MONMOUTH, Ore. – Before her teammates even ran their first race on the track, Renick Meyer already had a first-place finish in the field.
 
And she was just getting started.
 
The Seattle Pacific senior won the long jump title for the second time in her career, then later came up with big performances in the 100-meter hurdles and the 100-meter dash on the first day of the Great Northwest Athletic Conference Championships.
 
"Everything just came together nicely," Meyer said in her usual modest manner after completing her highly productive day at Western Oregon University's McArthur Field. "I was just working on some things and it panned out well for me."
 
Meyer wasn't the only Falcon coming up clutch as SPU make a bid for its third consecutive team title and fifth in the last six years.
 
-- Senior Kate Lilly, who did her first-ever 3000-meter steeplechase just three weeks ago, came through with a 24-second personal-best time that gave her a second-place finish. She came into the meet seeded third, which would have been worth six points, but instead collected eight for her runner-up performance.
 
-- Senior Scout Cai, having done the high jump just once this year as she spent the spring focusing primarily on the pole vault, cleared 5 feet, 3 ¾ inches to grab fifth place and four points. She came into the meet seeded a non-scoring 11^th off her mark of 4-11¾ two weeks ago at the Buc Scoring Invitational.
 
-- Freshman Belle Brandenfels, in her first-ever 10,000 meters, ran to a fourth-place finish to pick up five points. She was unseeded.
 
SPU also came up big in the sprint preliminary races, gaining the top four seeds in the 100, the first, third and sixth seeds in the 200, along with the third and sixth seeds in the 400.
 
So while Western Washington has the lead in the women's team standings with 78 points and SPU sits fourth with 39 after Day 1, the Falcons are looking for some big points not only in the sprints, but also in the distance races and a couple of field events on Saturday.
 
"We talk about it a lot that we're gong to come and set the table for the second day," head coach Karl Lerum said. "We certainly did everything we needed to do today, and more. We're excited to keep this momentum going (on Saturday)."
 




MEYER GOT THE JOB DONE EARLY
Coming into the meet, Meyer had a season-best long jump mark of 19-2 from the GNAC women's heptathlon on May 4. That came on her third and final attempt, and it was far enough to win that event and eventually win the hep.
 
She left that measurement way behind with her very first jump on Friday, going 19-7. The second one was just a bit behind that at 19-5¾, then came her eventual winning leap of 19-7½ (5.98 meters) on the third try. The only frustrating part for Meyer as she looked to go even farther was that she fouled on all three of her finals attempts – the first time clearly, the second and third times just barely.
 
Even so, the closest anyone came to her was 19-4 by Western Washington's Aliyah Dawkins.
 
"It's one of my favorite events and one of my better ones, so it's always nice to kind of see what I can do in it and go out there," Meyer said. "I knew I could jump far. It's kind of a bummer that I fouled on all three of the last ones. But it's just good to know that I had consistent and far jumps."
 
Her preliminary time of 14.01 in the 100 hurdles beat her previous best of 14.13 that gave her second place at GNAC as a freshman in 2018. Friday's second-fastest time was 14.44 from McCall DeChenne of Central Washington.
 
In the 100-meter dash, Meyer's only time in it this season was 12.72 back on March 27. She said she specifically asked Lerum for the chance to run it at GNAC, and delivered a 12.05 that took her from a non-scoring No. 9 seed all the way to the No. 4 seed for Saturday's finals.
 
"What a statement for her to come out and jump (19-7) on her first jump – and then come back and have I would say six of the best jumps she has had in two years. We all wish we could have measured a couple more of them," Falcons coach Lerum said. "Then she runs a big lifetime best in the hurdles, then comes back and runs seven-tenths of a second faster than last time in the 100.
 
"To say she had it rolling today would be an understatement."

SPRINTERS COME THROUGH
Jenna Bouyer was firing on all cylinders. The sophomore posted the fastest times of the day in both the 100 and 200 dashes and will lead a strong Falcons contingent to the starting line in those races on Saturday.
 
 

Bouyer tied her personal-best in the 100 with a 11.92. Senior Julia Stepper broke 12 seconds for the first time this year, finishing in 11.97. Senior Grace Bley matched her PB of 12.01. Meyer's 12.05 is the fourth seed.
 
Bouyer also came up with a PB in the 200, stopping the watch in 24.61 – way below her previous best of 24.79. Bley is the No. 3 seed after a 24.70, and Stepper is No. 6 at 25.22.
 
Sophomore Peace Igbonagwam, who has been dealing with a hamstring injury, retained the No. 3 seed in the 400, getting to the finish line in 58.48. Freshman Charisma Smith came through with a career-best 1:00.25, taking her from unseeded to sixth seed for the finals.



 

PUTNEY PUTS PEDAL DOWN IN STEEPLE
Sophomore Jared Putney started this season hoping to hit 9:19 in the 3000-meter steeplechase. He blew that goal away on Friday, placing fourth with a 9:10.92 that put him onto the NCAA provisional qualifying list for the first time in his career. Putney started the season with a 9:37.15, then whacked 13 seconds off of that two weeks ago with a 9:23.93 at the Buc Scoring Invitational in Spokane.
 
Sophomore David Njeri took sixth place in the men's long jump at 22 feet, 2 ½ inches. On Saturday, he'll go for the triple jump title, coming in as the top seed at 48-0½, a mark he hit in Spokane.
 
 

Freshman Brad Bowman finally broke a barrier – and in timely fashion, at that. After clearing 13-11½ three times this season, including at last week's Ken Shannon Invitational, he got over a 14-foot bar – and with plenty of room to spare. Bowman finished sixth at 14-6 ¼.

For the third straight GNAC meet, Colin Boutin scored in the 10,000 meters. This time, it was fifth place in 32:29.50.
 

UP NEXT
The meet concludes on Saturday. Field events start at noon, and track races begin at 2:15 p.m. Fans will not be admitted, but live results will be available throughout the day.
 
 
NCAA WOMEN'S TRACK & FIELD
GNAC Championships
Friday, May 14, 2021
McArthur Field / Monmouth, Ore.
 
Team scores – 1, Western Washington 78; 2, Central Washington 52; 3, Western Oregon 45; 4, Seattle Pacific 39; 5, Northwest Nazarene 30.5; 6, Alaska Anchorage 11.5; 7, Saint Martin's 11; 8, Montana State Billings 6.
 
FINALS
10,000 – 1, Bethany Danner (NNU) 37:09.29. SPU – 4, Belle Brandenfels 39:16.56.
3000 steeplechase – 1, Talia Dreicer (WWU) 11:04.04. SPU – 2, Kate Lilly 11:12.99.
High jump – 1, Aliyah Dawkins (WWU) 5-8 / 1.73m. SPU – 5, Scout Cai 5-3¾ / 1.57m.
Long jump – 1, Renick Meyer (SPU) 19-7½ / 5.98m#. Other SPU – 10, Kellie May 17-7 ½ / 5.37m.
Shot put – 1, Moana Gianotti (WOU) 45-0½ / 13.73m. No SPU.
Discus – 1, Avery Fisk (CWU) 141-10 / 43.24m. No SPU.
 
PRELIMINARIES
100 – 1, Jenna Bouyer (SPU) 11.92. Other SPU finals qualifiers – 2, Julia Stepper 11.97; 3, Grace Bley 12.01; 4, Renick Meyer 12.05. Other SPU – 12, Aniya Green 12.69.
200 – 1, Jenna Bouyer (SPU) 24.61. Other SPU finals qualifiers – 3, Grace Bley 24.70; 6, Julia Stepper 25.22. Other SPU – 12, Aniya Green 26.38.
400 – 1, Tylantiss Atlas (UAA) 58.59. SPU finals qualifiers – 3, Peace Igonagwam 58.48; 6, Charisma Smith 1:00.25. No other SPU.
100 hurdles – 1, Renick Meyer (SPU) 14.01#. No other SPU.
400 hurdles – 1, McCall DeChenne (CWU) 1:02.93. No SPU.
 
 
NCAA MEN'S TRACK & FIELD
GNAC Championships
Friday, May 14, 2021
McArthur Field  / Monmouth, Ore.
 
Team scores – 1, Western Washington 96; 2, Central Washington 60; 3, Western Oregon 56; 4, Saint Martin's 21; 5, Northwest Nazarene 18; 6, Seattle Pacific 15; 7, Alaska Anchorage 7.
 
FINALS
10,000 – 1, Eric Hamel (WWU) 31:11.96. SPU – 5, Colin Boutin 32:29.50.
3000 steeplechase – 1, Jeret Gillingham (WWU) 8:55.30#. SPU – 4, Jared Putney 9:10.92#; 10, Austin Weese 9:41.99.
Pole vault – 1, Braydon Maier (CWU) 15-6¼ / 4.73m. SPU – 6, Brad Bowman14-6 ¼ / 4.43m; 11, Kainoa Lee 13-6½ / 4.13m.
Long jump – 1, Jalon Fields (WOU) 23-4½ / 7.12m. SPU – 6, David Njeri 22-2½ / 6.76m.
Shot put – 1, Ben Malquist (WWU) 55-0 / 16.76m#. No SPU.
Discus – 1, Karsten Collins (WOU) 150-4 / 45.84m. SPU – 13, Darius Holmes 107-3 / 32.70m.
 
PRELIMINARIES
100 – 1, Zachary Davis (CWU) 10.73. SPU finals qualifier – 5, Jeff Gordon 10.89. No other SPU.
200 – 1, Bryant Welch (WWU) 21.87. SPU finals qualifier – 4, Jeff Gordon 22.06. Other SPU – 15, Michael Gabelein 23.22.
400 – 1, Bryant Welch (WWU) 49.22. SPU – 9, Evan Carpenter 52.19.
800 – 1, Macauley Franks (WWU) 1:52.01.SPU – 10, Brayden Schultz 1:55.17.
110 hurdles – 1, Cordell Cummings (WWU) 14.06. No SPU.
400 hurdles – 1, Cordell Cummings (WWU) 53.69. SPU – 10, Julius Shepherd 58.31.