Complete women's and men's results (PDF)
 
LACEY, Wash. – They were wet. They were cold. If they weren't track athletes and not already used to this kind of weather, they would have been downright miserable.
 
But a foursome of Seattle Pacific women was one other thing on Saturday afternoon.
 
They.
 
Were.
 
Fast.
 
In fact, the combination of Renick Meyer, Julia Stepper, Becca Houk, and Grace Bley were fast enough to make the NCAA Division II provisional qualifying list in the 4-by-100 relay, as they posted a winning time of 46.83 seconds in the Jay Hammer Meet at Saint Martin's University.
 
That beat the standard of 46.85 and came within six hundredths of the 46.77 school record, which has stood since 2013.
 
All of it in a steady rainstorm that let up briefly a couple times during the course of the day – although definitely not during that particular race.
 
"All right, I didn't plan to go swimming," freshman Stepper said with a laugh after she'd had an opportunity to dry off and warm up a bit in the nearby on-campus rec center. "But that's OK – I just tried to stay dry as much as I could I knew I trusted these ladies wholeheartedly, so it doesn't matter what the weather is. As long as we run fast, that's what counts. We put our hearts out there."
 
SPU's time ranks No. 13 nationally as of Saturday evening. It was the third week in row that Meyer, Stepper, Houk and Bley have run together. They posted a 47.41 at the UBC Open on March 30 in Vancouver, then lowered that to 47.09 at the WWU Team Invitational last Friday in Bellingham.
 
Now, they're into the 46s and into the national picture, despite conditions that usually don't lend themselves to fast times.
 
"Today was one of those days where we weren't really expecting to do that, but it kind of happened," Houk said. "It's really exciting to see it all come together. We had a great attitude, and we all went out there and got the job done."
 




The Falcons know they'll need to go even faster during the next four weeks to enhance their chances of making it to this year's nationals in Charlotte, N.C. Only the top 14 relays are guaranteed a spot in the meet, and last year's cutoff time was 46.04. Their time ranks 15th nationally as of Saturday evening (12th after removing three duplicate times for San Francisco State).
 
They're going to get another chance next Friday at the Bryan Clay Invitational on the first half of the team's Southern California trip. The Falcon coaches initially weren't going to enter a 4x1, focusing instead on other events. Those plans changed as soon as Saturday's performance was officially in the books.
 
"We haven't had a lot of challengers yet," said assistant coach Audra Smith, who works with Seattle Pacific's sprinters. (The group has won all three of its races; Saturday's margin was a whopping 2.72 seconds.) "It will be really good for us to go race with a handful of people who are beating us and have better times than us, and go try to see if we can sneak in there and get something done.
 
"It's really exciting. There's so much more to come," Smith added. "They were really solid today."
 
McPHEE RAN LIKE SHE'D NEVER BEEN AWAY
During the winter, senior Jordan McPhee helped the Falcon women's basketball put together an outstanding 23-8 record.
 
After her first college track race, she's 1-0.
 
McPhee ran with freshman teammate Dania Holmberg at the front of the pack from the get-go, then surged ahead in the final 100 meters to win the women's 1500.
 
Her time of 4 minutes, 45.43 seconds was enough to fend off a final charge from Northwest Universitiy's Sarah Estabrook (4:47.78). Holmberg was right there with them in a personal-best 4:46.89.
 




McPhee was a state-champion distance runner during her freshman and sophomore years at Mount Rainier High School in the suburb of Des Moines, southwest of Seattle near Sea-Tac Airport. She won the Washington state Class 4A (large schooo) 1600-meter title as a sophomore in 2012, just a few months after racing to the state cross country championship. She was second in 1600 at state as a freshman and second in the 3200 both years.
 
After that, she shifted her focus solely to basketball. But on Saturday, she competed as if she'd never stopped.
 
"It just felt good to be out here again," McPhee said. "It was nice to have Dania running with me so I had someone I knew. I just wanted to compete. I didn't even really have a game plan – just go out there and run as fast as I can."
 
On the one hand, assistant Chris Reed, SPU's distance coach, didn't know how McPhee would do.
 
On the other hand, he wasn't the least bit surprised by what she did.
 
"The one thing I know about Jordan from watching her videos from high school and really just watching her all four years of her basketball career is she's tough, she's gritty, and she's a competitor," Reed said. "The most impressive thing is that in six years, she has not forgotten how to race. We all like how fast she ran today. But the biggest thing is, she knew how to race."
 
AND THAT'S NOT ALL
-- Those four Falcon relay runners also enjoyed some individual success on Saturday. Renick Meyer won the 100-meter hurdles (a PR 14.67), Julia Stepper took the 200-meter dash (a college PR and GNAC-leading time of 25.03), Becca Houk won the 100 meters (season-best 12.35), and Grace Bley was first to the finish in the 400 meters (a PR 58.27).
-- Sophomore Sedona McNerney was the only competitor in the women's 5000 meters, so of course she won. More important to her was the time of 18:40.94, a season-best by nearly eight seconds.
-- The SPU women were third in the team scoring with 105 points. Western Washington won with 143, and Concordia-Portland was next with 107. The Falcon men were ninth with 25 points. Western won with 172.
 

-- Freshman Austin Matzelle won the men's pole vault, clearing 12 feet, 11½ inches. Not only was that his first win as a collegian, it was the first event win for the Seattle Pacific men this season.
-- Former Falcon runner Brian Comer, now competing at Multnomah University in Portland, won the mixed 10,000 meters with a time of 33:06.66.
-- The Falcons take their annual SoCal trip this coming week. Meyer, Scout Cai, and Kellie May will compete in the heptathlon at the Bryan Clay Invitational in Azusa on Wednesday and Thursday. The rest of that meet will take place on Friday. Then on Saturday, the team will head south to Long Beach for the Beach Invitational.
 
 
NCAA WOMEN'S TRACK & FIELD
Jay Hammer Meet
Saturday, April 14, 2018
Saint Martin's Track / Lacey, Wash.
 
Team scores – 1, Western Washington 143; 2, Concordia-Portland 107; 3, Seattle Pacific 105; 4, Pacific Lutheran 71 ½; 5, Central Washington 69; 6, Saint Martin's 53; 7, (tie) Seattle University and Olympic College 22; 9, (tie) Northwest University and Puget Sound 20; 11, Everett CC 17; 12, Green River CC 10 ½; 13, Multnomah University 10; 14, (tie) Southwest Oregon CC and Guerilla Running Racing Club 6; 16, Warner Pacivic 5; 17, (tie) Mount Hood CC and Clark College 4; 19, Evergreen State 2.
 
100 – 1, Becca Houk (SPU) 12.35!. No other SPU.
200 – 1, Julia Stepper (SPU) 25.03! Other SPU – 4, Lani Taylor 25.50
400 – 1, Grace Bley (SPU) 58.27. No other SPU.
800 – 1, Shawnee Konrad (WWU) 2:21.48. SPU – 2, Elizabeth Thompson 2:22.06.
1500 – 1, Jordan McPhee (SPU) 4:45.03. Other SPU – 3, Dania Holmberg 4:46.49
3000 – 1, Nicole Soleim (CWU) 10:29.80. No SPU.
5000 – 1, Sedona McNerney (SPU) 18:40.94. No other SPU.
10,000 – 1, Tovah Swartz-Ireland (WWU) 39:11.94. No SPU.
4x100 relay – 1, Seattle Pacific (Renick Meyer, Julia Stepper, Becca Houk, Grace Bley) 46.83#. No other SPU.
4x400 relay – 1, Olympic College 4:43.66. No SPU.
100 hurdles – 1, Renick Meyer (SPU) 14.67!. Other SPU – 3, Scout Cai 15.28; 10, Kellie May 16.31
400 hurdles – 1, Emily Bland (Unattached) 1:04.55. No SPU.
3000 steeplechase – 1, Johanna Erickson (Seattle U) 11:03.69. No SPU.
High jump – 1, Maddie Taylor (WWU) 5-3 ¼ / 1.61m. SPU – T9, Megan Hoback 4-9 ½ / 1.46m.
Pole vault – 1, Jewels Oliquiano (WWU) 10-5 ½ / 3.19m. SPU – Emily Northey no height.
Long jump – 1, Keeley Phommathirath (CWU) 17-9 / 5.41m. SPU – 3, Geneva Lehnert 16-10 ¾ / 5.15m; 5, Julia Stepper 16-8 ¼ / 5.09m.
Triple jump – 1, Emma Hill (Concordia-Portland) 36-2 ¼ / 11.03m. No SPU.
Shot put – 1, Rachel Bring (Concordia-Portland) 41-1 / 12.52m. No SPU.
Discus – 1, Rachel Bring (Concordia-Portland) 141-10 / 43.24m. No SPU.
Hammer – 1, Liz Larson (Saint Martin's) 172-4 / 52.53m. No SPU.
Javelin – 1, Katie Cotner (Unattached) 143-1 ½ / 43.63m. SPU – 13, Renick Meyer 107-10 / 32.86m; 20, Scout Cai 90-0 / 27.44m; 24, Kellie May 80-0 / 24.38m; 26, Geneva Lehnert 76-8 ½ / 23.38m.
 
 
NCAA MEN'S TRACK & FIELD
Jay Hammer Meet
Saturday, April 14, 2018
Saint Martin's Track / Lacey, Wash.
 
Team scores – 1, Western Washington 172; 2, Central Washington 96 ½; 3, Concordia-Portland 86; 4, Saint Martin's 75; 5, Pacific Lutheran 47; 6, Everett CC 42; 7, Mount Hood CC 32, 8, Northwest University 39; 9, Seattle Pacific 25, 10, Puget Sound 20; 11, Olympic College 19.5; 12, Southwest Oregon CC 18; 13, Seattle University 13; 14, Multnomah Universitiy 12; 15, (tie) Clark College and Green River CC 9; 17, Warner Pacific 8.
 
100 – 1, Carlos Ortiz (Concordia-Portland) 10.68. SPU – 27, Shayne Carpenter 11.74; 31,Christian Wong 11.89; 35, David Choi 12.13.
200 – 1,Carson Ketter (PLU) 21.65. SPU – 25, Miles Flett 24.46; 27, Christian Wong 24.54; 29, David Choi 24.85
400 – 1, Daniel Calderon (CWU) 49.37. SPU – 15, Miles Flett 53.95
800 – 1, Doc Porter (CWU) 1:57.25. SPU – 20, Chris Bench 2:05.37
1500 – 1, Kyler Sager (WWU) 3:57.60. SPU – 10, Ben Hansen 4:08.89; 18, Aidan Manley 4:20.87.
3000 – 1, Trevor Allen (CWU) 8:50.23. SPU – 3, Shad Galloway 8:55.74; 5, Royce Garcia 8:59.97; 8, Colin Boutin 9:07.28; 12, Joseph Perkins 9:17.66.
5000 – 1, Brad Hodkinson (PLU) 14:55.23. No SPU.
10,000 – 1, Brian Comer (Multnomah) 33:06.66. No SPU.
4x100 relay – 1, Saint Martin's 42.37. SPU – 6, Seattle Pacific (Peyton Harris, Shayne Carpenter, David Choi, Christian Wong) 44.47.
4x400 relay – 1, Saint Martin's 3:33.72. No SPU.
110 hurdles – 1, Matt Wells (UPS) 14.54. SPU – 10, Shayne Carpenter 16.65.
400 hurdles – 1, Cordell Cummings (WWU) 55.94. No SPU.
3000 steeplechase – 1, Eli Boudouris (Seattle U) 9:19.01. No SPU.
High jump – 1, Mikel Hildebrandt (Unattached) 6-11 / 2.11m. No SPU.
Pole vault – 1, Austin Matzelle (SPU) 12-11 ½ / 3.95m. Other SPU – Davis Flintoff no height.
Long jump – 1, Josh Schulz (Saint Martin's) 21-10 ¼ / 6.66m. SPU – 8, Peyton Harris 19-11 / 6.07m.
Triple jump – 1, Jakobe Ford (Everett CC) 47-9 ¼ / 14.56m. No SPU.
Shot put – 1, Bryce Bryant-Leat (WWU) 49-0 ¼ / 14.94m. No SPU.
Discus – 1, Seth Bridge (Concordia-Portland) 140-3 / 42.76m. No SPU.
Hammer – 1, Kauanoe Vanderpoel (Saint Martin's) 180-2 ½ / 54.93m. No SPU.
Javelin – 1, Kaden Wilson (Unattached) 189-11 / 57.89m. No SPU.