Complete men's and women's results (PDF)
        San Francisco State Distance Carnival results (HTML)
 
VANCOUVER, B.C. – Seattle Pacific still has the fastest woman in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference.
 
Only now, it's a different Falcon who can make that claim.
 
Freshman Julia Stepper powered down the straightaway to a time of 12.21 seconds on Friday afternoon, winning the 100-meter dash at the UBC Open and ascending to the top of the conference list in that event.

 

Stepper's time on the Rashpal Dhillon Track & Field Oval at the University of British Columbia leapfrogged her from the No. 3 spot, where she had been sitting with a 12.48 from the Sacramento State Hornet Invitational on March 16. Her time was a drop of just more than a quarter-second.
 
Until Friday, Stepper was behind No. 2 Marie Ries of Alaska Anchorage (12.42) and fellow Falcon freshman Renick Meyer (No. 1 at 12.41).
 
 Meyer had been in the No. 1 position since the opening day of the outdoor season when she posted that 12.41 at the Ed Boitano Invitational in Tacoma. She went even faster on Friday, hitting the finish line in 12.31 as she and Stepper were in the same heat, just two lanes apart. That gave Seattle Pacific a 1-2 finish.
 
Stepper certainly knows a thing or two about running fast times in the 100. Last spring as a senior at Woodland High School in southwest Washington, she won the state Class 2A (medium / small school) state title in a meet-record 11.89 seconds.
 
This is the second week in a row Stepper has won an event. Last Saturday, she took the 200-meter dash in the Doris Heritage Track Festival at West Seattle Stadium. She was third in the 200 at UBC.
 
Stepper's victory was one of three for the Falcons on Friday.

 

Senior Becca Houk led a maroon-dominated performance in the 400-meter dash. Houk was first across the line with a PR time of 58.33, eclipsing her old best of 58.78 when she won the 400 in last Saturday's Heritage. Houk now has three victories in the 400 – that after never having run an open 400 in college before this season.
 
Houk, senior Chynna Phan (58.52) and sophomore Grace Bley (58.68) went 1-2-3 in the first of the two sections, with Phan and Bley also recording PRs. Then, Falcon sophomore Scout Cai won the second section in 58.43, giving her second place overall, with Phan and Bley right behind as SPU swept of the top four spots.
 
Meyer, Stepper, Houk, and Bley then teamed up to win the 4x100 in 47.41 seconds, the best time in the GNAC so far. Simon Fraser had been leading with a 48.26, but the Clan did not run a 4-by-1 on Friday.
 
PILES OF PRs
Those sprinters weren't the only ones coming up with personal-best performances on Friday. The Falcons racked up 21 altogether – 11 for the women and 10 for the men.
 
On the women's side, those 11 PRs were recorded by 11 different athletes. In addition to Stepper, Meyer and Cai (100), Houk, Phan and Bley (400), the other five came from sophomore Kate Lilly (2:14.03 in the 800), senior Hailey Kettel (2:24.62 in the 800), sophomore Katherine Walter (4:52.33 in the 1500), freshman Megan Hoback (4-11 in the high jump), and freshman Kellie May (17-5 ½ in the long jump).
 
 

Sophomore Joseph Perkins and freshman Colin Boutin set two apiece for the men, each of them in the 800 and 1500: 2:13.20 and 4:26.84, respectively, for Perkins; 2:13.85 and 4:22.75 for Boutin. Also logging them in the 800 were freshmen Elius Graff (2:01.72), Shad Galloway (2:05.06) and Royce Garcia (2:08.05), and fifth-year Chris Bench (2:07.22).
 
Joining Perkins and Boutin in the 1500 PR parade was freshman Aiden Manley (4:25.90). That was a drop of nearly 20 seconds from his college debut mark of 4:45.52 on March 3 at the Boitano Invite.
 
Also setting a lifetime best was sophomore Christian Wong in the 200 with his 24.39. Besides that, Wong tied his PR of 11.97 in the 100 dash.
 
TOO MUCH OF A GOOD THING IN FRISCO
On the one hand, the idea of competing under sunny skies at the San Francisco State Distance Carnival sounded good, given that sunny skies haven't really arrived in the Pacific Northwest yet.
 
But those sunny skies came with temperatures pushing 80 degrees by late Friday afternoon, and the runners in the women's 5000 meters certainly felt it.
 
 

Sophomore Alyssa Foote had the fastest time of the three Seattle Pacific runners in that race, finishing 32^nd overall in 17 minutes, 28.18 seconds. Senior Mary Charleson was 49^th in 17:45.28, and freshman Dania Holmberg clocked 17:59.75 for 73^rd.
 
Of the 151 women in the race, just five broke the 17-minute mark, led by winner Janelle Lincks of the Boulder Track Club (16:29.96). Last year, with temperatures in the low to mid 60s at race time, 21 of the 144 finishers broke 17, including Charleson (16:59.29).

 
UP NEXT
The Falcons will join Saint Martin's, British Columbia, and host Western Washington for the WWU Team Invitational next Friday, April 6, at Civic Stadium in Bellingham. Field events begin at 2:00 p.m., and track races start at 3:00.
 
 
NCAA WOMEN'S TRACK & FIELD
UBC Open
Friday, March 30, 2018
Rashpal Dhillon Track & Field Oval / Vancouver, B.C.
 
Team scores – Not kept.
 
100 – 1, Julia Stepper (SPU) 12.21!. Other SPU – 2, Renick Meyer 12.31!; 7, Becca Houk 12.71; 8, Scout Cai 12.80.
200 – 1, Jasneet Nijjar (Universal Athletics) 24.97. SPU – 2, Lani Taylor 25.78; 3, Julia Stepper 25.83; 8, Brooke Benner 26.59.
400 – 1, Becca Houk (SPU) 58.33. Other SPU – 2, Scout Cai 58.43; 3, Chynna Phan 58.52; 4, Grace Bley 58.68; 7, Renick Meyer 59.79; 13, Kate Lilly 1:01.93.
800 – 1, Natalia Hawthorn (UBC) 2:10.58. SPU – 3, Chynna Phan 2:13.01!; 5, Kate Lilly 2:14.03.
1500 – 1, Olivia Willett (Unattached) 4:46.00. SPU – 2, Katherine Walter 4:52.33; 4, Hailey Kettel 4:53.25.
10,000 – 1, Robyn Mildren (Vancouver Thunderbirds) 34:16.48. SPU – 4, Sedona McNerney 39:11.91.
100 hurdles – 1, Katarina Vlahovic (Universal Athletics) 14.50. No SPU.
400 hurdles – 1, Jessica Williams (UBC) 1:01.80. SPU – 4, Brooke Benner 1:06.75.
4x100 relay – 1, Seattle Pacific (Meyer, Stepper, Houk, Bley) 47.41. No other SPU.
High jump – 1, Alexa Porpaczy (Valley Royals) 5-8 ½ / 1.74m. SPU – 8, Megan Hoback 4-11 / 1.50m.
Pole vault – 1, Jewels Oliqurano (WWU) 11-1 ¾ / 3.40m. SPU – Emily Northey no height.
Long jump – 1, Julia Kwai Herdman (Unattached) 17-11 ¾ / 5.47m. SPU – 3, Kellie May 17-5 ½ / 5.32m; 11, Julia Stepper 14-10 ¾ / 4.54m.
Triple jump – 1, Olivia Campbell (UBC) 38-2 ¾ / 11.65m. SPU – 2, Kellie May 37-1 ¼ / 11.31m.
Shot put – 1, Jasmin Bhandal (Kajaks) 32-10 ½ / 10.02m. No SPU.
Discus – 1, Chanelle Eddy (WWU) 131-9 / 40.16m. No SPU.
Hammer – 1, Samantha Kennedy (Unattached) 173-6 ½ / 52.89m. No SPU.
Javelin – 1, Hannah Nienaber (WWU) 138-9 ½ / 42.31m. No SPU.
 
 
San Francisco State Distance Carnival
Friday, March 30, 2018
Chabot College / Hayward, Calif.
 
SPU events only
5000 – 1, Janelle Lincks (Boulder Track Club) 16:29.96. SPU – 32, Alyssa Foote 17:28.18; 49, Mary Charleson 17:45.28; 73, Dania Holmberg 17:59.75.
 
 
NCAA MEN'S TRACK & FIELD
UBC Open
Friday, March 30, 2018
Rashpal Dhillon Track & Field Oval / Vancouver, B.C.
 
Team scores – Not kept.
 
100 – 1, James Linde (Coquitlam Cheetahs) 11.80. SPU – 19, Christian Wong 11.97; 21, David Choi 12.05; 28, Miles Flett 12.31.
200 – 1, Amarveer Sandhu (Universal Athletics) 22.03. SPU – 11, Christian Wong 24.39; 18, David Choi 24.90.
400 – 1, Nathan George (Coquitlam Cheetahs) 47.27. SPU – 5, Jesse Phan 52.07; 9, Brysten James 53.86; 22, Miles Flett 54.28.
800 – 1, Rhys Kramer (Unattached) 1:54.17. SPU – 9, Jesse Phan 1:59.71; 13, Brysten James 2:01.40; 14, Elius Graff 2:01.72; 19, Shad Galloway 2:05.06; 20, Ben Halladay 2:06.31; 22, Chris Bench 2:07.22; 23, Royce Garcia 2:08.05; 27, Joseph Perkins 2:13.20; 28, Colin Boutin 2:13.85.
1500 – 1, Kieran Lumb (UBC) 3:50.14. SPU – 12, Ben Halladay 4:03.18; 14, Elius Graff 4:04.25; 23, Shad Galloway 4:14.99; 26, Colin Boutin 4:22.75; 27, Royce Garcia 4:22.93; 28, Aidan Manley 4:25.90; 29, Joseph Perkins 4:26.84.
10,000 – 1, Ben Jacot (WWU) 32:33.97. No SPU.
110 hurdles – 1, Anastas Eliopoulos (Unattached) 13.39. SPU – 5, Peyton Harris 15.35; 7, Shayne Carpenter 16.52.
400 hurdles – 1, Jacob Hanna (UBC) 54.74. No SPU.
4x100 relay – 1, British Columbia 43.81. SPU – 2, Seattle Pacific (Harris, Carpenter, Choi, Wong) 44.99.
High jump – 1, Eric Chatten (Valley Royals) 6-8 ¾ / 2.05m. No SPU.
Pole vault – 1, Chris Weiss (Unattached) 14-5 ¼ / 4.40m. SPU – 2, Davis Flintoff 12-9 ½ / 3.90m; 4, Austin Matzelle 12-3 ½ / 3.75m.
Long jump – 1, Denzel Brown (Coquitlam Cheetahs) 22-8 / 6.91m. SPU – 4, Peyton Harris 21-8 / 6.60m.
Triple jump – 1, Denzel Brown (Coquitlam Cheetahs) 47-11 ¼ / 14.61m. No SPU.
Shot put – 1, Jarrett Chong (South Surrey Athletic Club) 47-1 / 14.35m. No SPU.
Discus – 1, Andrew Li (Kajaks) 145-4 ½ / 44.33m. No SPU.
Hammer – 1, Vikramjit Gondara (Valley Royals) 188-3 ½ / 57.39m. No SPU.
Javelin – 1, Roan Allen (UBC) 202-3 / 61.64m. No SPU.