Complete men's and women's results (PDF)

NAMPA, Idaho – A point here. An inch there.
 
Even a scant two-thousandths of a second.
 
When it's that close, it all matters. The Great Northwest Athletic Conference indoor track and field meet was that close.

 

And for the Seattle Pacific women, it all mattered.

Renick Meyer won the 60-meter dash on Saturday, and the Falcons, after a weekend-long battle with Central Washington, tied with the Wildcats for the team title in the conference championships at Jackson's Track.
 
SPU and Central both finished the two-day meet with 136 points. It is the first time in the 15-year history of the conference indoor meet that two teams shared the crown. And, it's the 12th time in those same 15 years that the Falcons have finished at the top.
 
"When you're in a tie, there are no key moments," head coach Karl Lerum said. "It was every single race and every single jump."
 
BACK AND FORTH
After Friday's results that included the pentathlon and pole vault titles for sophomore Scout Cai, Seattle Pacific started Saturday with a 59-58 lead on Central.
 
From there, it changed hands four more times. The Wildcats led by as many as 16 at 102-86 after the 400-meter dash. SPU came up with 18 big points in the 60 dash to go up 104-102, and eventually led by as many as nine at 124-115 after the 200.
 
Heading into the meet-ending 4x400 relay, the Falcons had a 132-126 edge. Central Washington led that race right from the start, then fended off Simon Fraser by a mere four-hundredths of a second at the wire, picking up 10 points for a final total of 136.
 
The Seattle Pacific foursome of Grace Bley, Taylor, Chynna Phan, and Houk secured fifth in 3:57.81. That was good for four points and its final tally of 136.

 

"The hard part of track is to create that kind of intensity every single opportunity you get," Lerum said. "I thought overall, we did a really good job of taking advantage of the opportunities we had."
 
Falcons freshman Meyer, the top seed in the 60 off her Friday preliminary time of 7.71 (.01 ahead of Simon Fraser's Meyer Quaynor) got out of the blocks quickly on Saturday. She was clearly in front at the finish, putting another 7.71 onto the board. Quaynor was right behind her in 7.76.
 
A little more than an hour before that, Meyer came across the line second in the 60-meter hurdles in 8.76 seconds. She was seeded No. 2 behind Central's Mariyah Vongsaveng, and was right with the Wildcat star most of the way. Vongsaveng got there first in 8.58.
 
PICKING UP THE PACE – AND THEIR PLACE
Of the nine events in which they competed on Saturday, SPU picked up additional points in four of them to stay in the thick of the title hunt.
 
Mary Charleson (4^th) and Kate Lilly (6^th) moved up in the mile, and Charleson went from unseeded to third place and six points in the 3,000 meters.
 
"The cool thing about conference is it's all about competing and team points," Charleson said. "It's way more meaningful to run for team points and run for the title. Today, everyone worked together, we had upswings from the start of the day, and that really helped us."
 
Freshman Julia Stepper (3^rd) and senior Becca Houk (7^th) both improved their seeded positions in the 60 dash. Houk (5^th) also placed better than seeded in the 200. Lani Taylor (3^rd) climbed two spots in the 400.

 

"They ran so well on that banked track and straightaway. They were ready for it," Falcons assistant coach Audra Smith said of the sprint crew that she works with on a daily basis. "Renick showed a lot of amazing things and really stepped up this weekend. Becca had a phenomenal weekend, and rightly so. She has worked her butt off and brings a great edge to practice every day and has been so committed to it."

Altogether, the three sprints netted 43 points for SPU, with 19 in the 200, 18 in the 60, and six in the 400. Sophomore Grace Bley led the charge in the 200 with a 25.08 for second place. It nearly matched the 25.07 she in Friday's prelims to earn the top seed, but Central Washington's Ali Anderson posted a blistering 25.00 to win it.
 
TWO THOUSANDTHS OF A SECOND, HALF A POINT
While every performance was crucial, one of the biggest in the Falcons' favor was Houk's. She came into the meet seeded No. 7 in the 60, and No. 10 (out of the points) in the 200.

 

After placing seventh in the 60 on Saturday, Houk returned to the starting line a short while later for the 200 as the No. 6 seed. She and Central's Erykah Weems were initially credited for a fifth-place tie at 25.35. That was worth 3½ points apiece.
 
But the time was then carried out to the thousandths of a second, and Houk had the edge, 25.351 to 25.353. The extra half-point now went to her, giving Houk four and Weems three. At day's end, that two-thousandths of a second and extra half point went a long way for the Falcons.
 
"Yesterday and today, going into the 200, I was tired, and I didn't know how it was going to go," Houk said. "I was just going to give it my best effort. I had this hunger of wanting to make it into finals. After watching my teammates run really fast times, I wanted to be right there with them."

The only Falcon scorer in the men's meet on Saturday was senior Peyton Harris. He took fourth in the 60-meter hurdles in 8.39 seconds, a season best and just three-hundredths away from his PR of 8.36.
 
 
NCAA WOMEN'S INDOOR TRACk & FIELD
GNAC Championships
Friday, Feb. 16, 2018
Jackson's Track at the Idaho Center / Nampa, Idaho
 
Final team scores – 1, (tie) Seattle Pacific and Central Washington 136; 3, Concordia-Portland 93; 4 Alaska Anchorage 83; 5, Western Washington 78; 6, Simon Fraser 67; 7, Western Oregon 43; 8, Saint Martin's 11; 9, Northwest Nazarene 10, 10, Montana State Billings 5.
 
SATURDAY FINALS
60-meter dash – 1, Renick Meyer (SPU) 7.71. Other SPU – 3, Julia Stepper 7.92; 7, Becca Houk 7.95
200 – 1, Ali Anderson (CWU) 25.00. SPU – 2, Grace Bley 25.08; 4, Lani Taylor 25.33; 5, Becca Houk 25.351; 7, Renick Meyer 25.40.
400 – 1, Ali Anderson (CWU) 55.68. SPU – 3, Lani Taylor 56.30.
800 – 1, Danielle McCormick (UAA) 2:09.19. SPU – 8, Chynna Phan 2:16.86.
Mile – 1, Tamara Perez (UAA) 5:00.52. SPU – 4, Mary Charleson 5:02.84; 6, Kate Lilly 5:05.18. Other SPU – 10, Dania Holmberg 5:17.62; 14, Sophie Carroll 5:35.71; Elizabeth Thompson DNF.
3000 – 1, Julia Howley (Simon) 9:47.83. SPU – 3, Mary Charleson 9:59.22; 7, Alyssa Foote 10:17.49. Other SPU – Elizabeth Thompson DNS.
60 hurdles – 1, Mariyah Vongsaveng (CWU) 8.58. SPU – 2, Renick Meyer 8.76.
4x400 relay – 1, Central Washington 3:50.64. SPU – 5, Seattle Pacific (Grace Bley, Lani Taylor, Chynna Phan, Becca Houk)
Triple jump – 1, Jasmine McMullin (WWU) 39-10 ½ /12.15m. SPU – 6, Kellie May 37-1 ¼ / 11.31m; 7, Brooke Benner 36-6 ¼ / 11.13m.
Shot put – 1, Melissa Ausman (CU) 50-1 ¾ / 15.28m. No SPU competitors.
 
FRIDAY FINALS
5000 – 1, Kennedy Rufener (WOU) 17:18.64. SPU – 4, Alyssa Foote 17:51.80. Other SPU – 9, Katherine Walter 18:24.91; 12, Hailey Kettel 18:47.05; 20, Sedona McNerney 19:41.44.
4000 distance medley relay – 1, Simon Fraser 11:37.88. SPU – 4, Seattle Pacific (Kate Lilly, Grace Bley, Chynna Phan, Elizabeth Thompson) 12:10.17.
High jump – 1, Tori Johnson (CU) 5-7 ¼ / 1.71m. SPU – 2, Scout Cai 5-5 / 1.65m; 3, Geneva Lehnert 5-5 / 1.65m (Cai gets higher position on fewer-misses tiebreaker); 8, Brooke Benner 5-1 / 1.55m.
Pole vault – 1, Scout Cai (SPU) 12-4 ¾ / 3.78m#. No other SPU competitors.
Long jump – 1, Jasmine McMullin (WWU) 18-9 ¾ / 5.73m. SPU – 4, Kellie May 18-3 ¼ / 5.57m. Other SPU – 11, Geneva Lehnert 17-2 / 5.23m; 15, Scout Cai 17-0 / 5.18m.
Weight throw – 1, Christina MacDonald (CU) 60-0 ¼ / 18.29m. No SPU competitors.
 
PENTATHLON
Final scores – 1, Scout Cai (SPU) 3,610; 2, HarLee Ortega (CWU) 3,584; 3, Chelsea Bone (CU) 3,312; 4, Kellie May (SPU) 3.252; 5, Brooke Benner (SPU) 3,111; 6, Elena Cano (UAA) 3,109; 7, Yvonne Jeschke (UAA) 3,069; 8, Shaddia Meadows (CWU) 3,033; 9, Chase Stephens (CU) 2,997; 10, Sidney Trinidad (CWU) 2,963; 11, Tiffany Pott (StM) 2,736; 12, Ashley Vest (StM) 2,261.
 
60-meter hurdles – 1, HarLee Ortega (CWU) 9.10 (889 points). SPU – 2, Scout Cai 9.14 (881 points); 6, Kellie May 9.43 (822); 7, Brooke Benner 9.74 (761).
High jump – 1, Shaddia Meadows (CWU) 5-4 ¼ / 1.63m (771 points). SPU – T2, Scout Cai and Brooke Benner 5-1 ¾ / 1.57m (701); T10, Kellie May 4-11 ½ / 1.51m (632).
Shot put – 1, Scout Cai (SPU) 33-8 ½ / 10.27m (547 points). Other SPU – 5, Kellie May 31-8 ¾ / 9.67m (508 points), 9, Brooke Benner 26-11 / 8.20m (412).
Long jump – 1, HarLee Ortega (CWU) 18-3 ¾ / 5.58m (723 points). SPU – 2, Kellie May 18-1 / 5.51m (703 points); 3, Scout Cai 18-0 ½ / 5.50m (700), 6, Brooke Benner 16-8 ¾ / 5.10m (587);
800 – 1, Yvonne Jeschke (UAA) 2:20.35 (819 points). SPU – 2, Scout Cai 2:23.20 (781 points); 6, Brooke Benner 2:33.47 (650); 8, Kellie May 2:38.80 (587).
 
 

NCAA MEN'S INDOOR TRACK & FIELD
GNAC Championships
Friday, Feb. 16, 2018
Jackson's Track at the Idaho Center / Nampa, Idaho
 
Final team scores – 1, Concordia-Portland 114; 2, Alaska Anchorage 108; 3, Western Oregon 91; 4, Northwest Nazarene 84; 5, Western Washington 76 ½; 6, Central Washington 64 ½; 7, Simon Fraser 56; 8, Montana State Billings 39 ½; 9, Saint Martin's 17 ½; 10, Seattle Pacific 7.
 
SATURDAY FINALS
60-meter dash – 1, Carlos Ortiz (CU) 6.85. No SPU competitors.
200 – 1, Carlos Ortiz (CU) 21.56 (meet record, breaks old record of 21.60 set by Cody Warner of Western Oregon in 2015). No SPU competitors.
400 – 1, Liam Lindsay (UAA) 48.50. No SPU competitors.
800 – 1, David Ribich (WOU) 1:50.83 (meet record, breaks old record of 1:51.49 set by Paul Mach of Seattle Pacific in 2004). No SPU competitors.
Mile – 1, David Ribich (WOU) 4:11.08. SPU – 10, Elius Graff 4:19.59; 13, Ben Hansen 4:23.38; 15, Peder Rickbeil 4:23.51.
3000 – 1, Rowan Doherty (Simon) 8:28.48. SPU – 24, Shad Galloway 9:13.24; 26, Royce Garcia 9:15.90.
60 hurdles – 1, James Phillips (CU) 8.30. SPU – 5, Peyton Harris 8.39.
4x400 relay – 1, Alaska Anchorage 3:16.44. SPU – 9, Seattle Pacific (Peyton Harris, Jesse Phan, Miles Flett, Brysten James) 3:28.81.
High jump – 1, Tupre Wickliff (WWU) 6-7 / 2.01m. No SPU competitors.
Pole vault – 1, Jared Webster (NNU) 15-11 / 4.85m. No SPU competitors.
Triple jump – 1, Chris Brake (UAA) 47-7 ¼ / 14.51m. No SPU competitors.
Shot put – 1, Josh Koch (CU) 55-4 ¼ / 16.87m. No SPU competitors.
 
FRIDAY FINALS
5000 – 1. Felix Kenboi (UAA) 15:12.63. No SPU competitors.
4000 distance medley relay – 1, Simon Fraser 10:08.40. SPU – 7, Seattle Pacific (Ben Hansen, Jesse Phan, Brysten James, Elius Graff) 10:34.92.
Long jump – 1, Vladislav Tsygankov (Simon) 23-11 ½ / 7.30m. SPU – 10, Peyton Harris 21-6 ¼  6.56m.
Weight throw – 1, John VanBeuren (NNU) 58-6 ¾ / 17.85m. No SPU competitors.
 
 
HEPTATHLON
Final scores (top 3) – 1, Braydon Maier (CWU) 5,006; 2, James Phillips (CU) 4,961; 3, Giovanni Brown (CU) 4,945. No SPU competitors.
 
FRIDAY EVENTS
60-meter dash – 1, Kodiak Landis (CWU) 7.03 (872 points).
Long jump – 1, James Phillips (CU) 22-9 ¾ / 6.95m (802 points).
Shot put – 1, James Phillips (CU) 43-7 / 13.28m (684 points).
High jump – 1, Micah Tranch (NNU) 6-5 / 1.96m (767 points).
 
SATURDAY EVENTS
60 hurdles – 1, Braydon Maier (CWU) 8.47 (867 points).
Pole vault – 1, Braydon Maier (CWU) 15-6 ½ / 4.74m (831 points).
1000 – 1, Michael Forster (CWU) 2:46.65 (801 points).