SEATTLE – Not fast enough for the 800 meters?
 
Ellie Rising is proving 'em all wrong.
 
The Seattle Pacific freshman, who ran 2 minutes, 18 seconds for that distance in the final race of her high school career, has shown during the first two months of her college career what kind of speed she truly has. On Friday, she broke the 2:12 mark for the first time, coming across the finish line in 2:11.91 to win it at the Ken Shannon Invitational track and field meet.
 
That continued an ever-quickening trend on the stopwatch for Rising, a product of Goldendale High School, just on the Washington side of the Columbia River in the south central part of the state. In her college debut to start the season on March 6 at the PLU Open, she clocked 2:20.04.
 
Just two weeks later at the Doris Heritage Track Festival, Rising lowered that to 2:16.18. Then 2:13.95 a week after that at the Ed Boitano Invitational. She ticked up to 2:15.64 on April 24 at the Peyton-Shotwell Invitational, but was speeding up again last Friday at the Buc Scoring Invitational in Spokane with a 2:12.80.
 
Now, 2:11.91 in the regular-season finale, further solidifying her place atop the Great Northwest Athletic Conference list and adding her name to the NCAA Division II provisional qualifying list. Rising ranks No. 24 nationally as of Friday evening.
 



Pretty noteworthy for someone who – according to the feedback she once got – should be emphasizing other events.
 
"I didn't work on speed all that much in high school," she said. "I was always told I don't really have enough speed for the 800. So I always focused on the longer stuff.
 
"To be running seven seconds faster (than in high school) is pretty unexpected," she added. "Of course, my teammates have been super helpful in getting down to those times."
 
Originally, the 800 was supposed to have five competitors, the fastest of whom had posted a 2:10.67. By the time they got to the starting line at Husky Track, it was just Rising and teammate Kelsey Washenberger, who came through with her own personal-best mark of 2:19.24, a sub-2:20 for the second week in a row.
 
But Rising was all alone up front.
 
"It's definitely difficult. The last time I had to do this, I did not run nearly as well," said Rising, who now has won five straight 800s after finishing second behind senior Falcon distance runner Dania Holmberg in the PLU meet. "Running that over and over again in practice, it's finally starting to kick in in the races and that's pretty reassuring."
 
RELAY RACES ONTO NCAA LIST
Even before the season began, the Falcons were convinced they had all the right stuff for a national-caliber 4-by-100 relay. But for different reasons – a not-so-clean baton exchange here, an injury there – it hadn't all come together yet.
 
On Friday, it did.
 
 

The foursome of sophomore Jenna Bouyer and seniors Renick Meyer, Grace Bley, and Julia Stepper teamed up to complete one lap of UW's purple oval in 46.55 seconds.
 
Not only was it fast enough to put them onto the NCAA Division II provisional qualifying list, it was the No. 15 qualifying time as of Friday evening.
 
To be sure, they'll need to go faster still in next week's Great Northwest Athletic Conference Championships. The NCAA meet will accept a minimum of 12 entries, but could add up to two more, if space is available, for a maximum of 14. Only the top 12 are guaranteed a spot. Currently, the No. 12 time is 46.27; the No. 14 time is 46.53.
 
"It was overall a very smooth race where we just ran well and worked well together," Stepper said. "But we know we can go to the next level of really being aggressive and pushing ourselves to get even faster. Each of us tweaking just the smallest bit can really shave down three-tenths to even half a second, which is a dramatic difference when it comes to the relay. It's literally a team effort."
 
The one thing the Falcons weren't counting on was a brief driving rainstorm, with accompanying thunder, that came and soaked the track about 45 minutes before the race. By the time they started, the sun was back. But they admitted that it rattled them a bit, albeit briefly.
 
"When we heard the thunder, we were like, 'Ohhh, what's going on?'" Bouyer said. "But we pushed past that, and now we know we can do it. So next week when it's warm and sunny, we're ready to go out there and get a way better time."
 
Added Bley, "The rain was definitely a mental battle. We had to decide if we were going to go out and give it a good shot, and I'm really proud that we did."
 
AND THAT'S NOT ALL
-- Dania Holmberg won the women's 1500 meters, posting a time of 4:34.83.
-- David Njeri took the men's triple jump at 46 feet, 10¼ inches.
-- Along with Ellie Rising's victory in the women's 800, that gives the Falcons 14 wins at Husky Track – 11 for the women, three for the men – since it opened in 2013.
-- They also now have 13 NCAA provisional qualifying performances with Friday's additions of Rising and the 4-by-100 relay.
-- SPU had four men in the 1500, and all four set PBs: 3:58.12 for Elius Graff, 4:01.83 for Jared Putney, 4:06.95 for Austin Weese, and 4:12.26 for Colin Boutin.
 
UP NEXT
The GNAC Championships are set for next Friday and Saturday, May 14 and 15, at Western Oregon's McArthur Field in Monmouth. Field events begin at noon both days. Running starts at 1:20 p.m. on Friday and 2:15 on Saturday. Fans will not be admitted, but live results are expected to be available.
 
 
NCAA WOMEN'S TRACK & FIELD
Ken Shannon Invitational
Friday, May 7, 2021
Husky Track / Seattle, Wash.
 
Team scores – Not kept.
 
200 – 1, Victoria Gersch (UW) 24.74. SPU – 2, Grace Bley 25.19; 3, Julia Stepper 25.87; 6, Aniya Green 26.75.
400 – 1, McCall DeChenne (CWU) 57.91. SPU – 3, Charisma Smith 1:01.20.
800 – 1, Ellie Rising (SPU) 2:11.91#!. Other SPU – 2, Kelsey Washenberger 2:19.24.
1500 – 1, Dania Holmberg (SPU) 4:34.83. Other SPU – 5, Annika Esvelt 4:56.52.
100 hurdles – 1, Lauryn Chandler (CWU) 14.86. No SPU.
4x100 relay – 1, Washington 45.47. SPU – 2, Seattle Pacific (Jenna Bouyer, Renick Meyer, Grace Bley, Julia Stepper) 46.55#.
Pole vault – 1, Makenna Barton (UW) 12-7½ / 3.85m. SPU – 2, Scout Cai 12-1½ / 3.70m; 5, Lizzy Daugherty 10-2 / 3.10m; 7, Madison Licari 9-8 / 2.95m; Emily Northey no height.
Long jump – 1, Jelani Heath (UW) 17-9½ / 5.42m. SPU – 2, Renick Meyer 17-6¾ / 5.35m; 5, Kellie May 16-1½ / 4.91m.
Triple jump – 1, Lauren Heggen (UW) 39-8 / 12.09m. SPU – 3, Kellie May 35-2½ / 10.73m.
Shot put – 1, Ida Eikeng (UW) 44- ¼ / 13.62m. No SPU.
Discus – 1, Katie Potts (WWU) 139-3 / 42.44m. No SPU.
Hammer – 1, Meagan Smallbeck (CWU) 167-5 / 51.02m. No SPU.
Javelin – 1, Ida Eikeng (UW) 171-1 / 52.16m. SPU – 6, Abby Kauffman 106-7 / 32.49m.
 
 
NCAA MEN'S TRACK & FIELD
Ken Shannon Invitational
Friday, May 7, 2021
Husky Track / Seattle, Wash.
 
Team scores – Not kept.
 
200 – 1, Julian Body (UW) 21.55. SPU – 4, Jeff Gordon 22.90; 7, Michael Gabelein 23.69; 8, Evan Carpenter 23.88.
400 – 1, Zachary Franco (Saint Martin's) 49.92. SPU – 2, Julius Shepherd 50.62; 6, Evan Carpenter 51.94.
800 – 1, Arthur Beyer (Unattached) 1:55.71. SPU – 2, Brayden Schultz 1:57.31; 6, Jon Owen 1:59.46; 7, J.R. Hentges 2:00.60.
1500 – 1, Calahan Warren (WWU) 3:45.48. SPU – 5, Elius Graff 3:58.12; 6, Jared Putney 4:01.83; 10, Austin Weese 4:06.95; 12, Colin Boutin 4:07.01.
110 hurdles – 1, Julian Body (UW) 14.41. No SPU.
Pole vault – 1, Braydon Maier (CWU) 14-5¼ / 4.40m. SPU – 3, Brad Bowman 13-11¼ / 4.25m; 4, Kainoa Lee 13-5¼ / 4.10m.
Long jump – 1, Cyrus McAllister (WWU) 19-9¾ / 6.04m. No SPU.
Triple jump – 1, David Njeri (SPU) 46-10¼ / 14.28m! No other SPU.
Shot put – 1, Nolan Such (UW) 54-1 / 16.48m. No SPU.
Discus – 1, Nolan Such (UW) 152-7 / 46.51m. SPU – 8, Darius Holmes 118-0 / 35.96m.
Hammer – 1, Jayden White (UW) 214-3 / 65.30m. No SPU.
Javelin – 1, Denham Patricelli (Unattached) 220-1 / 67.09m. No SPU.