PORTLAND, Ore. – The Seattle Pacific Falcons didn't waste any time setting some high standards for themselves go begin the outdoor track and field schedule.
 
Some of those high standards certainly caught people's attention at last Saturday's PLU Open.
 
Scout Cai, Grace Bley, Jeff Gordon, and Carter McGinnis all won their individual events, all jumped onto the early-season list of national leaders, and now have combined to sweep all four Great Northwest Athletic Conference Athlete of the Week awards to begin the spring.
 
 

"I can't remember an outdoor opener that has had the kind of success that our team had at PLU on Saturday," SPU head coach and program director Karl Lerum said. "In reflecting on it, it makes sense to me, as these kids have been training hard and looking forward to the chance to compete for a long time. There was a lot of spirit of gratitude to Saturday, and I think they made the most of their opportunities."
 
Cai, the women's Field Athlete of the Week, set an NCAA Division II national-leading mark of 12 feet, 11½ inches to win the pole vault. She got over on her first attempt at that height, and also cleared four bars prior to that, three of them on her first attempt. Cai's mark beat her previous personal-best of 12-10, with which she won the 2019 GNAC title. She followed up that effort two weeks later with an All-American eighth-place finish at the D2 nationals.
 
The women's Track Athlete of the Week is Bley, who hadn't run 200 meters on an outdoor track since the 2019 GNAC Championships, but looked as if she'd never been away, The senior powered her way around in 24.81 seconds, the second-fastest time in the early-season D2 rankings. She is the two-time defending champion in the GNAC outdoor 200, and has gone as fast as 24.48, that on April 19, 2019 at the Bryan Clay Invitational in Azusa, California. Bley finished up Saturday by leading off SPU's winning 4-by-400 relay team.
 
Cai and Bley were both seniors in 2020. They are competing this year under an NCAA decision that allowed all 2020 spring sports athletes to keep that season of eligibility since last year's schedules ultimately were canceled because of the pandemic.
 
Gordon, a freshman, is the men's Track Athlete of the Week. He blitzed to a victory in the men's 200 meters, hitting the finish line in 22.12 seconds. That time is No. 6 nationally on the Division II list. It is the fastest time by a Falcon man in that event since 2013. Gordon finished his day by running the anchor leg on SPU's second-place 4-by-400 relay. 
 
McGinnis, the men's Field Athlete of the Week, made his college debut by clearing 14 feet, 1¼ inches to win the men's pole vault. His mark ranks No. 10 nationally. McGinnis entered the competition at that height after passing on earlier bars, and got over on his first attempt.
 
"All of those performances were good. But as a whole, almost across the board, I felt good about our effort on Saturday – that's not usually the case for an opener," Lerum said. "Our job now is to carry that success from Saturday into Monday and Tuesday and Wednesday workouts, and to be able to sense a little bit of success and understand that the work pays off in performance."
 
The Athlete of the Week award for Cai is her second for outdoor track and her third overall (one for indoor). Bley, as well as the two freshman men, all won it for the first time.