TACOMA, Wash. – Get out the brooms.
 
And make sure they're big ones.
 
The Seattle Pacific women won all seven events they entered, and the Falcon men won five of the seven they entered in a solid start-to-finish performance on Saturday at the Peyton-Shotwell Invitational track and field meet.
 
But SPU athletes racked up more than just wins in competition at the University of Puget Sound's Baker Stadium.
 
On the women's side, they swept the top five spots in the 1500, the top four in the 200, and the top three in the pole vault.
 
For the men, it was a 1-2 finish in the 200.
 
The Falcons also put 11 personal-best performances into the book.
 
"We took advantage of the opportunities we had, with having a decent week of training weather, and recovering from winter quarter, and being able to have more of our athletes out on the track than we've had this year," head coach and program director Karl Lerum said. "I couldn't be more pleased with the results. They brought a big-time effort even though it was a low-key meet – and you have to do that." 

 

FOOT TO THE PEDAL, PEDAL TO THE METAL
Seattle Pacific loaded up the 200 on both the men's and women's side, and got some remarkable early-season results to show for it.
 
Jenna Bouyer and Peace Igbonagwam both broke the 25-second mark in the women's race – and with room to spare. Bouyer won in 24.68, and Igbonagwam was close behind in 24.77.
 
Bouyer's time was just seven-hundredths shy of her personal-best 24.61, which she set in last year's Great Northwest Athletic Conference preliminaries. Igbonagwam's mark was well below her previous outdoor PR of 24.93 from her freshman year in 2019, and even beat her overall best of 24.78 from the 2020 GNAC indoor finals.
 
Vanessa Aniteye was third in 25.19, and Aniya Green came through in fourth with a lifetime best of 25.80.
 
"Honestly, I've been trusting my training," Bouyer said. "It's pretty much just like we were racing against each other. It's just being confident and treating it like practice and going out there. In practice, we're always racing. We knew what we had to do when we got out here because we did it all week."
 
Jeff Gordon and David Njeri went toe-to-toe in the men's 200. Gordon powered across the finish line in 22.13, and Njeri was right there in 22.14. Gordon was a tenth away from his PR of 22.02. Njeri, running just his second collegiate 200, beat the 22.23 that he clocked at last Saturday's Doris Heritage Track Festival.
 
"The 200 on both the men's and women's side was especially fun for the coaches to watch," Lerum said. "For some  of them, that was their first 200 of the year, and they came out and ran close to or bettered their lifetime bests."
 




THEY WEREN'T DONE YET
Those speedy performances weren't limited to the 200.
 
Evan Carpenter won the men's 400 meters, and Johanna Brown won the women's 400. Carpenter recorded his first time in the 50-second range, stopping the watch in 50.82 and leading nearly the entire race. That was more than a full second faster than his previous best of 51.94.
 
Brown also was in front for nearly every stride of the women's race, and finished in 1:01.80. That was her first collegiate individual event victory.
 
SPU's 4-by-400 relays also came up big. Carpenter led off the men's team, followed by Njeri, Gordon, and 800-meter winner Isaiah Archer on the anchor leg. Njeri, who started the second leg in second place, had the Falcons in front by the time he came off the first curve, and they went on to win easily in 3:26.32.
 
In the women's race, assistant coach Kate Carlson said the aim was to get as low into the 3:50s as possible. The team of Igbonagwam, Bouyer, Ellie Rising, and Aniteye did that and then some, finishing in 3:49.64.

Igbonagwam, Aniteye, Aniya Green, and Bouyer started the day by winning the 4-by-100 in 47.00.
 
DISTANCE DOMINANCE
The women's 1500 was all Seattle Pacific maroon at the front of the pack.
 
Annika Esvelt won and broke the 4:40 mark for the first time, finishing in 4:39.08. That was nearly six seconds faster than the 4:44.80 that she ran last week at the Doris Heritage Festival.
 
Ellie Rising, Kelsey Washenberger, Libby Michael, and Nicky Yorges followed Esvelt across the line. Washenberger was nearly 25 seconds ahead of what she ran last Saturday, going 4:48.07 (from 5:13.02). Michael, who dropped five seconds at the Doris Heritage, nearly matched that, as her 4:48.51 was a 4.8-second improvement. Yorges' 4:52.15 was better by four-plus seconds.
 
Archer was way out in front of the men's 800, clocking 1:55.61 and topping his previous PR of 1:56.57 from March 12.
 
 

AND THAT'S NOT ALL
-- McKenzie Fletcher and Julius Shepherd won both 400 hurdles races for the Falcons. Fletcher went a PR 1:07.79 for her first college win. Shepherd logged a 56.96.
-- Madison Licari led the 1-2-3 sweep of the women's pole vault, clearing 11-5. Lizzy Daugherty was second and Charlie Hill third, both at 10-5¼.
-- Jon Owen had his lifetime best in the men's 1500 with a 4:07.22, a three-second drop. That gave him second place.
-- Ben Sheirbon's 4:10.39 was seconds better than what he ran in his college outdoor debut on March 12.
 
UP NEXT
A select group of Falcons will head to California for the West Coast Relays in Clovis. Most of the action takes place on Friday, April 1, beginning at 10:00 a.m. The pole vault is slated for Thursday, March 31.
 
 
NCAA WOMEN'S TRACK & FIELD
Peyton-Shotwell Invitational
Saturday, March 27, 2022
Baker Stadium / Tacoma, Wash.
 
Team scores – Not kept.
 
SPU EVENTS ONLY
200 – 1, Jenna Bouyer (SPU) 24.68.  Other SPU – 2, Peace Igbonagwam 24.77; 3, Vanessa Aniteye 25.19; 4, Aniya Green 25.80.
400 – 1, Johanna Brown (SPU) 1:01.80.  No other SPU.
1500 – 1, Annika Esvelt (SPU) 4:39.08.  Other SPU – 2, Ellie Rising 4:45.22; 3, Kelsey Washenberger 4:48.07; 4, Libby Michael 4:48.51; 5, Nicki Yorges 4:52.15.
400 hurdles – 1, McKenzie Fletcher (SPU) 1:07.79.  No other SPU.
4x100 relay – 1, Seattle Pacific (Peace Igbonagwam, Vanessa Aniteye, Aniya Green, Jenna Bouyer) 47.00.  No other SPU.
4x400 relay – 1, Seattle Pacific (Peace Igbonagwam, Jenna Bouyer, Ellie Rising, Vanessa Aniteye) 3:49.64.  No other SPU.
Pole vault – 1, Madison Licari (SPU) 11-5 / 3.48m.  Other SPU – 2, Lizzy Daugherty 10-5¼ / 3.18m; 3, Charlie Hill 10-5¼ / 3.18m.
 
 
NCAA MEN'S TRACK & FIELD
Peyton-Shotwell Invitational
Saturday, March 27, 2022
Baker Stadium / Tacoma, Wash.
 
Team scores – Not kept.
 
SPU EVENTS ONLY
200 – 1, Jeff Gordon (SPU) 22.13.  Other SPU – 2, David Njeri 22.14.
400 – 1, Evan Carpenter (SPU) 50.82.  Other SPU – 6, Gabe Woodard 55.20.
800 – 1, Isaiah Archer (SPU) 1:55.61.  No other SPU.
1500 – 1, Zack Sundt (CWU) 4:04.76.  SPU – 2, Jon Owen 4:07.22; 4, Drew Thompson 4:09.80; 5, Ben Sheirbon 4:10.39; 7, Colin Boutin 4:12.50; 11, Brennan LeBlanc 4:21.76; 12, Gabe Endresen 4:23.30; 15, Rory McClelland 4:35.26.
400 hurdles – 1, Julius Shepherd (SPU) 56.96.  No other SPU.
4x400 relay – 1, Seattle Pacific (Evan Carpenter, David Njeri, Jeff Gordon, Isaiah Archer) 3:26.32.  No other SPU.
Pole vault – 1, Andrew Alfred (Saint Martin's) 13-8 ¼ / 4.17m. SPU – Brad Bowman no height.