Complete results (PDF)
        MEN: Lopez rewrites his own school record in 400

NAMPA, Idaho – One school record had stood for 19 years. Another for just one year. And it had been two years since the Seattle Pacific women sat atop the Great Northwest Athletic Conference indoor track and field pack.
 
All of that changed on Saturday afternoon.
 
Becca Houk and Jahzelle Ambus both beat the long-standing 200-meter dash record; Ambus shattered the 400-meter mark, and the Falcons won the meet-ending 4x400 relay to clinch their 10th conference crown on Jackson's Track at the Idaho Center.
 
SPU, which was a slight favorite coming into the two-day meet, finished with 146 points. Anchorage tallied 134, and Simon Fraser, considered a darkhorse title challenger, was third with 104.

 

"I would this is a very good win and a very fine conference," head coach Karl Lerum said. "For them to win it, they really had to come out and perform at a high level, and they did.
 
"Every title is unique and special. I'm really pleased with these women to get this one back after being away from it for a couple years."
 
RECORD TIME – AND NCAA TIMES, TOO
Falcons freshman Houk (Oregon City, Ore.) and junior transfer Ambus (Portland, Ore.) finished 2-3 in the 200, with Houk clocking a 24.89, and Ambus at 24.91. Both beat the school record of 24.99 set in 1996 by Shavonne Colebrooke. Those times also were fast enough to get on the NCAA provisional qualifying list.
 
Only defending champion Jamie Ashcroft of Alaska Anchorage finished ahead of the two Falcons – and she broke her own conference meet record with a time of 24.25.

 

About an hour before that, Houk and Ashcroft literally went toe to toe in the 60-meter dash finals. Ashcroft got to the finish line first, but only by the most minimum of margins – 7.65 seconds to 7.66.
 
"I went into it wanting to win, and getting that close – it was pretty crazy," Houk said of the 60. "I was talking to Karl about it, and we think I should have tied. It was really close. It was still frustrating to me, so I let that frustration drive my 200. I was not expecting to make a sub-25, so that was a nice surprise. It felt good, too."

 

Earlier Saturday, Ambus outsprinted Simon Fraser's Chantel Desch through two laps around the banked blue oval to win the 400 in 56.18 seconds. That was nearly a full second faster than the personal-best of 57.05 she established less than 24 hours earlier during Friday's preliminaries. It beat the 57.00 school record set by Kishia Mitchell when she won last year's 400 title.
 
It also put Ambus onto the NCAA provisional list – and far up the list at that. As of Saturday afternoon, it ranked No. 17 in the country. A minimum of 16 are taken for the NCAA national meet; last year, 17 were accepted for the 400.
 
"Definitely, it has been hard for me to wrap my head around being a 400 runner," she said. "Sometimes, I doubt that I can do the 400 – I shocked myself today. It turned out better than I thought it would. I was aiming for a 56-high, but the competition was great. The other girl (Simon's Desch) went 56.4, so it was a lot better."
 
EVERY POINT WAS IMPORTANT
With the two teams locked in a tight battle all day (Seattle Pacific began Saturday with a 57-55 edge on Anchorage from Friday's action), points were vital wherever the Falcons could find them.
 
They found plenty in the 200 and 400. Houk, Ambus, senior Tasia Baldwin (Tacoma, Wash. / Foss HS), and sophomore Kyra Brannan (Kennewick, Wash. / Kamiakin HS) went 2-3-4-5 for 23 points.
 
In the 400, senior Jasmine Johnson (Federal Way, Wash. / Federal Way HS) and junior Jalen Tims (Portland, Ore.) were fifth and sixth behind Ambus. That added up to 17 points.
 
Junior Anna Patti (Renton, Wash. / Lindbergh HS) followed Friday's 5,000-meter title with a third-place finish in the 3,000. Her time of 10:00.19 was a personal best and an NCAA provisional qualifier. That was another six points.
 
Junior Maliea Luquin (Portland, Ore.), a third-place finisher in the pentathlon on Friday, came into the 60-meter hurdles finals seeded sixth. But she jumped three places with an 8.95 for six points, a gain of three from her seeded position.

 

Sammi Markham (Gig Harbor, Wash. / Gig Harbor HS) delivered a lifetime best shot put effort. The sophomore logged a mark of 42 feet, 10 ¾ inches, which was 4 ¾ farther than her previous best, and snagged fourth place for five points.
 
SPU was up by eight points, 136-128, heading into the 4x400 relay. The Falcons needed only to finish sixth or higher to clinch the title. The team of Ambus, Baldwin, Tims, and Johnson won in an NCAA provisional time of 3:50.68, with Johnson surging into the lead on the last 50 meters of the anchor leg. UAA was third in 3:53.09.
 
 
NCAA WOMEN'S INDOOR TRACK & FIELD
GNAC Championships
Friday, February 20, 2015
Jackson's Track at the Idaho Center / Nampa, Idaho
 
Team scores – 1, Seattle Pacific 146; 2, Alaska Anchorage 134; 3, Simon Fraser 104; 4, Central Washington 87; 5, Northwest Nazarene 69; 6, Western Washington 44; 7, (tie) Saint Martin's and Western Oregon 32; 9, Montana State Billings 14.
 
SATURDAY FINALS
60-meter dash – 1, Jamie Ashcroft (UAA) 7.65. SPU placers – 2, Becca Houk 7.66; 5, Kyra Brannan 7.99.
200 – 1, Jamie Ashcroft (UAA) 24.23. SPU placers – 2, Becca Houk 24.89 (school record, breaks old record of 24.99, set by Shavonne Colebrooke in 1996); 3, Jahzelle Ambus 24.91; 4, Tasia Baldwin 25.46; 5, Kyra Brannan 25.70.
400 – 1, Jahzelle Ambus (SPU) 56.18 (school record, breaks old record of 57.00 set by Kishia Mitchell in 2014). Other SPU placers – 5, Jasmine Johnson 57.97; 6, Jalen Tims 58.56.
800 – 1, Lindsey Butterworth (SF) 2:10.04. SPU placer – 3, Lynelle Decker 2:12.76.
Mile – 1, Lindsey Butterworth (SF) 4:55.34. SPU competitors – 9, Jessica Rawlins 5:10.39; 13, Mary Charleson 5:18.14; 14, Lynelle Decker 5:18.26; 19, Hannah Calvert 5:29.55.
3000 – 1, Jennifer Johnson (SF) 9:47.64. SPU placer – 3, Anna Patti 10:00.19. Other SPU competitors – 12, Sarah Macdonald 10:30.68; 16, Jessica Rawlins 10:43.74; 22, Hannah Calvert 11:05.26.
4x400 relay – 1, Seattle Pacific (Jahzelle Ambus, Tasia Baldwin, Jalen Tims, Jasmine Johnson) 3:50.68.
60 hurdles – 1, Chelsey Knott (NNU) 8.82. SPU placer – 3, Maliea Luquin 8.95.
Pole vault – 1, Alison Silva (NNU) 11-8 / 3.56m. SPU placers -- 5, Michelle Louie 11-0 1/4 / 3.36m; 7, Michaella Kahns 10-6 1/4 / 3.21m; 9, Madi Webster 10-0 1/2 / 3.06m.
Triple jump – 1, Jasmine McMullin (WWU) 38-2 ¾ / 11.65m. SPU competitors – 13, Jade Crawford 33-5 ¾ / 10.20m; 14, Naphtali Ward 33-5 ¼ / 10.19m; 18, Maddi Hommes 31-5 ¼ / 9.58m.
Shot put – 1, Becki Duhamel (CWU) 44-8 / 13.61m. SPU placer – 4, Sammi Markham 42-10 ¾ / 13.07m.
 
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).