed within the circle, and the weight landed 42 feet, 4¼ inches (12.91 meters) down the turf.

School record. Personal best. Conference qualifying.

Monkey eradicated.

That burden relieved, the back-off game plan took a back seat. Martin went for it on his next throw and flung it 45-3. He then finished with a 44-6¾ (13.58 meters).

“It was really good to kind of go easy and get that first throw in and qualify for conference,” Martin said. “The next two, I was able to relax more, and I knew I didn't have anything to lose. I was able to connect on a couple more good ones, which was really nice.”

Cutting was the only Seattle Pacific athlete to join the GNAC automatic qualifying list who hadn't been on it previously. 

However, several more Falcons climbed onto the provisional qualifying list in various events. Among the more noteworthy were freshmen McKayla Fricker (Canby, Ore.) and Briana Clarke (Downey, Calif.) and junior Heidi Laabs-Johnson (Salt Lake City).

Fricker, normally an 800-meter specialist, cleared 5-0¼ (1.53 meters) in the high jump. Clarke, in just her second college meet, added more than seven feet to her best shot put mark, throwing it 36 feet, 9 inches (11.20 meters) to tie for 18th place. In her first meet (the UW Indoor Preview on Jan. 15), her distance was 29-6½ (9.00 meters). Laabs-Johnson who has played soccer for SPU, but now is running, posted a 5:12.26 in the mile, good for 11th place. The time by Laabs-Johnson was 11th-best in a field of 57.

Sophomore Trinna Miranda (Tigard, Ore.) went an indoor PR 17-5 ½ (5.32 meters) in the long jump. That was 3¼ inches farther than her previous indoor best, and gave her eighth place in the meet.

Freshman Dusty Duncan (Lynden, Wash./Lynden HS), already on the brink of men's indoor school record for 400 meters, now is within shouting distance of the 200, as well. Duncan hit the line in a GNAC provisional 22.71 seconds on Sunday, a quarter of a second away from Ryan Jewell's SPU standard of 22.46, which was set in 2005. Two weeks ago at the Husky Invitational, Dncan ran 50.26 in the 400. The school record is 50.25.


NCAA MEN'S INDOOR TRACK & FIELD
UW Indoor Open
Sunday, February 13, 2011
Dempsey Indoor/Seattle, Wash.

Team scores – Not kept.

60-meter dash – 1, Sam Michener (Unattached) 6.87. SPU placers – 30, Dustin Bratten 7.34*; T33, Micah Grounds 7.39.
200 – 1, Gianni Vernon-Reynolds (Soka) 22.16. SPU placers – 4, Dusty Duncan 22.71*; 26, Dustin Bratten 23.76; 28, Micah Grounds 23.81.
400 – 1, Benjamin Ayesu-Attah (Coquitlam Cheetahs) 48.93. SPU placer – T15, Ryan Endresen 51.45.
800 – 1, Drew Graham (Adams State) 1:52.34. SPU placers – 36, Nate Sleight 2:01.98.
Mile – 1, Mark Wilkie (Point Grey) 4:12.29. SPU placers – 13, Jacob Wahlenmaier 4:24.38*; 16, Evan Bradford 4:25.61*; 20, AJ Baker 4:28.09*; 49, Stephen York 4:48.58.
3000 – 1, Jacob Smith (Unattached) 8:29.55. No SPU competitors.
4x400 relay – 1, Academy of Art 3:24.49. No SPU team.
60 hurdles – 1, Andrew Blaser (Unattached) 8.20. SPU placer – 18, Nate Johnson 9.03*.
High jump – 1, Obum Gwacham (Oregon State) 6-9¾ (2.08m). No SPU competitors.
Pole vault – 1, Jeremy Klas (Idaho) 15-5 (4.70m). SPU placer – T6, Ray Zoellick 13-5¼ (4.10m)*.
Long jump – 1, SPU placer – 32, Nate Johnson 19-8¼ (6.00m).
Triple jump – 1, Joey Hart (Tigard TC) 23-4¾ (7.13m). No SPU competitors.
Shot put – 1, Ryan Crouser (Unattached) 74-5 (22.68m). No SPU competitors.
Weight throw – 1, Jon Lawson (Unattached) 72-8½ (22.16m). SPU placer – 10, Billy Martin 45-3 (13.79m)*. 
        * GNAC provisional qualifying mark


NCAA WOMEN'S INDOOR TRACK & FIELD
UW Indoor Open
Sunday, February 13, 2011
Dempsey Indoor/Seattle, Wash.

Team scores – Not kept.

60-meter dash – 1, Sabrina Nettey (Unattached) 7.73. SPU placer – T50, Briana Clarke 8.50.
200 – 1, Liza Whitehead (Coquitlam Cheetahs) 25.51. SPU placers – 22, Ali Worthen 26.82*; 25, Myisha Valentine 26.89*; 48, Lisa Weaver 27.65; 67, Samantha Lane 29.69.
400 – 1, Breeauna Thompson (Fresno State) 55.79. SPU placers – 28, Myisha Valentine 1:01.38; 30, Lisa Weaver 1:01.55; 31, Natalie Nobbs 1:01.56; 37, Athena Nye 1:02.76.
800 – 1, Amy Eloise-Neale (Unattached) 2:13.32. SPU placer – 29, Kelsey Brown 2:27.10.
Mile – 1, Kendra Weitz (Unattached) 4:59.88. SPU placers – 5, Alli Cutting 5:03.73!; 11, Heidi Laabs-Johnson 5:12.26*; 28, Josie Becker 5:30.94.
3000 – 1, Hannah Kiser (Idaho) 9:43.41. SPU placers – 35, Kayla Wilkins 11:09.93*; 40, Krysta Carrick 11:26.20.
4x400 relay – 1, Academy of Art 3:53.13. No SPU team.
60 hurdles – 1, Angela Whyte (Unattached) 8.31. SPU placers – 7, Ali Worthen 9.34*; T16, Katy Gross 9.59*; 19, Jenifer Pike 9.62*; 35, Kira Lewis 10.42.
High jump – 1, Whitney Sisler (Cal Poly) 5-10 (1.78m). SPU placers – T4, Ali Worthen and Brittany Aanstad 5-4¼ (1.63m)!; T9, Katy Gross 5-2¼ (1.58m)*; T16, McKayla Fricker 5-0¼ (1.53m)*; T24, Brittany Tri and Arianna Warren 4-10¼ (1.48m)* .
Pole vault – 1, Keisa Montorola (Unattached) 13-0¼ (3.97m). SPU placers – T6, Terra Schumacher 10-11¾ (3.35m)*.
Long jump – 1, Deborah Amoah (Nevada) 18-10½ (5.75m). SPU placers – 8, Trinna Miranda 17-5½ (5.32m)!; 26, Natalie Nobbs 16-0½ (4.89m).
Triple jump – 1, Alyssa Neale (Unattached) 37-10½ (11.54m). SPU placers – 10, Athena Nye 34-11 (10.64m)*; 11, Trinna Miranda 34-8 ¼ (10.57m)*; 17, Natalie Nobbs 33-0 ½ (10.07m)*.
Shot put – 1, Rosario Sanchez (Fresno State) 48-6 (14.78m). SPU placer – T18, Briana Clarke 36-9 (11.20m)*
Weight throw – 1, Meagan McKee (Fresno State) 61-4 (18.69m. SPU placer – 34, Briana Clarke 34-8 ¼ (10.57m). 
        ! GNAC automatic qualifying mark
        * GNAC provisional qualifying mark