Complete men's results (PDF)
        Men's decathlon results (PDF)
        Complete women's results (PDF)
        Women's heptathlon results (PDF)  
 
BELLINGHAM – Seth Pierson broke four minutes and won the 1,500 meters on Saturday, and was one of two winners for Seattle Pacific at the Ralph Vernacchia Invitational track and field meet at Civic Stadium.
 
SPU totaled 51 points to finish sixth among the 14 teams.
 
Falcons junior Pierson (Cashmere, Wash./Cashmere HS), in his first year with the team after transferring from Everett Community College, crossed the finish line first in 3 minutes, 55.84 seconds. He came within a stride of breaking four minutes at the Oregon Preview in Eugene on March 18, clocking 4:00.83.
 
Pierson's time on Saturday was one-tenth faster than the 3:55.94 he posted in winning that event at last year's Northwest Athletic Association of Community Colleges (NWAACC) championship meet. His all-time college PR is 3:52.82.
 
In that same race, freshman Alex Horton (Kent, Wash./Kentridge HS) came close to four minutes once again, going a PR 4:01.18 to place sixth.
 
SPU's Ryan Endresen (Portland, Ore.), also a junior, took the 400 hurdles title in 55.93 seconds, barely shy of his season-best 55.92 set in Eugene two weeks ago.
 
Senior pole vaulter Ray Zoellick (Bothell, Wash./Cedar Park Christian HS) went a season-best 14 feet, 9 inches, to place third. That was just two inches away from his career-best 14-11 that he set in winning last year's GNAC championship.
 
Seattle Pacific returns to action next Saturday in Spokane at War V, featuring teams from Washington, Oregon, Idaho and Montana. The meet at Spokane Community College begins at 9 a.m.
 
SPU WOMEN WIN VERNACCHIA TEAM TITLE
Kishia Mitchell, Myisha Valentine and Brittany Aanstad were all individual winners on Saturday, leading the Seattle Pacific women to the team title in the Ralph Vernacchia Invitational track and field meet at Civic Stadium.
 
The Falcons totaled 142 points, two more than runner-up Western Washington. British Columbia was third with 125, and Simon Fraser wound up fourth with 103. A total of 13 women's teams competed.
 
SPU snapped a six-year Western Washington winning streak. The last time the host Vikings didn't win was in 2005, when Seattle Pacific edged Simon Fraser by 1½ points for the title – the last of six consecutive wins for the Falcons. Overall, SPU has won the meet 11 times since its beginning in 1982.
 
Falcons sophomore Mitchell (Puyallup, Wash./Rogers HS) took Saturday's 100 meters in 12.73 seconds, combining with sophomore teammate BryAnne Wochnick (Portland, Ore.) for a 1-2 finish in that race. Wochnick's time was 12.81.
 
Valentine (Mountlake Terrace, Wash./North Sound Christian HS), a senior, captured the 200 in 26.09, with Wochnick finishing third in 25.67.
 
Aanstad (Lake Stevens, Wash./Lake Stevens HS), also a senior, won the javelin with a toss of 141 feet, 11 inches. That was an NCAA Division II provisional qualifying mark, although Aanstad has thrown 148-5 this season.
 
Senior Heidi Laabs-Johnson, in her first outdoor of the season after missing the first three meets with an injury, got onto the automatic qualifying list for the Great Northwest Athletic Conference championships with a personal-best time of 17 minutes, 55.83 seconds in the 5,000 meters, good for second place.
 
Sophomore Robyn Zeidler (Plymouth, Minn.) also became an automatic qualifier in that race, finishing third in a PR 18:20.96.
 
Both Falcons beat their previous best times by considerable margins. Laabs-Johnson had gone 18:27.54; Zeidler's old PR was 18:33.53, both set last spring.
 
Valentine, junior Emily Quatier (Portland, Ore.), Wochnick and Mitchell combined to win the 4x400 relay in 4:00.32.
 
Also making GNAC automatic was Terra Schumacher (Sublimity, Ore.) in the pole vault (third at 11-5 ¾). That puts her two inches away from the NCAA provisional standard.
 
Freshman Maliea Luquin (Portland, Ore.), competing in her first heptathlon, placed sixth with 3,792 points, and senior teammate Brittany Tri (Lake Stevens, Wash./Lake Stevens HS) was eighth with 3,468. Both are now on the GNAC provisional qualifying list. Tri won the shot put portion of the event with a heave of 33 feet, 5 ¼ inches. She also was second in the javelin at 110-3.
 
Luquin's top finish was second in the 100 hurdles (15.34).
 
 
NCAA MEN'S TRACK & FIELD
Ralph Vernacchia Invitational
Saturday, March 31, 2012
Civic Stadium / Bellingham, Wash.
 
Team scores -- 1, Western Washington 217.5; 2, Central Washington 119.5; 3, Everett CC 70; 4, British Columbia 62; 5, Saint Martin's 52.5; 6, Seattle Pacific 51; 7, Simon Fraser 43; 8, Club Northwest 40; 9, Green River CC 32; 10, Pacific Lutheran 30; 11, Olympic College 10.5; 12, Valley Royals 10; 13, Skagit Valley CC 5; 14, Northwest University 3.
 
100 – 1, Andrew Nathan (UBC) 11.10. SPU placers – 10, David Ferguson 11.36; 17, RJ Straker 11.78.
200 – 1, Jason Nokes (WWU) 22.34!. SPU placers – 5, Ferguson 23.10; 11, John Corazza 23.18; 14, Straker 23.70.
400 – 1, Nathaniel Schmidt (WWU) 49.20! SPU placers – 16, Taylor Ladd 55.01; Corazza DQ.
800 – 1, Frank Krause (StM) 1:55.90*. No SPU competitors.
1500 – 1, Seth Pierson (SPU) 3:55.84*. Other SPU placers – 6, Alex Horton 4:01.18*; 9, Nate Seely 4:04.35; 11, Jordan Wolfe 4:11.19; 20, AJ Baker 4:18.10; 25, Ryan Alcantara 4:31.88.
5000 – 1, Bennett Grimes (Club NW) 14:56.23. SPU placer – 13, Gavin Brand 16:09.91.
10,000 – 1, Seth Bridges (Unattached) 31:17.26. No SPU competitors.
110 hurdles – 1, Nari Sternen (Everett CC) 15.51. No SPU competitors.
400 hurdles – 1, Ryan Endresen (SPU) 55.93*. No other SPU competitors.
3000 steeplechase – 1, Ryan Brockerville (SFU) 9:03.95#!. SPU placer – 5, Baker 9:46.79*.
4x100 relay – 1, Western Washington 41.97. No SPU team.
4x400 relay – 1, Western Washington 3:24.12. SPU placer – 2, Seattle Pacific (Corazza, Endresen, Ferguson, Seely) 3:26.21.
High jump – 1, Mike Mason (Valley Royals) 7-2 ½ / 2.20m. No SPU competitors.
Pole vault – 1, Ryan Brown (Club NW) 16-8 ¾ / 5.10m.  SPU placer – 3, Ray Zoellick 14-9 / 4.50m!.
Long jump – 1, Gage Donovan (Everett CC) 22-4 ½ / 6.82m. SPU placer – 8, Thomas Svendsen 19-8 ¾ / 6.01m.
Triple jump – 1, Josh Melu (Green River CC) 44-6 ¾ / 13.58m. SPU placer – 6, Svendsen 40-4 / 12.29m.
Shot put – 1, Nelson Westlin (WWU) 49-6 ¼ / 15.09m. No SPU competitors.
Discus – 1, Michael Hoffman (WWU) 155-11 / 47.53m. No SPU competitors.
Hammer – 1, Hoffman (WWU) 196-3 / 59.82m. No SPU competitors.
Javelin – 1, Malaki Seanoa (Everett CC) 200-8 / 61.17m. No SPU competitors.
 
 
NCAA WOMEN'S TRACK & FIELD
Ralph Vernacchia Invitational
Saturday, March 31, 2012
Civic Stadium / Bellingham, Wash.
 
Team scores – 1, Seattle Pacific 142; 2, Western Washington 140; 3, British Columbia 125; 4, Simon Fraser 103; 5, Central Washington 97; 6, Saint Martin's 34; 7, Everett CC 25; 8, Olympic College 23; 9, Northwest University 16; 10, Pacific Lutheran 15; 11, Green River CC 11; 12, Valley Royals 10, 13, Skagit Valley CC 4.
 
Heptathlon – 1, Meghan Palesch (Unattached) 4,179. SPU placers – 6, Maliea Luquin 3,792; 8, Brittany Tri 3,468.
Heptathlon 100 hurdles – 1, Michelle Howe (WWU) 15.05 (835 points). SPU placers – 2, Luquin 15.34 (797 points), 9, Tri 18.09 (479).
Heptathlon high jump – 1, Taylor Fettig (CWU) 5-5 / 1.65m (795 points). SPU placers – T5, Tri 4-9 ¾ / 1.47m (588 points); 9, Luquin 4-6 ¼ / 1.38m (491).
Heptathlon shot put – 1, Brittany Tri (SPU) 33-5 ¼ / 10.19m (542 points). Other SPU placer – 3, Luquin 29-4 /8.94m (460 points).
Heptathlon 200 – 1, Sydney Coffey (WWU) 26.20 (759 points). SPU placers – 4, Luquin 27.10 (684 points); 9, Tri 29.70 (486).
Heptathlon long jump – 1, Palesch (Unattached) 16-10 ¾ / 5.15m (601 points). SPU placers – 3, Luquin 15-11 ¼ / 4.86m (522 points) ; 7, Tri 14-10 ¾ / 4.54m (438).
Heptathlon javelin – 1, Katie Reichert (WWU) 142-9 / 43.52m (735 points). SPU placers – 2, Tri 110-3 / 33.60m (545 points); 7, Luquin 75-3 / 22.94m (344).
Heptathlon 800 – 1, Palesch (Unattached) 2:31.10 (679 points). SPU placers – 6, Luquin 2:47.08 (494 points); 9, Tri 2:57.41 (390).
 
100 – 1, Kishia Mitchell (SPU) 12.73*. Other SPU placers – 2, BryAnne Wochnick 12.81*; 7, Tasia Baldwin 13.28.
200 – 1, Myisha Valentine (SPU) 26.09. Other SPU placers – 3, Wochnick 26.28*; 9, Kelsey Chase 27.40.
400 – 1, Eleanor Siler (WWU) 57.42!. SPU placers – 2, Emily Quatier 58.43*; 3, Valentine 58.74*; 6, Chase 1:02.58.
800 – 1, Sarah Sawatzky (SFU) 2:14.77*. SPU placer – 18, Gabriella Serventi 2:33.26.
1500 – 1, Jessica Smith (Valley Royals) 4:30.01. SPU placers – 4, McKayla Fricker 4:46.32*; 8, Natty Plunkett 4:51.20*; 10, Jasmine Johnson 4:59.98; 19, Elizabeth Doe 5:20.59.
5000 – 1, Jackie Regan (UBC) 17:43.26. SPU placers – 2, Heidi Laabs-Johnson 17:55.83!; 3, Robyn Zeidler 18:20.96!; 7, Katie Thralls 18:51.46*.
10,000 – 1, Sarah Reamer (UBC) 37:36.19. No SPU competitors.
100 hurdles – 1, Andrea Abrams (SFU) 15.29*. No SPU competitors.
400 hurdles – 1, Anne-Mari Nano (UBC) 1:03.96. SPU placers – 2, Kishia Mitchell 1:05.79*; 3, Natalie Nobbs 1:06.83*.
3000 steeplechase – 1, Kelsey Kreft (CWU) 11:37.80!. SPU placer – 5, Josie Becker 12:07.60*.
4x100 relay – 1, British Columbia 50.01. No SPU team.
4x400 relay – 1, Seattle Pacific 'A' (Valentine, Quatier, Mitchell, Wochnick) 4:00.52. Other SPU placer – 3, Seattle Pacific 'B' (Nobbs, Jasmine Johnson, Terra Schumacher, Fricker) 4:08.98.
High jump – 1, Brittany Grandy (WWU) 5-3 ¾ / 1.62m!. SPU placer – 2, Brittany Aanstad 5-1 ¾ / 1.57m*.
Pole vault – 1, Karis Anderson (WWU) 12-7 ½ / 3.85m#!. SPU placer – 3, Schumacher 11-5 ¾ / 3.50m!.
Long jump – 1, Emily Warman (WWU) 18-4 ½ / 5.60m!. SPU placers – 5, Trinna Miranda 17-0 ¾ / 5.20m*; 6, Baldwin 16-9 ¼ / 5.11m*; 13, Nobbs 15-5 ½ / 4.71m.
Triple jump – 1, Erin Templeton (UBC) 36-7 ¾ / 11.17m. SPU placer – 6, Miranda 33-6 / 10.21m.
Shot put – 1, Kaylee Baumstark (CWU) 38-9 ¾ / 11.83m. No SPU competitors.
Discus – 1, Mary Parker (SFU) 150-6 / 45.87m. No SPU competitors.
Hammer – 1, Asianna Covington (Unattached) 166-8 / 50.81m. No SPU competitors.
Javelin – 1, Aanstad (SPU) 141-11 / 43.27m. Other SPU placers – 4, Michaela Farner 123-4 / 37.60m*; 12, Brittany Tri 100-10 / 30.73m.