MONMOUTH, Ore. – At first, they weren't able to practice at all. Then, they practiced in pods.
 
They did some weight training in the rain and cold. And, since they weren't allowed to travel to out-of-state regular-season meets because of concerns about the ongoing pandemic, they competed in the cool, damp conditions that are just part of March, April and May around the Northwest.
 
So many things changed for the Seattle Pacific track and field teams this spring.
 
But one very big thing didn't change at all:
  At the end of the conference meet, the Falcon women were atop the standings.
 
Dania Holmberg won the 1500 and 5000 meters, Grace Bley and Jenna Bouyer each won a sprint title and ran on a pair of winning relays, and Renick Meyer won a little bit of everything as SPU locked up its third consecutive team title on Saturday at the Great Northwest Athletic Conference Track & Field Championships.
 
The Falcons, who won 11 of the 21 events on the card, finished with 208 points. That was 40 more than runner-up Western Washington's 168.
 
It was the highest winning total – and the first score in the 200s – since Seattle Pacific racked up 206½ in 2011.
 
 

Head coach Karl Lerum, in addressing his athletes after all of the plaques and trophies – including the team championship trophy – had finally been handed out, told them about a brief conversation he'd had with associate head coach Chris Reed in the moments following the meet-ending 4-by-400 relay.
 
"As soon as that 4-by-4 was over, Chris said something to the effect of, 'After having the worst year ever, we just had the best track meet ever.'
 
'It's incredible for us to be able to come out here at this moment and just know the way you guys did it," Lerum continued. "And it was a phenomenal thing to witness."

 

Joining Holmberg, Bley, Bouyer, and Meyer on the top step of the awards podium on Saturday at Western Oregon University's McArthur Field were freshman Ellie Rising in the 800 and senior Scout Cai in the pole vault.
 
The Falcons also swept both relays. Bouyer, Meyer, Bley, and Julia Stepper won the 4-by-100, Then Bouyer, Ellie Rising, Meyer, and Bley took the meet-ending 4-by-400,
 
On Friday, Meyer won the long jump, and she also captured the women's heptathlon crown on May 3-4. She was named the Women's Field Athlete of the Meet, and also won the Women's Performance of the Meet award for her speedy 13.97 winning time in the 100-meter hurdles.
 
"It's hard to verbalize what it means for this team and these kids to come to this championship meet at the end of the year we've had and perform the way they did," Lerum said. "It's why we do this work: to be able to be a part of it and be able to watch and see the character of these kids. The seniors came through all year long. This was totally uncharted territory, and they steadied this group the whole way."
 
Led by sophomore David Njeri, the Seattle Pacific men enjoyed their most successful conference meet weekend in 10 years. Njeri won the school's first-ever men's triple jump title, going a personal-best 48 feet, 7 ¼ inches. He also was sixth in the long jump.
 
The Falcons finished with 44 points, good for sixth place. That was their highest point total and their highest finish since taking sixth with 63 points in 2011.
 
DANIA DOUBLES UP
Holmberg, who was named the Women's Track Athlete of the Meet, was a dominant winner in both of her races. She moved up the NCAA provisional qualifying in the 1500 with her time of 4:27.31. That puts her into 22nd place on the list. Holmberg was 10 seconds ahead at the finish.
 

She then came back and took the 5000 by 11 seconds. Holmberg now has her first two conference crowns to go along with all of her other numerous accomplishments in both cross country and track..
 
The Falcons wound up 1-2 in the 5000. Senior Kate Lilly, who hadn't run that event all season and came in unseeded, was third in the final race of her career. But she was moved up to second when the runner ahead of her was disqualified for a lane violation. That capped an outstanding final weekend of her career. On Friday, Lilly placed second in the 3000-meter steeplechase – an event she tried for the first time just three weeks ago and was racing for only the third time ever.
 
Rising ran the 800 meters seven times this spring – and won the last six of them. In Saturday's GNAC title race, she took command early on the second and final lap, and came across the finish line in 2:12.16, nearly five seconds in front of second-place Julia LaMar from Northwest Nazarene.
 
Bouyer led off the winning 4-by-100 relay at the start of the meet and the winning 4-by-400 at the end of it. In between, she defended her top seed in the 100-meter dash with a second straight sub-12, stopping the watch in 11.93 seconds, and led a 1-2-3-4 Falcon finish in that event. Bley (12.00), Meyer (12.06) and Stepper (12.06) followed her across the finish line. That added up to a whopping 29 points. Bouyer also was fourth in the 200 with a 24.86.
 
Bley won the 200 for the third straight time. She was actually the No. 3 seed for finals. But coming out of the curve and starting down the homestretch, it was all her, and she finished in 24.52.
 
Later, her very last lap of the track in a maroon uniform was as the anchor leg on the 4-by-400 relay. Bley took the baton in second place behind Northwest Nazarene. By the time she started up the backstretch, she was in first place and not about to be caught. SPU won by almost two full seconds.
 
Meyer had come very close to breaking the 14-second mark in the 100 hurdles during Friday's prelims when she was clean over every one of them and hit the wire in 14.01 seconds. On Saturday, it was another clean race for her. But when the hit the finish line, the scoreboard clock initially showed 14.02. Moments later, it flashed again, this time with 13.97, currently tied for No. 17 in Division II.
 
Cai won her second straight pole vault crown, this one by clearing 12 feet, 3 ½ inches. Kinsey Langin of Northwest Nazarene also got over that bar, but the tiebreaker went to Cai, as she made it on the first attempt and Langin did so on her second.
 
NO SEED? NO PROBLEM
Of SPU's 208 points, 31 of them came from athletes who had not been seeded to score in certain events.
 
Belle Brandenfels: 4^th place in the 10,000 meters, 5 points (one of five unseeded entries who had not run it previously).
Scout Cai: 4^th place in high jump, 5 points (seeded 11^th).
Annika Esvelt: 7^th place in the 1500 meters, 2 points (seeded 11^th).
Kate Lilly: 2^nd place in the 5000 meters, 8 points (seeded 17^th)
Kellie May: 3^rd place in the triple jump, 6 points (seeded 10^th).
Renick Meyer: 3^rd place in 100-meter dash, 6 points (seeded 9^th)
 
In addition, May came into the GNAC heptathlon on May 3-4 with the ninth-best score in the GNAC – one place out of the team points. She wound up seventh and picked up two points.

 

A DIVERSE ASSORTMENT OF POINTS FOR MEN
Most of the points that the Seattle Pacific men have scored at the conference meet over the years have come in the distance races.
 
That wasn't the case this time.
 
Start with David Njeri's win in the triple jump. Since the start of the GNAC meet in 2002, the Falcons hadn't scored a single point in that event. He also scored in the long jump.
 
Freshman Jeff Gordon scored in not one, but two sprints: third in the 200, fifth in the 100.
 
SPU scored in both relays. It has had some 4-by-400 teams, but not usually a 4-by-100 team.
 
Freshman Brad Bowman picked up three points for a sixth-place finish in the pole vault.
 
Of course, the distance races were still part of the equation. Sophomore Jared Putney was fourth in the 3000 steeplechase and eighth in the 5000. Senior Colin Boutin was fifth in the 10,000. And on Saturday, junior Brayden Schultz came through with a sixth-place finish in the 1500.
 
UP NEXT
The NCAA will announce who has been accepted into the Division II nationals on Tuesday. Renick Meyer will be in consideration for both the 100 hurdles and the heptathlon, Scout Cai in the pole vault, and Dania Holmberg in the 1500.

 
NCAA WOMEN'S TRACK & FIELD
GNAC Championships
Saturday, May 15, 2021
McArthur Field / Monmouth, Ore.
 
Team scores – 1, Seattle Pacific 208; 2, Western Washington 168; 3, Central Washington 132.5; 4, Northwest Nazarene 98.5; 5, Western Oregon 92; 6, Alaska Anchorage 52.5; 7, Saint Martin's 45.5; 8, Montana State Billings 21.
 
SATURDAY FINALS
100 – 1, Jenna Bouyer (SPU) 11.93. Other SPU – 2, Grace Bley 12.00; 3, Renick Meyer 12.06 (12.052); 4, Julia Stepper 12.06 (12.053).
200 – 1, Grace Bley (SPU) 24.52. Other SPU – 4, Jenna Bouyer 24.86; 6, Julia Stepper 25.14.
400 – 1, Tylantiss Atlas (UAA) 58.44#. SPU – 3, Peace Igbonagwam 57.46; 8, Charisma Smith 1:00.81.
800 – 1, Ellie Rising (SPU) 2:12.16. Other SPU – 4, Kelsey Washenberger 2:19.42.
1500 – 1, Dania Holmberg (SPU) 4:27.31#. Other SPU – 2, Ellie Rising 4:37.54; 4, Kelsey Washenberger 4:41.10; 6, Elizabeth Thompson 4:46.50; 7, Annika Esvelt 4:47.19.
5000 – 1, Dania Holmberg (SPU) 17:43.57. Other SPU – 2, Kate Lilly 18:07.22; 6, Belle Brandenfels 18:47.38.
100 hurdles – 1, Renick Meyer (SPU) 13.97#. No other SPU.
400 hurdles – 1, McCall DeChenne (CWU) 1:01.95. No SPU.
4x100 relay – 1, Seattle Pacific (Jenna Bouyer, Renick Meyer, Grace Bley, Julia Stepper) 46.68#.
4x400 relay – 1, Seattle Pacific (Jenna Bouyer, Ellie Rising, Renick Meyer, Grace Bley) 3:52.23.
Pole vault – 1, Scout Cai (SPU) 12-3 ½ / 3.75m. Other SPU – 4, Lizzy Daugherty 10-11 ¾ / 3.35m; 15, Emily Northey 9-6 ¼ / 2.90m; 16, Madison Licari 9-6 ¼ / 2.90m.
Triple jump – 1, Karlie Hurley (WWU) 38-7 / 11.76m. SPU – 3, Kellie May 37-4 / 11.38m.
Hammer – 1, Meagan Smallbeck (CWU) 167-9 / 51.14m. No SPU.
Javelin – 1, Natalie Vetto (WWU) 129-3 / 39.41m. SPU – 12, Abby Kauffman 105-3 / 32.09m.

FRIDAY 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.
 
 
NCAA MEN'S TRACK & FIELD
GNAC Championships
Saturday, May 15, 2021
McArthur Field / Monmouth, Ore.
 
Team scores – 1, Western Washington 289; 2, Western Oregon 145; 3, Central Washington 130; 4, Northwest Nazarene 76; 5, Saint Martin's 61; 6, Seattle Pacific 44; 7, Alaska Anchorage 36; 8, Montana State Billings 35.
 
SATURDAY FINALS
100 – 1, Dominique Loggins (WOU) 10.73. SPU – 5, Jeff Gordon 10.90.
200 – 1, Bryant Welch (WWU) 21.72. SPU – 3, Jeff Gordon 22.02.
400 – 1, Logan Blake (NNU) 48.41. No SPU.
800 – 1, Maculey Franks (WWU) 1:53.51. No SPU.
1500 – 1, Callahan Warren (WWU) 3:57.44. SPU – 6, Brayden Schultz 4:01.41.
5000 – 1, Eric Hamel (WWU) 14:39.87. SPU – 8, Jared Putney 15:10.34; 13, Austin Weese 15:23.13; 15, Colin Boutin 15:33.49; 18, Elius Graff 15:43.83.
110 hurdles – 1, Cordell Cummings (WWU) 14.50#. No SPU.
400 hurdles – 1, Cordell Cummings (WWU) 52.75. No SPU.
4x100 relay – 1, Western Washington 42.43. SPU – 6, Seattle Pacific (Jeff Gordon, Darius Holmes, Julius Shepherd, Evan Carpenter) 43.41.
4x400 relay – 1, Western Washington 3:15.93. SPU – 7, Seattle Pacific (Julius Shepherd, Brayden Schultz, Darius Holmes, Evan Carpenter) 3:25.19.
High jump – 1, Isaiah Girard (MSUB) 6-7 / 2.01m. No SPU.
Triple jump – 1, David Njeri (SPU) 48-7¼ / 14.81m. No other SPU.
Hammer – 1, Andrew Harris (CWU) 194-1 / 59.16m. No SPU.
Javelin – 1, Beau Ackerman (MSUB) 233-6 / 71.19m+ *(meet record, breaks old record of 227-11 / 69.49m). No SPU.

FRIDAY 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.