THE SCHEDULE:                Seattle Pacific at Doris Heritage Track Festival
                                       Saturday, March 20, 2021
                                       West Seattle Stadium / Seattle, Wash.
                                       MORNING: Field events 10:00   Track events 10:30
                                       AFTERNOON: Field events 2:00   Track events 3:00
                                       Live results        No live Webcast
 
 
SEATTLE – During a year when all of their regular-season meets will be relatively close to home, this one will be right at home for the Seattle Pacific Falcons.
 
For the fifth time in the past six springs, SPU will host the Doris Heritage Track Festival. It is set for Saturday at West Seattle Stadium.
 
The meet is resuming after the 2020 edition was canceled because of the coronavirus pandemic.
 
In keeping with current health and safety protocols, the meet will be divided into two distinct sessions in order to limit the number of competitors in the stadium at any one time.
 
The morning session will feature the throwing events, beginning at 10:00 a.m., and the distance races, which start at 10:30. Then in the afternoon, the jump events will get started at 2:00 p.m. On the track will be the sprints and hurdles, starting at 3:00. The last scheduled event of the day is the women's 200-meter dash at 5:00 p.m.
 
KEEPING TRACK OF THE ACTION
Along with those covid-related health and safety protocols, fans will not be allowed to attend.
 
However, live results will be available throughout the day. The appropriate link can be found at the top of this story. The meet will not have a live Webcast.
 
LOTS OF CLOUDS, MAYBE A FEW RAINDROPS
Competitors will be able to expect typically cool March temperatures on Saturday, but there's no guarantee it will be dry all day. The forecast calls for mostly cloudy skies with some sun breaks and highs pushing into the lower 50s. A shower or two is possible throughout the day, but any precipitation is expected to be light.
 
THE FESTIVAL TURNS 5
The Doris Heritage Track Festival has had its current association with the longtime Seattle Pacific and world-class distance running legend since 2016, when it began as the Doris Heritage Distance Festival. It became a full-fledged meet, encompassing most every event on the card in 2018, and changed its name to Track Festival.
 
But the meet itself is one of the longest-running events in the Seattle area. It was known previously as the Club Northwest Spring Break Open. One thing that hasn't changed is its traditional site of West Seattle Stadium. Prior to the 2018 meet, that venue was upgraded with a brand-new track surface.
 
Heritage is regarded as The First Lady of American distance running. Synonymous with long races and with Seattle Pacific, she is enshrined in seven different Halls of Fame. At one time, she owned every American and world record from 440 yards to the mile.
 




SCOUTING THE DORIS HERITAGE TRACK FESTIVAL
All of the Falcons who got off to a strong start at the PLU Open on March 6 will have a chance to meet or beat their performances this weekend – and a handful of athletes who didn't compete in the season opener will make their season debut.
 
Scout Cai (pole vault) and Grace Bley (200) are among the early-season NCAA Division II national leaders, and both are in those events again. Bley also is racing in the 100.
 
 

In fact, SPU's four leading sprinters – Bley, fellow senior Julia Stepper, and juniors Jenna Bouyer and Peace Igbonagwam – are all in the 100 and 200. In addition, they will team up for the 4-by-100 relay, and that foursome has quite a history together. They have set school records in each of the past two seasons (the current standard is 46.23). Also in the 100 and 200 is freshman Aniya Green, with high school PRs of 12.42 in the former and 25.88 in the latter.
 
Senior Dania Holmberg, who won both the 800 and 1500 at PLU, will go in the 5000 this time, and that will be her only race of the day. Senior Elizabeth Thompson and freshman Ellie Rising, having teamed with Holmberg for a 1-2-3 finish in the 1500 two weeks ago, will be in that race again. Both are also in the 800. Kelsey Washenberger is set for the 5000.
 
 
 

Jeff Gordon burst onto the scene in speedy fashion in the meet at Pacific Lutheran, winning the 200-meter dash in 22.12 seconds. It has been almost eight years (2013) since a Falcon ran that fast in that race. He'll take another shot at it, along with the 100. Freshman Michael Gabelein will be in those same two races.
 
 

Junior Brayden Schultz had a highly successful opener, winning the 800 and placing second in the 1500, both in PR time. He's in those races again. A handful of other Falcons – senior Elius Graff, junior Colin Boutin, and freshman Austin Weese – will be in the 5000, which has a total of 46 entries and will be divided into multiple heats. Graff's last race at that distance was the 2019 GNAC Championships, and he came up with a PR performance of 15 minutes, 9.83 seconds to nab eighth place and a team point.
 
Competing for the first time as a Falcon will be freshman Darius Holmes. He had success across several events at Klamath Union High School in Oregon. He will do the 100-meter dash, pole vault, and long jump on Saturday.
 
LIKE THEY'D NEVER BEEN AWAY
Top-caliber marks don't usually emerge from the first meet of the year. It's usually a day just to get back into a competitive mindset.
 
Except the PLU Open on March 6 in the Tacoma suburb of Parkland was no ordinary opener. For the four teams that were at the Pacific Lutheran Track, it was their first outdoor meet in exactly 52 weeks. Not since the Ed Boitano Invitational last March 7 at the University of Puget Sound had SPU athletes donned their uniforms.
 
The Falcons were clearly eager to get going. Scout Cai popped a national-leading mark of 12 feet, 11 ½ inches in the pole vault, a height good enough to put her onto the provisional qualifying list for the NCAA Division II nationals. Grace Bley broke the 25-second mark in the 200-meter dash right away, coming through the wire in 24.81. Dania Holmberg won a pair of distance races, taking the 800 and 1500. SPU swept the hurdles with Renick Meyer in the 100s and Peace Igbonagwam in the 400s.
 
A distance veteran and a pair of newcomers grabbed the spotlight on the men's side. Brayden Schultz broke the two-minute mark for the first time in the 800 meters, winning in 1:58.47. He also posted a PR of 4:03.36 in the 1500. Jeff Gordon won the 200 in 22.12, the fast time by a Falcon man in that race since 2013. Carter McGinnis took the pole vault by getting over at 14 feet, 1¼ inches.
 
4 CATEGORIES, 4 ATHLETES OF THE WEEK
Those performances certainly caught people's attention.

In fact, they caught enough attention that SPU swept the four Great Northwest Athletic Conference Athlete of the Week awards that were announced on March 8.
 
Scout Cai was named the Women's Field Athlete of the Week, and Grace Blay was the Women's Track Athlete of the Week.
 
Carter McGinnis took the Men's Field Athlete of the Week honor, and Jeff Gordon was honored as the Men's Track Athlete of the Week.
 
BREAKING RECORDS – AND THEN SOME
Of the 40 event on the Doris Heritage Festival list – 20 each for men and women – eight of those saw meet-record performances in 2019.
 
Of those new marks, one of them belongs to Seattle Pacific. The women's 4-by-100 relay team of Renick Meyer, Jenna Bouyer, Grace Bley, and Julia Stepper won in 47.52 seconds. That erased the old standard of 49.22 set in 2006 by a foursome from the University of British Columbia.
 
The other new records were in the women's 200 (25.22 by Assa Kaba of Washington), women's 400 hurdles (59.46 by Darhian Mills of Washington), women's triple mump (38 feet, 7 inches by Brooke Williams of Central Washington), the men's 3000 steeplechase (9:16.88 by Andy Slenning, running unattached), the men's 4-by-100 relay (40.96 by Washington, the men's 4-by-400 relay (3:17.62 by Western Washington), and the men's high jump (7-0 ½ by Tyler Cronk of Saint Martin's).
 
BIRDS OF A FEATHER WILL GET TOGETHER
SPU has added a dual meet against Seattle University to the schedule. The Falcons and Redhawks will square off on Saturday, April 10 at West Seattle Stadium. A starting time has not yet been finalized.
 
UP NEXT
The Falcons will return to action next week at the Ed Boitano Invitational. Competition will take place at Baker Stadium on the University of Puget Sound campus. A final schedule for the meet has not yet been released.