Complete results
 
SEATTLE – There was the last time. And then there was the fast time.
 
Dania Holmberg was very familiar with both of those on Saturday.
 
The Seattle Pacific junior, who hadn't run on an indoor track since the end of her freshman season, returned in full force – and speedy force – with an impressive performance in the mile at UW Indoor Preview.
 
Battling stride for stride with UCLA's Paige Carter for the entire five-plus laps at Dempsey Indoor, Holmberg held her ground all the way through the finish line, winning her heat in a time of 4 minutes, 58.90 seconds. Carter was right behind in 4:59.30. 

Saturday's performance gave her 17th place overall among the 40 competitors.
 
That was Holmberg's first sub-5 in the mile and was a drop of nearly 19 seconds from the 5:17.62 that she ran at the Great Northwest Athletic Conference Championships on Feb. 17, 2018.
 
It took her from then until Saturday morning to get another race under a roof.
 




"I was definitely feeling very nervous before the race since it has been over a year since I've competed indoors," said Holmberg, who missed the entire 2019 season because of a hip flexor. "I feel like I'm finally getting my sea legs after a couple years, so I'm very happy with the race. My goal was just to go out and compete to the best of my ability – whatever that looked like today."
 
Holmberg came back strong outdoors last spring, making it all the way to the NCAA Division II nationals in the 1500 and the 5000. Her time on Saturday barely missed making the NCAA provisional qualifying standard of 4:58.73. But with a handful of regular-season meets still remaining, plus the GNAC meet and SPU Final Qualifier next month, she will have other opportunities to meet it or beat it.
 
"I didn't know what (my time) was going to be," she said. (Later in the day, she ran her first-ever 3000, clocking 10:00.46, about 2 ½ seconds away from provisional). "I wasn't trying to chase any time – but I'm not mad about it. It was definitely in my mind that I could win my heat. I went in trying to position myself in such a way. I also realized I had some competition, and I was very grateful for it."
 
Holmberg moved to the front of her race immediately from the start. She and Carter were side by side through 700 meters, with Holmberg a step ahead. Carter edged in front at the 1200-meter mark, but by the time they cross the line for the bell lap and the final 300-plus meters, Holmberg had the lead again. It was still up for grabs coming down the stretch, but Holmberg hung on for the first indoor heat win of her career.
  
SPU associate head coach Chris Reed, who works with the team's distance runners, said he knew breaking the five-minute mark certainly was a possibility, but wasn't necessarily counting on it happening in the first meet of the year.
 
"The goal today was to compete. She had to find a way, and she was able to find a way," he said. "And on January 18, we're happy with that."
 
JUMPING OUT OF HIS SHOES
David Njeri's SPU career didn't get off to the best of starts on Saturday. The sophomore newcomer, a Tacoma native who competed last year for Wingate University in North Carolina, fouled on all three of his long jump attempts.
 
No such problem in the triple jump.
 
Njeri soared 45 feet, 7¼ inches on his first attempt, and followed that with two more 45-footers, albeit slightly shorter. His first mark was good for 11^th place.
 
That made him the farthest-flying Falcon in that event in at least 17 years. (The most immediately accessible indoor record book dates to 2004, although there was some indoor competition prior to that).
 
The SPU indoor triple jump record is 50-8½ by Steve Gough in 1970.
 
Prior to Njeri's effort on Saturday, the best recent mark had been 43-5¼ by Silas Newby in last year's UW Indoor Preview.
 
Njeri's previous collegiate best was 45-4. Saturday's mark would have been seventh at last year's GNAC meet.
 
AND THAT'S NOT ALL
-- SPU's sprinters got off to a respectable start. Julia Stepper, Peace Igbonagwam, Jenna Bouyer, and Grace Bley all were in the 7's for the 60-meter dash. Bley, Bouyer, and Stepper later ran the 200, and all three were in the 25s.
-- Junior Elizabeth Thompson set a personal-best time in the mile, finishing in 5:11.47. Her previous best was 5:13.48 on the Dempsey oval as a freshman in 2018.
--  Igbonagwam had the highest individual finish of the day for SPU. She was fourth in the long jump at 18-1. Renick Meyer was seventh at 17-9 ¾.
 
UP NEXT
The Falcons have all of the coming week to train, then will return to action with two meets in the final week of January. One group will travel to Oregon on Sunday, Jan. 26 for Portland Indoor One at the University of Portland's Chiles Center. Another group will head back to Dempsey Indoor on Friday and Saturday, Jan. 31-Feb. 1, for the UW Invitational.
 
 
NCAA WOMEN'S INDOOR TRACK AND FIELD
UW Indoor Preview
Saturday, Jan. 18, 2020
Dempsey Indoor / Seattle, Wash.
 
Team scores – Not kept.
 
SPU EVENTS ONLY
60-meter dash – 1, Brianna Duncan (Oregon) 7.27. SPU (all in qualification heats) – 17, Julia Stepper 7.82; 21, Peace Igbonagwam 7.88; 24, Jenna Bouyer 7.91; 26, Grace Bley 7.94; 31, Renick Meyer 8.02.
200 – 1, Jaide Stepter (Unattached) 23.56 (meet record, breaks old record of 23.60). SPU – 15, Grace Bley 25.42; 21, Jenna Bouyer 25.84; 23, Julia Stepper 25.93.
1000 – 1, Susan Ejore (Oregon) 2:45.34. SPU – 13, Katherine Walter 3:05.47.
Mile – 1, Eleanor Fulton (Unattached) 4:34.82. SPU – 17, Dania Holmberg 4:58.90; 33, Elizabeth Thompson 5:11.47.
3000 – 1, Regan Yee (Langley Mustangs) 8:58.25. SPU – 44, Dania Holmberg 10:00.46.
60 hurdles – 1, Emily Sloan (Oregon) 8.29. SPU (qualification heats) – 17, Renick Meyer 9.21.
4x400 relay – 1, UCLA 3:42.50. SPU – 10, Seattle Pacific (Scout Cai, Peace Igbonagwam, Julia Stepper, Grace Bley) 4:00.04.
Pole vault – 1, Olivia Gruver (UW) 15-3 ½ / 4.66m. SPU – T12, Scout Cai 12-0 / 3.66m; T25, Madison Licari 10-0 ½ / 3.06m.
Long jump – 1, Jelani Heath (UW) 18-9 ¾ / 5.73m. SPU – 4, Peace Igbonagwam 18-1 / 5.51m; 7, Renick Meyer 17-9 ¾ / 5.43m.
 
 
NCAA MEN'S INDOOR TRACK & FIELD
UW Indoor Preview
Saturday, Jan. 18, 2020
Dempsey Indoor / Seattle, Wash.
 
Team scores – Not kept.
 
SPU EVENTS ONLY
60 hurdles – 1, Greggmar Swift (Adidas) 7.66. SPU – 20, David Njeri 9.17.
Long jump – 1, Tristan James (Unattached) 24-0 ¼ / 7.32m. SPU – David Njeri, foul.
Triple jump – 1, Jaylen Taylor (UW) 49-7 ¼ / 15.12m. SPU – 11, David Njeri 45-7 ¼ / 13.90m.