Complete women's results (PDF)
        Complete men's results (PDF)
 
BELLINGHAM, Wash. – Mary Charleson and Hannah Calvert had run 5,000 meters on a cross country course previously.
 
But never on the track
 
They have now. Furthermore, they enjoyed it enough that they're hoping to get another try at it – maybe in a couple weeks at conference.
 
Falcons freshman Charleson and sophomore Calvert both put their names on the list for the Great Northwest Athletic Conference Championships, posting provisional qualifying times on Saturday at the Ralph Vernacchia Invitational track and field meet.
 
Racing in cool and occasionally breezy conditions at Civic Stadium, Charleson (Mill Creek, Wash. / Henry M. Jackson HS) finished her 12 ½ laps in 18 minutes, 7.96 seconds. Calvert (Enumclaw, Wash. / Enumclaw HS) came across the line in 18:14.51.
 
"It's a lot of laps. But it felt really good at the start, really comfortable," Charleson said. "We just started picking people off at the end. It was a good race, and really fun for the first time."
 
Indeed, both of them were near the back of the pack in the early going. But by the finish line, Charleson had moved all the way up ninth among the 23 runners, and Calvert climbed to 12th.
 
"I just tried not to look at the laps (left) and just focus on the task at hand and listen for the splits," Calvert said. "That was the big key. I just went and hit the pace, and it felt surprisingly easy, which is promising."





As of Saturday evening, with not all of the weekend results in from other schools, Charleson and Calvert both were hovering around the bubble for the GNAC meet, which is set for Friday and Saturday, May 8 and 9, at Western Oregon University in Monmouth.
 
Even though they're on the provisional list, they'll need to be among the top 16 for the 5K when declarations for the meet are made on Monday, May 4.
 
They would love nothing more than to be on the conference starting line.
                                                                                
"I think it's a really promising event for us," said Charleson, having run four 1500s and one 800 previously this spring before Saturday's 5,000. "We're really happy with how we did, and we're hoping to do a lot better next time."
 
Added Calvert, "There's more room for improvement for a 5K, than, let's say, in an 800 for me. I just felt really comfortable at that (18:14) time, so I think there's a lot more time I can cut off."
 
FIRST VICTORY FOR PHAN
It might not have been the same as winning a state high school championship last spring. But SPU freshman Chynna Phan now can say she has won her first college race.

 

Phan took it out hard on the first lap, then stretched out her lead on the second lap Saturday to capture the 800 at the Vernacchia. Her time of 2 minutes, 16.78 seconds, was nearly two seconds faster than runner-up Jayna Inderbitzin of Central Washington (2:18.68).
 
The time for Phan, a Bellingham native and graduate of Mt. Baker High School, located just 16 miles from Civic Stadium, was a college personal best. It beat her previous mark of 2:19.64 from the Rose City Preview on March 21.
 
But even with the win, Phan still has plenty to pursue at next Saturday's Saint Martin's Invitational, the final meet of the regular season. The GNAC provisional qualifying time is 2:15.15, a little more than 1 ½ seconds faster than what she ran on Saturday. Her high school best, which helped her win last year's Washington Class 1A state title, is 2:14.15.
 
SPEEDY PRs IN SAN DIEGO
A pair of Seattle Pacific sprinters set personal bests in the 100-meter dash, and one more Falcon tied her personal best in that race at the Triton Invitational on Saturday.

 

Freshman Becca Houk finished 10^th overall with a PR time of 12.05. That was nearly a full tenth faster than the 12.14 she ran last Friday at the Bryan Clay Invitational in Azusa, Calif. It also was just a mere .01 shy of the lifetime-best 12.04 that Houk ran to win the Oregon Class 6A state title last spring for Oregon City High School.

 

Also coming up with a PR was senior Kelsey Chase (Spokane, Wash. / Northwest Christian-Colbert). Chase came across the line in 12.35, beating her previous best of 12.38 from 2013. That made her a GNAC automatic qualifier.
 
Sophomore Kyra Brannan (Kennewick, Wash. / Kamiakin HS) tied her PR of 12.37, and senior Tasia Baldwin (Tacoma, Wash. / Foss HS) ran a season-best 12.32 that was just one-hundredth of a second from her PR of 12.31.
 
Houk, Baldwin, and Brannan already were on the GNAC automatic list before Saturday's race.
 
 
NCAA WOMEN'S OUTDOOR TRACK & FIELD
Ralph Vernacchia Invitational
Saturday, April 25, 2015
Civic Stadium / Bellingham, Wash.
 
Team scores – Not kept.
 
100 – 1, Michelle Howe (Unattached) 12.26.  SPU – 10, Ryan Conlin 13.08.
200 –  1, Tianna Banfro (C. Washington) 25.91.  SPU – 9, Ryan Conlin 27.13.
400 –   1, Ali Anderson (C. Washington) 59.01*.  No SPU.
800 – 1, Chynna Phan (SPU) 2:16.78.  Other SPU – 7, Jessie Mathison 2:21.23; 9, Ali Sowers 2:23.71.
1500 –  1, Shannon Porter (Saint Martin's) 4:35.56!. No SPU.
3000 –   1, Shannon Porter (Saint Martin's) 10:03.58. No SPU.
5000 –  1, Katelyn Steen (W. Washington) 16:35.53#!. SPU – 9, Mary Charleson 18:07.96*; 12, Hannah Calvert 18:14.57*; 17, Hailey Kettel 19:13.58; 19, Kiley Zeitler 19:49.94.
10,000 –   1, Maddie Jalbert (W. Washington) 39:19.83*. No SPU.
4x100 relay – 1, British Columbia 48.59.  No SPU.
4x400 relay –  1, Western Washington 4:00.29. No SPU.
100 hurdles – 1, Michelle Howe (Unattached) 14.48.  No SPU.
400 hurdles – 1, Emily Bland (Everett CC) 1:03.71.  SPU – 5, Jalen Tims 1:06.34*.
3000 steeplechase – 1, Regan Yee (Langley Mustangs0 10:22.41.  SPU – 4, Jessica Rawlins 11:01.04#!.
High jump – 1, Miranda Osadchey (W. Washington) 5-5 / 1.65m!.  SPU – 3, Naphtali Ward 5-1 / 1.55m*.
Pole vault – 1, McKenna Emmert (C. Washington) 12-6 ¾ / 3.83m#!.  SPU – 4, Michaella Kahns 11-1 / 3.38m!.
Long jump – 1, Maia Sparkmann (Seattle U) 18-4 ½ / 5.60m.  No SPU.
Triple jump – 1, Janayla Scott (Green River CC) 38-4 ¾ / 11.70m.  No SPU.
Shot put – 1, Emmi Collier (W. Oregon) 43-9 ¾ / 13.35m!.  SPU – 7, Sammi Markham 39-5 ¾ / 12.03m*; 15, Madison Buttice 29-4 ¾ / 8.96m.
Discus – 1, Megan Mortensen 151-2 / 46.08m#!.  SPU – 7, Sammi Markham 120-9 / 36.81m; 16, Madison Buttice 81-1 / 24.72m.
Javelin – 1, Katie Reichert (W. Washington) 157-4 / 47.96m#!.  SPU – 2, Michaela Farner 136-1 / 41.47m#*.
Hammer –   1, Kahuli Novikoff (Saint Martin's) 193-4 / 58.93m#!. No SPU.
 
# NCAA provisional qualifying
! GNAC automatic
*GNAC provisional
 

Triton Invitational
Saturday, April 25, 2015
Triton Track & Field Stadium / San Diego, Calif.
SPU events only
 
Team scores – Not kept.
 
100 – 1, Vanusa Santos (Brazil) 11.50.  SPU – 10, Becca Houk 12.05!; 24, Tasia Baldwin 12.32!; 26, Kelsey Chase 12.35!; 28, Kyra Brannan 12.37!.
200 – 1, Carol Rodriguez (Unattached) 23.96.  SPU – 20, Tasia Baldwin 25.72*; 22, Cheryl Hong 25.89*; 25, Kyra Brannan 26.18; 37, Kelsey Chase 26.58.
400 – 1, Geisa Coutinho (Brazil) 52.48.  SPU – 18, Jahzelle Ambus 57.36!; 19, Jasmine Johnson 57.39!; 29, Cheryl Hong 58.89*; 37, Lynelle Decker 1:00.13.
4x100 relay – 1, Brazil 44.75. SPU –  4, Seattle Pacific (Becca Houk, Jahzelle Ambus, Kyra Brannan, Tasia Baldwin) 47.31.
Long jump – NA.  SPU – T18, Kyra Brannan 17-4 ½ / 5.30m; 26, Tasia Baldwin 16-7 ½ / 5.07m.
 
! GNAC automatic
* GNAC provisional
 
 
NCAA MEN'S OUTDOOR TRACK & FIELD
Ralph Vernacchia Invitational
Saturday, April 25, 2015
Civic Stadium / Bellingham, Wash.
 
Team scores – Not kept.
 
100 – 1, Stephen Abosi (British Columbia) 10.83.  SPU – 11, Clifford Paulk 11.22; 12, David Ferguson 11.26; 16, RJ Straker 11.44.
200 – 1, James Linde (Trinity Western) 41.46m. SPU – 5, David Ferguson 22.35*; 6, Mario Lopez 22.46*; 8, Chris Moreton 22.72; 14, Clifford Paulk 23.07; 15, RJ Straker 23.32; 17, Justin Ramsey 23.50
400 – 1, Michael Aono (Vancouver Thunderbirds) 46.96.  SPU – 3, Mario Lopez 49.31*; 6, Chris Moreton 50.20; 16, Justin Ramsey 52.90.
800 – 1, Frank Kraus (Saint Martin's) 1:54.32!.  SPU – 15, Adam Avischious 2:01.19; 25, Clark Sterling 2:03.29; 27, Turner Wiley 2:03.50; 28, Ben Halladay 2:03.97; 34, Ka'eo Lindsey 2:09.31.
1500 – 1, Jonathan Ferguson (Northwest U) 3:54.54.  SPU – 6, Adam Avischious 4:00.50; 10, Turner Wiley 4:06.42; 15, Ben Halladay 4:12.50.
3000 –   1, Isaac Griffith (W. Washington) 8:40.0 (hand-held). No SPU.
5000 –   1, Tabor Reedy (W. Washington) 14:50.71*.  SPU – 21, Brian Comer 15:54.01
10,000 –   1, Juan Castillo (W. Washington) 32:30.65*. No SPU.
4x100 relay –  1, Western Washington 41.52. SPU – 4, Seattle Pacific (David Ferguson,  Peyton Harris, RJ Straker, Clifford Paulk) 43.04.
4x400 relay –    1, Corban 3:17.23. No SPU.
110 hurdles – 1, Travis Milbrandt (W. Washington) 14.41!.  SPU – 5, Peyton Harris 15.94.
400 hurdles – 1, Therron Randle (Trinity Western) 54.53.  SPU – 6, Peyton Harris 59.24.
3000 steeplechase –  1, Brady Beagley (Steeple Duck) 9:15.61. No SPU.
High jump – 1, Mikel Smith (Saint Martin's) 6-10 ¾ / 2.10m.  No SPU.
Pole vault – 1, Nathan Dunford (Trinity Western) 15-9 / 4.80m.  No SPU.
Long jump – 1, Brett Watson (W. Washington) 22-11 ¾ / 7.00m!  SPU – 18, Ben Smith 17-5 ½ / 5.32m; Peyton Harris foul.
Triple jump – 1, Luke Plummer (C. Washington) 47-1 ¾ / 14.37m.  No SPU.
Shot put – 1, Kevin Stanley (C. Washington) 49-3 ¾ / 15.03m.  SPU – 18, Josiah Zering 22-8 / 6.91m.
Discus –   1, Ryan Macdonald (W. Washington) 168-5 / 51.33m. No SPU.
Javelin – 1, Slater Hirst (W. Washington) 211-0 / 64.32m#!.  No SPU.
Hammer – 1, Kevin Stanley (C. Washington) 191-9 / 58.46m.  No SPU.

# NCAA provisional qualifying
! GNAC automatic
* GNAC provisional