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WALNUT, Calif. – A couple weeks ago in Spokane, AJ Baker thought he was ready for a good race in the 3,000-meter steeplechase. But it didn't turn out that way.
 
On Thursday, he thought so again. This time, the Seattle Pacific junior was right.
 
Sharing the Hilmer Lodge Stadium track with a top-caliber group at the prestigious Mt. SAC Relays, Baker (AuGres, Mich.) went the distance in 9 minutes, 17.36 seconds, a sizable 29 seconds better than his previous season best and fast enough to get onto the NCAA Division II provisional qualifying list.
 
He wasn't the only Falcon pulling off the national qualifying feat on Thursday. Senior Natty Plunkett was up to the task in the women's 10,000 meters.
 
Plunkett (Bellevue, Wash./Newport HS), who came within two seconds of NCAA provisional last season, got under the mark with room to spare. She finished in 36 minutes, 29.55 seconds. The standard is 36:40.00.
 
Baker wound up 15^th overall among 25 runners in the Open 'C' Division. His previous season best was 9:46.79 on March 31 at the Ralph Vernacchia Invitational in Bellingham. The NCAA provisional standard is 9:20.00.
 
“I was really excited to get into a fast field. And feeling fresh, I was ready to rock,” said Baker, who is now within five seconds of his personal-best time of 9:12.98 in last year's Great Northwest Athletic Conference Championships. “I was really happy to finish around the time that I did – the second half of the race felt pretty bad because we went out so fast.”
 
This was the fifth steeple of the season for Baker (one of which was at an abbreviated 2,000-meter distance in Oregon). After opening with a 9:57.01 at the UPS Outdoor Preview on March 3, he was hovering in the mid 9:40s – until Thursday when conditions were sunny and pleasantly warm.
 
Quite a difference from his last race on April 7 at the War V meet in Spokane. There, he got off to a good start before slipping on the frosty track surface just as he was leaping over one of the barriers. SPU assistant coach Erika Daligcon said Baker went down so hard that the blue track at Spokane Falls Community College left a stain on his white Falcons jersey.
 
“I wasn't happy with Spokane, because I was feeling that was going to be a pretty good race,” Baker said. “Today, I was ready to go out and run a fast time.”
 
The first part was almost too fast. Baker said he came through the mile mark in 4 minutes, 48 seconds.
 
“I just hung on and fought through the last half,” he said.
 
Plunkett's run in the 10K gave her 17^th place among the 27 on the track. It also wiped out her old PR of 36:40.80 set at the 2010 GNAC Championships. She ran the 10,000 on March 3 in Tacoma, coming through the wire in 37:51.73.
 
Fellow Falcon senior Heidi Laabs-Johnson (Salt Lake City) logged a 37:34.70 on Thursday, good for GNAC automatic. It was her first collegiate 10K.

Seattle Pacific now has nine names on the NCAA qualifying list, spread among 11 events. Seniors Brittany Aanstad (javelin) and Ali Worthen (heptathlon) are automatic. Plunkett, Baker, Worthen (high jump, long jump), Katy Gross (heptathlon), McKayla Fricker (women's 800), Terra Schumacher (pole vault), Nate Johnson (decathlon), and Nate Seely (men's 800) are provisional qualifiers.
 
Mt. SAC continues on Friday, when the Falcons will have Aanstad (Lake Stevens, Wash./Lake Stevens HS) in the javelin, along with sophomore Fricker (Canby, Ore.) and junior Seely (Lynden, Wash./Lynden HS) in their respective 800s.
 
Several other SPU athletes will be in nearby Azusa, Calif., at the Bryan Clay Invitational.


NCAA WOMEN'S TRACK & FIELD
Mt. SAC Relays
Thursday, April 19, 2012
Hilmer Lodge Stadium / Walnut, Calif.
 
Team scores – Not kept.
 
10,000 (Open 'A' Division) – 1, Violeta Rene Gomez (Mexico) 34:18.42. SPU placers – 17, Natty Plunkett 36:29.55; 26, Heidi Laabs-Johnson 37:34.70.
 
 
NCAA MEN'S TRACK & FIELD
Mt. SAC Relays
Thursday, April 19, 2012
Hilmer Lodge Stadium / Walnut, Calif.
 
Team scores – Not kept.
 
3000 steeplechase (Open 'C' Division) – 1, Daniel Sorenson (Shorter) 8:50.48. SPU placer – 15, AJ Baker 9:17.36.