Link to complete Friday results (HTML)
        Big points? SPU's got 'em in the heptathlon
 
NAMPA, Idaho – Anna Patti out-ran a rival.
 
Naphtali Ward out-jumped a champion.
 
Patti raced to the title in the 5,000 meters, and Seattle Pacific teammate Ward captured the high jump crown in the first big-meet event of her college career on Friday at the Great Northwest Athletic Conference Indoor Track & Field Championships.

 

Falcons junior Patti (Renton, Wash. / Lindbergh HS) wound up a postseason winner for the first time in an SPU uniform. She stepped onto the 200-meter banked blue Jackson's Track oval as the top seed, but by less than a second ahead of Alaska Anchorage senior Amy Johnston. Patti wound up winning by nearly eight seconds with a personal-best time of 17:14.01. Johnston was next in 17:21.81.
 
The time for Patti beat her previous PR of 17:17.46, set just three weeks ago on Jan. 30 at the UW Invitational. Like the previous mark, it was an NCAA Division II provisional qualifier, and moved her up to No. 17 on the national list.
 
Patti followed Johnson for much of the way, then made her move.
 
"It was a fun race for sure," said Patti, who finished 10 seconds behind Johnson at GNAC cross country and nine seconds behind her at NCAA West Regional cross country last fall. "Chris (assistant coach Reed) and I talked about going with 1K left. With 800 to go, Chris gave me the thumbs-up, and I went."
 
"I wasn't sure I had it until about 600 to go," Patti added. "I was fighting and fighting until the end. Coming into the weekend, I knew it was kind of sitting right in front of me, and all I had to do was stand up and take it, and I did."

 

Ward, a freshman, cleared 5 feet, 6 ½ inches on her second try, an NCAA provisional-qualifying mark. That was a personal best by 2 ¼ inches. Then, all she could do was watch while four other competitors – including defending champion Taylor Fettig of Central Washington --  missed on all three tries at that height.
 
"It was sort of nerve-wracking to wait and feeling like, 'Maybe I've got it,'" said Ward (Gig Harbor, Wash. / Gig Harbor HS), who came in as the No. 3 seed at her personal-best  height of 5-4 ¼ from the UW Invitational. "I was hoping to go 5-6 and get top three and just hold on to my position."
 
Ward's three tries at 5-8 came up short, but the title was still all hers. In addition, junior newcomer Luisa McInnis (Santa Rosa, Calif.), who also plays volleyball for SPU, was part of a three-way tie for third at 5-4 ½.
 
"I got some good looks at 5-8," Ward said. "I felt good about the high jump all week."
 
BIG FINISH FOR BRANNAN AND BALDWIN
The Falcons, seeking their 10^th GNAC team title and first since 2012, have a 57-55 lead over Alaska Anchorage at the end of Day 1. They got a huge boost toward that championship goal from numerous other athletes who delivered big performances in their events. The long jump and the 200-meter dash were especially significant.

 

Sophomore Kyra Brannan (Kennewick, Wash. / Kamiakin HS) went 18 feet, 5 ¾ inches, beating her college PR by two inches and her season best by 8 ¼ for second place in the long jump to get onto the NCAA provisional qualifying list. Senior Tasia Baldwin (Tacoma, Wash. / Foss  HS) got past 18 feet for the first time this season, going 18-1 for third place, and Maliea Luquin, a third-place finisher in the heptathlon earlier on Friday, took a point for eighth place at 16-10 ¾.
 
The 200-meter prelims saw Seattle Pacific runners grab the Nos. 2, 3, 4, and 5 seeds for Saturday's finals. While Alaska Anchorage's Jamie Ashcroft is clearly the favorite with her prelim time of 24.43, junior Jahzelle Ambus (Portland, Ore.), will be the second seed (a PR 25.16 on Friday), freshman Becca Houk (Oregon City, Ore.) will be third (PR of 25.19), Baldwin will be fourth seed (25.53), and Brannan fifth (25.68).

 

Ambus is still the one to beat in the 400. She retained her top seed and got onto the NCAA provisional qualifying list with a 57.05. Falcon teammates Jasmine Johnson (Federal Way, Wash. / Federal Way HS) and Jalen Tims (Portland, Ore.) are on as the Nos. 5 and 6 seeds.
 
Houk (7.80) and Brannan (PR 7.94) are the Nos. 2 and 4 seeds behind Ashcroft (7.60) in the 60-meter dash.
 
Junior Lynelle Decker moved up to second seed in the 800 meters behind Simon Fraser's D2-leading Lindsey Butterworth.
 
In the men's meet, freshman Mario Lopez grabbed the last spot the finals of the 400-meter dash with a time of 50.26 seconds.


NCAA WOMEN'S INDOOR TRACK & FIELD
GNAC Championships
Friday, February 20, 2015
Jackson's Track at the Idaho Center / Nampa, Idaho
 
Team scores (through 6 of 17 events) – 1, Seattle Pacific 57; 2, Alaska Anchorage 55; 3, Central Washington 47; 4, Northwest Nazarene 30; 5, Simon Fraser 13; 6, Western Washington 12; 7, Saint Martin's 9; 8, Western Oregon 8; 9, Montana State Billings 3.
 
FRIDAY FINALS
5000 – 1, Anna Patti (SPU) 17:14.01#. Other SPU placer – 7, Sarah Macdonald 18:46.55.
4000 distance medley relay – 1, Simon Fraser 11:59.08. SPU placer – 5, Seattle Pacific (Hailey Kettel, Chynna Phan, Ali Sowers, Mary Charleson) 12:23.73.
High jump – 1, Naphtali Ward (SPU) 5-6 ½ / 1.69m#. Other SPU placers – T3, Luisa McInnis 5-4 ½ / 1.64m; T9, Jade Crawford 4-10 ½ / 1.49m.
Long jump – 1, Karolin Anders (UAA) 18-6 ½ / 5.65m. SPU placers – 2, Kyra Brannan 18-5 ¾ / 5.63m#; 3, Tasia Baldwin 18-1 / 5.51m; 8, Maliea Luquin 16-10 ¾ / 5.15; 12, Jade Crawford 16-5 ¾ / 5.02m; 15, Maddi Hommes 15-8 ¼ / 4.78.
Weight throw – 1, Becki Duhamel (CWU) 57-10 ¼ / 17.63m (meet record, breaks old record of 54-2 set by Duhamel in 2013). No SPU competitors.
 
FRIDAY PRELIMINARIES
60-meter dash – 1, Jamie Ashcroft (UAA) 7.60 (meet record, breaks old record of 7.67 set by Latasha Essien of SPU in 2010 and matched by Ashcroft in 2014). SPU finals qualifiers – 2, Becca  Houk 7.80; 4, Kyra Brannan 7.94. Other SPU placers – 12, Tasia Baldwin 8.03; 13, Kelsey Chase 8.06.
200 – 1, Jamie Ashcroft (UAA) 24.43 (meet record, breaks old record of 24.69 set by Ashcroft in 2014). SPU finals qualifiers – 2, Jahzelle Ambus 25.16; 3, Becca Houk 25.19; 4, Tasia Baldwin 25.53; 5, Kyra Brannan 25.68. Other SPU placer – 16, Kelsey Chase 26.42.
400 – 1, Jahzelle Ambus (SPU) 57.05#. Other SPU finals qualifiers – 5, Jasmine Johnson 57.63; 6, Jalen Tims 58.18.
800 – 1, Lindsey Butterworth (Simon Fraser) 2:13.83. SPU finals qualifier – 2, Lynelle Decker 2:14.28. Other SPU placers – 12, Chynna Phan 2:19.71; 14, Ali Sowers 2:21.93.
60 hurdles – 1, Chelsey Knott (NNU) 8.78. SPU finals qualifier – 6, Maliea Luquin 9.04. Other SPU placers – 9, Cheryl Hong 9.32; 16, Jade Crawford 10.01.
 
PENTATHLON
Final scores – 1, Karolin Anders (UAA) 3,761#; 2, Rosie Smith (UAA) 3,453#; 3, Maliea Luquin (SPU) 3,372#; 4, Taylor Fettig (CWU) 3,350#; 5, Maddi Hommes (SPU) 3,209; 6, Janessa Dyk (NNU) 3,030; 7, HarLee Ortega (CWU) 2,932; 8, Cheryl Hong (SPU) 2,903; 9, Laura Seymour (NNU) 2,875; 10, Kawena Warren (NNU) 2,868; 11, Sam Moore (WOU) 2,761.
60 hurdles – 1, Rosie Smith (UAA) 8.82 (948 points). SPU placers – 2, Maliea Luquin 8.93 (925); 6, Cheryl Hong 9.81 (806); 9, Maddi Hommes 9.89 (733).
High jump – 1, Taylor Fettig (CWU) 5-6 ½ / 1.69m (842 points). SPU placers – T3, Maddi Hommes 5-1 ¾ / 1.57m (701); 7, Maliea Luquin 5-0 ½ / 1.54m (666); 11, Cheryl Hong 4-7 ¾ / 1.42m (534).
Shot put – 1, Karolin Anders (UAA) 38-11 / 11.86m (652 points). SPU placers – 5, Maddi Hommes 32-4 ¾ / 9.87m (521); 8, Maliea Luquin 29-7 ¼ / 9.02m (465); 11, Cheryl Hong 23-4 / 7.11m (342).
Long jump – 1, Karolin Anders (UAA) 18-5 ¼ / 5.62m (735 points). SPU placers – 3, Maliea Luquin 17-2 / 5.23m (623); 6, Maddi Hommes (16-1 ½ / 4.91m (535); 7, Cheryl Hong 15-9 ¾ / 4.82m (511).
800 – 1, Janessa Dyk (NNU) 2:26.62 (736 points). SPU placers – 2, Maddi Hommes 2:27.95 (719); 3, Cheryl Hong 2:28.61 (710); 6, Maliea Luquin 2:30.01 (693).
 
 
 
NCAA MEN'S INDOOR TRACK & FIELD
GNAC Championships
Friday, February 20, 2015
Jackson's Track at the Idaho Center / Nampa, Idaho
 
Team scores (through 5 of 17 events) – 1, Western Washington 50; 2, Alaska Anchorage 42; 3, (tie) Northwest Nazarene and Simon Fraser 27; 5, Central Washington 22; 6, Saint Martin's 11; 7, Western Oregon 8; 8, Montana State Billings 6; 9, Seattle Pacific 2.
 
FRIDAY FINALS
5000 – 1, Henry Cheseto (UAA) 14:39.24. SPU placer – 10, Turner Wiley 15:19.60; 16, Brian Comer 16:18.99.
4000 distance medley relay – 1, Simon Fraser 10:14.41. SPU placer – 7, Seattle Pacific (Ben Halladay, Chris Morton, Clark Sterling, Adam Avischious) 10:38.75.
Long jump – 1, Vladislav Tsygankov (SF) 23-6 ¾ / 7.18m. SPU placer – 17, Clifford Paulk 20-2 ¼ / 6.15m.
Pole vault – 1, Payton Lewis (NNU) 16-11 / 5.16m (meet record, breaks old record of 16-1 ¼ / 4.91m set by Ryan Brown (WWU) in 2010). No SPU competitors.
Shot put – 1, Kevin Stanley (CWU) 51-10 / 15.80m. No SPU competitors.
 
FRIDAY PRELIMINARIES
60-meter dash – 1, Alex Donigian (WWU) 6.80. SPU competitor – T10, David Ferguson 7.26.
200 – 1, Alex Donigian (WWU) 21.76 (meet record, breaks old record of 21.79 set by Donigian in 2014). SPU competitors – 9, David Ferguson 22.50; 16, Mario Lopez 23.94.
400 – 1, Joel Webster (SFU) 48.60. SPU finals qualifier – 8, Mario Lopez 50.26. Other SPU competitors – 13, Chris Moreton 51.07; 16 RJ Straker 51.53; 18, Justin Ramsey 51.88.
800 – 1, Nathan Kipchumba (UAA) 1:51.70. No SPU competitors.
60 hurdles – 1, Travis Milbrandt (WWU) 8.15 (meet record, breaks old record of 8.24 set by Peter Maguire (WWU) in 2014). No SPU competitors.

HEPTATHLON
Top 3 (through 4 of 7 events) – 1, Cody Thomas (UAA) 2,919; 2, Jaysen Yoro (STM) 2,813; 3, Justin Peterson (CWU) 2,626. No SPU competitors.
60-meter dash – 1, Jaysen Yoro (STM) 7.07 (858 points).
Long jump – 1, Cody Thomas (UAA) 21-10 / 6.65m (732).
Shot put – 1, Cody Thomas (UAA) 37-8 ¾ / 11.50m (576).
High jump – 1, Jaysen York (STM) 6-6 ¼ / 1.99m (704).