SEATTLE – In the 200-meter dash, there was no "last time" for David Njeri.
 
After what he did on Saturday, chances are there'll be a "next time."
 
The Seattle Pacific junior, who had never raced the 200 either indoors or outdoors in college, blitzed around the track inside West Seattle Stadium in 22.23 seconds, winning that event for the Falcons at the Doris Heritage Track Festival.
 
 

Njeri has found huge success on the runway in the past year by winning the Great Northwest Athletic Conference indoor and outdoor triple jump titles.
 
On an afternoon that varied from cloudy to partly sunny, occasionally windy, and sometimes rainy, Njeri showed his speedy side on the oval at Saturday's sixth annual meet that honors Heritage, the longtime Seattle Pacific track and cross country legend and international distance running star.
 
Turns out he needed every last hundredth of that 22.23, because Central Washington's Bryan Sidor was right behind in 22.27.
 
As of Saturday evening, Njeri's time leads the GNAC and is tied for eighth-fastest in the West Region.
 
"I kind of surprised myself. I was looking forward to running 22.6 or something like that because I've never run that hard," Njeri said. "Karl (Lerum, SPU's head coach and program director) said, 'Just keep your hips up and just finish through it,' and that's what I did. I just finished strong.

"A 22.23? I'll take that." (Indeed, Njeri came over to check the finish-line readerboard after the race, saw his time, gave a fist pump, and said, 'Oh yeah!' as he jogged away.)
 
Since joining the Falcons in 2020 after running his freshman year at Wingate in North Carolina, Tacoma native Njeri has focused mostly on the long and triple jumps. He has done numerous 60-meter dashes and 60-meter hurdles races indoors, and the occasional relay race indoors and outdoors.
 
But not the 200.
 
"I did ask Karl if I could run the 200. I've been training pretty good in practice, with me and Julius (Shepherd) and Jeff (Gordon), and I wanted to challenge the other guys," Njeri said. "So I was like, 'Put me in.'"
 
Njeri later led off Seattle Pacific's 4-by 400 relay. With Isaiah Archer, Shepherd, and Jon Owen carrying the baton after he did, the Falcons won in 3:27.65.

 

 

ON THE NATIONAL LIST
At last week's PLU Open, Vanessa Aniteye came close to making the NCAA provisional qualifying list in the 800 meters.

This time, she made it.
 
Aniteye, won the 800 in  2 minutes, 11.16 seconds. That beat the standard of 2:12.24. She was within seven hundredths of that at PLU, clocking 2:12.31.

That early-season mark ranked No. 3 nationally on Saturday night, pending the outcome of other meets around the country this weekend.
 
 

BOUTIN BUSTS A BIG PR
Colin Boutin knows he's going to get there – "there" being a sub 15-minute time in the 5000 meters.
 
On Saturday, he came closer than ever.
 
Running consistent splits and moving steadily up through the pack as he often does, Boutin came across the finish line in 15 minutes 5.23 seconds.
 
That was a drop of nine-plus seconds from the 15:14.45 that he posted in last year's Doris Heritage Festival on this very same track.
 
"I was really hoping that was going to happen," said Boutin, a grad student academically who still has outdoor and indoor eligibility remaining because of the pandemic. "The workouts I've been hitting and the fact that I didn't have an indoor season this year gave me a good opportunity to train really hard. I think a PR was on my radar today."
 
As for continuing to aim at that sub-15, "I'm close enough where the next race, I know I have it," he said. "It would be a different story if I ran a 15:10 or was just a few seconds off. But the fact I'm so close to breaking 15, I know I'll do it in the future."
 
 

SPEAKING OF PERSONAL BESTS …
Libby Michael has dealt with more than her share of setbacks since arriving at SPU. Her true freshman season in 2020 true freshman season was canceled by the coronavirus after just one meet. In 2021, an injury limited her to just three meets.
 
She has started the 2022 season showing what a healthy Michael can do. At last week's PLU Open, she ran a 4½-second PR in the 800 meters, clocking 2:19.42 (previous best 2:24.05).
 
On Saturday, Michael was at it again, this time in the 1500. She clocked 4:53.29, taking third place. That was five seconds better than her previous best of 4:58.38.
 
AND THAT'S NOT ALL
-- Peace Igbonagwam had never run a 400-meter dash in college until last April 24. Now, she is becoming somewhat of a regular in that event. On Saturday, she came up with a barrier-breaker, winning in 56.94 seconds. That was her first sub-57. Her previous best was 57.26 – which, ironically enough, came in that initial race last April. It also was nearly a full second faster than last week's 57.91 at PLU.
-- Annika Esvelt made her 2022 outdoor debut, winning the 1500 meters. It was back-and-forth race on the final lap between Esvelt and Alaska Anchorage's Nancy Jeptoo. Esvelt had been ahead, but Jeptoo surged in front with about 200 meters left. Coming down the stretch, Esvelt edge in front inside the final 50 meters, winning by half a second, 4:44.80 to 4:45.37.
-- Seattle Pacific's team of Igbonagwam, Jenna Bouyer, Vanessa Aniteye, and Johanna Brown won the 4-by-400 relay in 4:00.92.
-- Madison Licari, Lizzy Daugherty, and Charlie Hill went 2-3-4 in the women's pole vault. Licari and Daugherty both cleared 11 feet, 1 inch; Hill was a 10-7½.
 
UP NEXT
The Falcons return to Tacoma next Saturday, March 26, this time to the University of Puget Sound's Baker Stadium for the Peyton-Shotwell Invitational. Competition both on the track and in the field begins at 11:00 a.m.
 
 
NCAA WOMEN'S TRACK & FIELD
Doris Heritage Track Festival
Saturday, March 19, 2022
West Seattle Stadium / Seattle, Wash.
 
Team scores – Not kept.
 
100 – 1, Aaliyah Wilson (UW) 11.85.  SPU – 3, Aniya Green 12.75; 17, Emelia Ballard 14.07
200 – 1, Tyantiss Atlas (UAA) 25.38. SPU – 3, Aniya Green 25.89.
400 – 1, Peace Igbonagwam (SPU) 56.94.  Other SPU – 2, Jenna Bouyer 58.44; 7, Johanna Brown 1:01.37.
800 – 1, Vanessa Aniteye (SPU) 2:11.16#.  Other SPU – 4, Ellie Rising 2:17.70; 9, Nicki Yorges 2:33.60.
1500 – 1, Annika Esvelt (SPU) 4:44.80.  Other SPU – 3, Libby Michael 4:53.29; 4, Nicki Yorges 4:56.44; 11, Kelsey Washenberger 5:13.02.
5000 – 1, Naomi Hartley (Saint Martin's) 18:06.48.  No SPU.
400 hurdles – 1, Julia Causbie (PLU) 1:06.30.  SPU – 4, McKenzie Fletcher 1:09.78.
4x100 relay – 1, Saint Martin's 50.73.  No SPU.
4x400 relay – 1, Seattle Pacific (Peace Igbonagwam, Jenna Bouyer, Vanessa Aniteye, Johanna Brown) 4:00.92.  Other SPU – 4, Seattle Pacific (Aniya Green, Ellie Rising, Libby Michael, McKenzie Fletcher) 4:14.46.
High jump – 1, Akor Maywin (UAA) 5-1 ¼ / 1.56m.  No SPU.
Pole vault – 1, Lily Luksich (PLU) 11-7 ¼  3.54m. SPU – 2, Madison Licari 11-1 / 3.39m; 3, Lizzy Daugherty  11-1 / 3.39m  Other SPU – 4, Charlie Hill 10-7 ½ / 3.24m.
Long jump – 1, Jelani Heath (UW) 18-10 / 5..74. No SPU.
Triple jump – 1, Issabelle Jensen (Evg. State) 34-4 ¾ / 10.48m.  No SPU.
Shot put – 1, Avery Fisk (CWU) 42-1 ¼ / 12.83m.  No SPU.
Hammer – 1, Raine Westfall (WWU) 154-5 / 47.08m.  No SPU.
Javelin – 1, Ida Eikeng (UW) 158-8 / 48.36m.  No SPU.
 
 
 
NCAA MEN'S TRACK & FIELD
Doris Heritage Track Festival
Saturday, March 19, 2022
West Seattle Stadium / Seattle, Wash.
 
Team scores – Not kept.
 
100 – 1, Jeff Gordon (SPU) 11.12.  No other SPU.
200 – 1, David Njeri (SPU) 22.23.  Other SPU – 13, Jeff Gordon 23.92.
400 – 1, Bryant Welch  (WWU) 49.45.  SPU – 3, Isaiah Archer 50.53; 12, Julius Shepherd 52.52.
800 – 1, Brock Knowles (WWU) 1:56.87.  SPU – 2, Jon Owen 2:00.21; 7, Ben Sheirbon 2:07.94; 8, Gabe Woodard 2:08.37.
1500 – 1, Hezekiah Goodwin (PLU) 4:04.26.  SPU – Drew Thompson DNF.
5000 – 1, Jeret Gillingham (WWU) 14:47.24.  SPU – 3, Colin Boutin 15:05.23; 11, Brennan LeBlanc 15:38.20; 19, Gabe Endresen 15:55.82.
400 hurdles – 1, Jonathan Birchman (UW) 52.04.  No SPU.
4x100 relay – 1, Pacific Lutheran 43.69.  No SPU.
4x400 relay – 1, Seattle Pacific (David Njeri, Isaiah Archer, Julius Shepherd, Jon Owen) 3:27.65.  No other SPU.
High jump – 1, Beau Sheerran (WWU) 6-5 / 1.96m  No SPU.
Pole vault – 1, Corey Solomon (PLU) 14-7 ½ / 4.46m.  SPU – 2, Kainoa Lee 14-1 ¾ / 4.31m; 6, Brad Bowman 13-1 ¾ / 4.01m
Long jump – 1, Josh Schulz (Saint Martin's) 22-10 / 6.96m.  No SPU.
Triple jump – 1, Markell Carter (Everett CC) 43-1 ¾ / 13.15m.  No SPU.
Shot put – 1, Ben Malquist (WWU) 51-0 ¾ / 15.56m.  SPU – 11, Darius Holmes 37-3 ¼ / 11.36m; 22, Evan Carpenter 23-7¼ / 7.19m..
Hammer – 1, Miller Campbell (Olympic) 167-7 / 51.08m. No SPU.
Javelin – 1, Darius Chaffiin (PLU) 185-2 / 56.45m.  No SPU.