THE SCHEDULE:                Seattle Pacific vs. Seattle University
                                                Friday, April 9, 2021
                                                West Seattle Stadium / Seattle, Wash.
                                                Field events, 2:00 p.m.     Track events, 3:00 p.m.
                                                No live Webcast        Live results
 
 
SEATTLE – As they keep moving forward through the spring track and field schedule, the Seattle Pacific Falcons will do something a little different this week.
 
For one day, they'll move back – to a different era.
 
Instead of another invitational with multiple teams, SPU will focus on just one team as it gets together with Seattle University for a dual meet at West Seattle Stadium.
 
Field events begin at 2:00 p.m., and races on the track start at 3:00. The final event is set for 5:05 p.m.
 
The Falcons are returning to action following last Saturday's Western Washington Invitational in Bellingham, where they did not compete a full squad, but still came away with four event victories.
 
KEEPING TRACK OF THE ACTION
Fans will not be admitted to admitted meet. Live results will be available throughout the day by clicking on the link at the top of this story. No live Webcast will be available.
 
THE SUN WILL BE HIDING
Not only will the Falcons and Redhawks be going against each other, they quite possibly will be going against the elements, as well. The forecast for cloud skies with high temperatures just into the upper 40s, with a "real feel" in the low 40s. However, they likely will be able to stay dry as the rain chance is minimal.
  
BACK IN THE DAY, DUALS WERE THE DEAL
During the early years of the Seattle Pacific program – when it was "College" instead of "University" – dual meets were the norm on the schedule. Regular opponents included Puget Sound, Portland, Pacific Lutheran, and Western Washington State College (now WWU), among others.
 
Invitationals started becoming more frequent in 1972. By the latter stages of that decade, invites made up the entirety of the regular-season docket.
 
The last time the Falcons engaged in a straight-up dual was April 8, 1978, a women's contest against the University of Oregon, Seattle Pacific won, 68-59.
 
In fact, that is one of just two duals in the entire women's results binder, which dates back to 1975. The other one was on March 31, 1977, when the Falcons beat Oregon State 85-49.
 
The last dual in the men's results binder was April 23, 1977, a contest at the University of Puget Sound in Tacoma. The Loggers won, 102-41. The last dual-meet win for the Seattle Pacific men was April 6, 1973, a 75-69 decision at Pacific Lutheran.
 
In looking through all of those years of results pages, SPU and Seattle U have never met in a dual meet.
 
Team scoring will follow the traditional dual-meet system: 5 points-3-points-1 point for first, second, and third place in individual events, and 5 for first place in the relays. (Only the winning relay team scores points.)
 




CELEBRATING THE SENIORS
As part of Friday's meet, Seattle Pacific will salute a class of 10 seniors who are wrapping up their college careers.

Included in the group are seven Class of 21 members: distance runners Elius Graff, Dania Holmberg and Elizabeth Thompson, multi-eventers Kellie May and Renick Meyer, pole vaulter Emily Northey, and sprinter Julia Stepper.
 
Also being honored are sprinter Grace Bley, pole vaulter / multi-eventer Scout Cai, and distance runner Kate Lilly. They were seniors in 2020, but lost their seasons when everything was shut down because of the coronavirus pandemic.
 
After that happened, the NCAA ruled that they, along with all other spring sports athletes, would be able to retain that year of eligibility and use it in 2021, which Bley, Cai, and Lilly are doing.
 
SCOUTING THE SEATTLE U DUAL
This will be a full meet for the Falcons, and nearly everyone will be entered in their favorite events.
 
In the women's sprints, that means seniors Grace Bley and Julia Stepper, sophomore Jenna Bouyer, and freshman Aniya Green will be in the 100- and 200-meter dashes. Bley, Stepper, and Bouyer occupy the top three GNAC spots in those two events, albeit in different orders. As they did at last week's Western Washington Invitational, those three will team with senior Renick Meyer in the 4-by-100 relay. They're also entered in the 4-by-400, although freshman Charisma Smith will join them instead of Meyer.
 
SPU also is loading up the distances – and this week, the 3000 meters will be on the card, along with the 800 and 1500. Senior Elizabeth Thompson, along with freshmen Annika Esvelt, Libby Michael and Ellie Rising will double up in the 8 and the 15. Rising will be seeking her third straight 800 victory, and Thompson already has a 1500 win. Senior Dania Holmberg and sophomore Kelsey Washenberger are slated for the 1500-3000 doubles. Senior Kate Lilly is set to make her 2021 debut, entered in the 3000.
 
Senior Scout Cai is 4 for 4 in the pole vault, and will do that again, along with the javelin.
 
The Falcon multi-eventers will be busy. Meyer, in addition to the 4-by-100 relay, is slated for the 200, 100-meter hurdles, and long jump. Freshman Abby Kauffman is entered in the 200, 100 hurdles, and javelin.
 
Most of the Falcon men penciled in for at least two events. Senior Elius Graff, freshman Jon Owen, and junior Brayden Schultz are in the 800 and 1500. Last week, Graff broke the four-minute mark in the 15 for the first time with a 3:59.27. He's on the brink of breaking two minutes in the 8, coming in with a personal-best of 2:00.21. Owen got his first sub-2 on March 2 at the Ed Boitano Invitational with a 1:59.91.
 
Freshman Austin Weese came up with a respectable time of 9:33.86 in his first try at the 3000-meter steeplechase, and is entered in that one again. Joining him is sophomore Jared Putney, who's in the steeple for the first time since the 2019 Great Northwest Athletic Conference meet, when he came from the 10^th-seeded position to pull out an eighth-place team point.
 
Freshmen Evan Carpenter and Julius Shepherd are scheduled to do a 200-400 sprint double. They're also slated to run both relays, joined by pole vaulters Brad Bowman and Kainoa Lee on the 4-by-100, then by Owen and fellow freshman J.R. Hentges on the 4-by-400.
 
THE THRILL OF 3
Since his 2018 freshman season, Elius Graff had run the 1500 meters seven times. Like everyone who runs that event on a regular basis, one of the big goals is to break the four-minute barrier.
 
On his eighth try, Graff did it.
 
It happened last Saturday inside Bellingham's Civic Stadium at the Western Washington Invitational. Competing against eight other runners in the second heat of that race – the fast heat – Graff came across the finish line in 3 minutes, 59.27 seconds.
 
That was nearly 10 seconds faster than the 4:09.10 he ran at the PLU Open on March 6 to start the season. And it was 6 ½ seconds better than his previous career best of 4:03.74 set as a freshman on March 10, 2018 at the PLU Open.
 
Since then, Graff clocked another 4:03, a 4:06, and a pair of 4:07s, all during his 2019 sophomore year. His only race in 2020 was the 800 at the season-opening Ed Boitano Invitational before the rest of the season was canceled.
 
SO WHAT'S THE STORY THIS WEEK?
-- This is Seattle Pacific's second meet in West Seattle Stadium this season. The first one was the Doris Heritage Track Festival on March 20, hosted by the Falcons.
-- In the Doris Heritager, SPU athletes recorded five event victories: Jenna Bouyer in the 100-meter dash, Ellie Rising in the 800, Elizabeth Thompson in the 1500, Dania Holmberg in the 5000, and Scout Cai in the pole vault.
-- All except Holmberg are entered in those same events this week. Holmberg will do the 1500 and the 3000. The 5K is not on the card.
-- Seattle U also was in the Heritage Festival and won four events, three of them on the men's side: Ansel Pendley-Griffin in the 800 and 1500, Isaiah Payne in the 100-meter dash. The other was in the women's 4-by-100 relay.
-- The Falcons are up to 26 event victories through the first month of the season. That includes four from last week in Bellingham, with Bouyer in the 400 meters, Renick Meyer in the 100-meter hurdles, the foursome of Bouyer, Meyer, Julia Stepper, and Grace Bley in the 4-by-100 relay, and Cai in the pole vault.
 
SWEEPING THE TOP THREE, TIMES FOUR
With Julia Stepper's GNAC-leading time of 12.25 in the 100-meter dash at the Western Washington meet, the Falcons are now 1-2-3 on the conference list for that event, plus three others heading into this week.
 
Stepper, Grace Bley, and Jenna Bouyer occupy the top three rungs in the 100 dash rankings (with Peace Igbonagwam at No. 5.) In the 200, it's Stepper, Bley, and Bouyer.
 
A pair of distance races also have a 1-2-3 flock of Falcons. The 800 is led by freshman Ellie Rising, followed by Elizabeth Thompson and Dania Holmberg. In the 1500, it's Holmberg, Thompson, and Rising.
 
Holmberg also has the best time in the 5000, making her one of four women leading two events. Fellow senior Renick Meyer is on top of the 100-meter hurdles and long jump. The other two double-leaders are Western Washington's Katie Hurley (400 meters, triple jump) and Central Washington's Avery Fisk (shot put, discus).

Click on this link for a complete look at GNAC leaders.
 
NATIONALLY SPEAKING
On the list of top marks in NCAA Division II, as reported on the Track and Field Results Reporting System (TFRRS):
-- Grace Bley is No. 23 in the 200 at 24.61. Jami Wright of Southern Wesleyan is No. 1 at 23.58.
-- Scout Cai is No. 11 in the pole vault at 12 feet, 11½ inches. Amanda Fassold of Azusa Pacific leads at 14-0
-- Dania Holmberg is No. 16 in the 5000 at 17:04.76. Roisin Flanagan of Adams State is No. 1 at 15:57.81.
-- Renick Meyer is is tied for No. 20 in the long jump at 18-11 ¾. Marie Jeanne Ourega from Academy of Art is leading at 21-7 ¼.
-- Ellie Rising is No. 19 in the 800 at 2:13.95. Bailey Sharon of Western Colorado is No. 1 at 2:06.07.
-- The 4-by-100 relay with Jenna Bouyer, Renick Meyer, Julia Stepper, and Grace Bley is No. 13 at 47.05. West Texas A&M is on top at 45.87.

Click on this link for a complete look at NCAA Division II national leaders.
 
POLLING PLACE
SPU's women are No. 6 in the West Region and No. 51 nationally in this week's rankings compiled by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association.
 
The Falcons are the highest-ranked GNAC team on both the national and regional lists.

Azusa Pacific is No. 1 not only in the West and No. 3 nationally. West Texas A&M leaped ahead of Azusa for the No. 1 spot on this week's national list.

AROUND THE GNAC
Click on this link for news, notes, and results from around the Great Northwest Athletic Conference.
 
UP NEXT
The Falcons head to Ellensburg next Saturday for the CWU Wildcat Invitational. Field events begin at 9:30 a.m., and track events start at noon. The final race is set for 5:10 p.m. All competition will take place at the Central Washington Recreation Sports Complex.