SPOKANE, Wash. – David Njeri sprinted into the record book. Annika Esvelt raced up the national qualifying list. And Peace Igbonagwam leaped into the win column.
 
Njeri rewrote the Seattle Pacific indoor record for the men's 60-meter dash, Esvelt posted a massive 13-second personal-best time in the women's 3000 meters, and Igbonagwam won the women's long jump on Saturday at the Whitworth Invitational indoor track and field meet inside The Podium.
 
The 60-dash record actually was rewritten twice in regular-season finale and the final competitive tune-up prior to the Great Northwest Athletic Conference Championships, which will take place inside this same venue.
 
 

Sophomore Jeff Gordon, whose 7.12 at the Spokane Invitational on Dec. 11 became the new school standard (the previous mark of 7.15 had stood since 2005), bettered that with a time of 7.11 in the preliminaries. Njeri was right behind in 7.12.
 
Then in the two-heat finals, Njeri blitzed down the straightaway in 7.00, giving him sixth place overall. Gordon matched his 7.11.
 
Njeri later added a victory in the triple jump, going 47 feet, 11¼ inches.
 
 

Esvelt, an academic sophomore but a freshman for indoor eligibility, came into the day already high on the NCAA national list in the 5000 meters, having posted Division II's second-best time of 16 minutes, 31.74 seconds on Jan. 28 at the UW Invitational. On Saturday, she wanted to try pulling off a similar big-time performance in the 3000.
 
Pull it off, she did. Running at the front nearly the entire way – and essentially by herself for the last 1600 meters – Esvelt came through the finish line in 9 minutes, 38.43 seconds. That was way faster than her previous time of 9:51.80 at the UW Indoor Preview on Jan. 15, and moved her from No. 32 nationally all the way up to No. 17, pending the outcome of other meets this weekend.
 
Esvelt was eight seconds clear of the field by the time she hit the finish line. The next runner across was Idaho's Kelsey Swenson in 9:46.60.
 
Esvelt's time also was a Podium record. The previous mark was 9:41.67.
 
 

Igbonagwam went a season-best 18 feet, 4½ inches to win the long jump. That topped the 17-11 ½ that she went at the UW Invitational on Jan. 29. It also put her atop the GNAC list, just slightly ahead of Western Oregon's Jenelle Hurley (18-3¼).
 
OVER THE BAR, HIGHER THAN EVER
Madison Licari set an indoor pole vault personal best by getting over the bar at 11 feet, 8½ inches. That gave her third place. Her previous best was 11-7 ¾ in February 2020 at the Nike Jackson's Boise Invitational.
 
But that wasn't the only pole vault PR. Lizzy Daugherty and Charlie Hill both cleared 11 feet indoors for the first time: 11-8½ for Hill, and 11-2½ for Daugherty.
 
The SPU men's vaulters were doing the same thing. Kainoa Lee made14-3½, a quarter-inch better than his previous best. Brad Bowman went 13-3¾, topping his old vest of 13-1½.
 
AND THAT'S NOT ALL
- -Peace Igbonagwam and Jenna Bouyer both came up big on the sprint straightaway. Both posted career-bests in the 60-meter dash: 7.65 for Igbonagwam in the preliminaries, and 7.66 for Bouyer in the finals. That put both of them onto the NCAA provisional qualifying list, for which the minimum standard is 7.67. The previous PR for both of them was 7.69. Bouyer wound up in fourth place. The SPU record of 7.63, set by Nyema Sims in 2007, is well within reach for both.
 
UP NEXT
The GNAC Championships are set for Monday and Tuesday, Feb. 21-22, at The Podium. On the 21^st, running events start at 2:30 p.m., and field events at 2:45. On the 22^nd, field events get going at 9:30 a.m., with running events at 11:00 a.m. The last race is set for 2:45 p.m., and awards are at 3:15.
 
 
NCAA WOMEN'S INDOOR TRACK & FIELD
Whitworth Invitational
Saturday, Feb. 12, 2022
The Podium / Spokane, Wash.
 
Team scores – Not kept.
 
SPU EVENTS ONLY
60-meter dash – 1, Skyler Walton (WSU) 7.55. SPU – 4, Jenna Bouyer 7.66#.  Preliminaries: 3, Peace Igbonagwan 7.65#; 4, Jenna Bouyer 7.71.
200 – 1, Marie-Eloise Leclair (Simon Fraser) 24.75#.  SPU – 5, Jenna Bouyer 25.34; 10, Aniya Green 26.01.
400 – 1, Emily Lindsay (Simon Fraser) 56.38. SPU – 15, McKenzie Fletcher 1:01.35; 18, Aniya Green 1:01.56.
800 – 1, Alison Andrews-Paul (Simon Fraser) 2:05.75.  SPU – 6, Ellie Rising 2:15.01.
Mile – 1, Natalie Bitetti (Claremont-Mudd-Scripps) 5:08.28. SPU – 11, Nicki Yorges 5:16.41.
3000 – 1, Annika Esvelt (SPU) 9:38.43.  No other SPU.
Pole vault – 1. Kolby Weiss (WSU) 12-6¼ / 3.82m.  SPU – 3, Madison Licari 11-8½ / 3.57m; 5, Charlie Hill 11-8½ / 3.57m; 6, Lizzy Daugherty 11-2½ / 3.42m; Emily Northey no height.
Long jump – 1, Peace Igbonagwam (SPU) 18-4½ / 5.60m. No other SPU.
 
# NCAA provisional qualifying
 
 
NCAA MEN'S INDOOR TRACK & FIELD
Whitworth Invitational
Saturday, Feb. 12, 2022
The Podium / Spokane, Wash.
 
Team scores – Not kept.
 
SPU EVENTS ONLY
60-meter dash – 1, Cody Milmine (E. Oregon) 6.88. SPU – 7, David Njeri 7.00 (school record, breaks old record of 7.11 set by Jeff Gordon in Saturday's preliminaries); 15, Jeff Gordon 7.11.  Preliminaries: 15, Jeff Gordon 7.11; 16, David Njeri 7.12.
200 – 1, Callum Robinson (Simon Fraser) 21.40.  SPU – 13, Evan Carpenter 22.92; 43, Julius Shepherd 25.17.
400 – 1, Callum Robinson (Simon Fraser) 48.54. SPU – 10, Evan Carpenter 51.44; 12, Julius Shepherd 51.95; 19, Gabe Woodard 54.75.
800 – 1, Clayton Van Dyke (Lewis-Clark) 1:59.29. SPU – 25, Jon Owen 2:00.94; 29, Isaiah Archer 2:04.64.
Mile – 1, Aaron Ahl (Simon Fraser) 4:05.34#. SPU – 20, Jon Owen 4:34.58.
3000 – 1, Cristian Mendoza (E. Oregon) 8:39.94. SPU – 13, Brennan LeBlanc 9:11.37; 24, Gabe Endresen 9:38.94.
Pole vault – 1, Darrian Walker (E. Oregon) 15-3½ / 4.66m.  SPU – 8, Kainoa Lee 14-3½ / 4.36m; 14, Brad Bowman 13-3¾ / 4.06m.
Triple jump – 1, David Njeri (SPU) 47-11¼ / 14.61m#.  No other SPU.
 
 
# NCAA provisional qualifying