BELLINGHAM, Wash. – Isaiah Archer still doesn't quite have the fastest 400-meter dash time in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference.
 
But on Saturday afternoon, he beat the guy who does.
 
Going head-to-head against Alaska Anchorage's Kevin Angarita, Archer got the to the finish line first in 48.48 seconds at the Ralph Vernacchia Invitational track and field meet.
 
The Seattle Pacific sophomore's time on the oval inside Civic Stadium was 66 hundredths ahead of Angarita's 49.14.
 
Angarita has the GNAC's top time of 47.91, an NCAA provisional qualifying mark posted on March 23 in San Diego at the Aztec Invitational. Archer's fastest is 48.24 on April 8 at the Pomona-Pitzer Invitational, fast enough for the SPU school record and currently is No. 3 in the conference. Finishing third on Saturday was Lucas Brenek of Western Washington in 49.27. He's No. 6 in the GNAC with his 48.91 last Saturday at Ellensburg.
 



"I've seen a lot of names, a lot of those people who could be in he final at conference," Archer said, looking ahead to the GNAC Championships that are set for May 12-13 at Western Oregon University in Monmouth. "I definitely wanted to give it my best shot today and see how I stack up, and I ended up winning.
 
"I didn't feel the best before the race, but I still wanted to go out hard and try to finish stronger," Archer added.
 
Archer's victory was his fourth in a row, preceded by W's at the Point Loma Collegiate Invitational on March 25, Pomona-Pitzer, and then last week's Wildcat Open in Ellensburg.
 
Including his 48.24, Archer has been in the 48s for five straight meets. He's pushing for a lower number and knows what it'll take to get there.
 
"My start – that's the biggest thing that's going to get me to 47, get out that first 100.," he said.
 
Running in Lane 4, Archer moved up through the pack along the backstretch and edged ahead going into the far turn. He was in front down the homestretch and hung on for first..

 

BIG DAY FOR DAUGHERTY
Falcons pole vaulter Lizzy Daugherty tied her personal-best height with a clearance of 12 feet, 4 inches in the women's pole vault, giving her second place.
 
A junior, Daugherty previously went 12-4 last May 7 at the Linfield Open.
 
Her best mark this season was 12-3 ¼ at Point Loma on March 25. That put her onto the NCAA provisional qualifying list. She came into this weekend tied for 41^st nationally.
 
Saturday's performance matched what fellow junior Emily Thomason did last week in Ellensburg. At 12-4, they are part of a tie for 34^th on the D2 provisional list.
 
AND THAT'S NOT ALL
--David Njeri won the triple jump with a distance of 48 feet, 1¼ inches. That was his third win of the season. He also tied for 12^th in the long jump at 21-6¼.
 

-- The fourth time was the right time for Brennan LeBlanc for Brennan LeBlanc to break 10 minutes in the men's 3000-meter steeplechase. LeBlanc came across the finish line in 9:55.12. In his first year as a steepler, he started with a 10:15.46 at the season-opening Ed Boitano Invitational on March 4, then went 10:04.68 at the Mangrum Invitational in San Marcos on March 24, and 10:12.88 in the Emilie Mondor Invitational at Simon Fraser on April 8.
-- Other top-3 finishers for Seattle Pacific were Isaac Venable (second in the men's 10,000) Maya Ewing (third in the women's 3K steeplechase), and Brad Bowman (tie for third in the men's pole vault).
-- This meet had team scoring, and the Falcons finished sixth on both sides, with 55.5 points for the men and 40 for the women. Host Western Washington won both, with 214 on the men's side and 131 on the women's.

UP NEXT
The regular season concludes next week in Oregon. SPU's runners will compete in the Portland Twilight at Griswold Stadium on the campus of Lewis & Clark College. The first race is at 3:30 p.m. The pole vaulters will go about 40 miles further southwest to McMinnville for the Linfield Open. Women's competition begins at 11:00 a.m., and the follow immediately upon its conclusion.
 
 
NCAA WOMEN'S TRACK & FIELD
Ralph Vernacchia Invitational
Saturday, April 29, 2023
Civic Stadium / Bellingham, Wash.
 
Team scores – 1, Western Washington 131; 2, British Columbia 110; 3, Central Washington 80; 4, Simon Fraser 69; 5, Saint Martin's 48; 6, Seattle Pacific 40; T7, Alaska Anchorage and Vancouver Thunderbirds Track Club 38; 9, Pacific Lutheran 25; 10, Olympic College 16; 11, Dynamo Throws Club 14; 12, Trinity Western 13; 13, Everett CC 10; 14, Coquitlam Cheetahs 8; 15, Comox Cougars 7; T16, Club Northwest and RSG Sprinters 6; 18, Northwest University 5; T19, Langley Mustangs and Green River College 4; 21, Bellingham Distance Project 3..
 
SPU EVENTS ONLY
100 – 1, E'lexis Hollis (CWU) 11.63.  SPU – 28, Maliyah Hicks 13.72.
200 – 1, Katherine Lucas (Vancouver Thunderbirds Track Club) 24.27.  SPU – 5, Aniya Green 25.51.
400 – 1, Alison Andrews-Paul (Unattached) 56.18.  SPU – 7, Johanna Brown 58.65; 8, Marissa Crane 58.70; 17, Charisma Smith 1:01.41.
1500 – 1, Sandra Kilmartin (Vancouver Thunderbirds Track Club) 4:27.94.  SPU – 12, Libby Michael 4:41.44.
5000 – 1, Tara Welling (Unattached) 17:22.42.  SPU – Annika Esvelt DNF, Matise Mulch DNF.
400 hurdles – 1, Grace Twiss (CWU) 1:03.83.  SPU – 8, McKenzie Fletcher 1:09.81.
3000 steeplechase – 1, Kiana Gibson (UBC) 10:11.52.  SPU – 3, Maya Ewing 11:38.40; 5, Katelyn Flolo 12:32.41.
4x400 relay – 1, Western Washington 3:56.98.  SPU – 2, Seattle Pacific (Aniya Green, Johanna Brown, Charisma Smith, Marissa Crane) 3:58.68.
Pole vault – 1, Chloe Cunliffe (Unattached) 14-3 ½ / 4.36m.  SPU – 2, Lizzy Daugherty 12-4 / 3.76m; 3, Emily Thomason 12-0 / 3.66m. 
 
 
NCAA MEN'S TRACK & FIELD
Ralph Vernacchia Invitational
Saturday, April 29, 2023
Civic Stadium / Bellingham, Wash.
 
Team scores – 1, Western Washington 214; 2, Central Washington 90.5; 3, British Columbia 78.5; 4, Simon Fraser 70; 5, Alaska Anchorage 65; 6, Seattle Pacific 55.5; 7, Pacific Lutheran 28; 8 Saint Martin's 22; T9, Coquitlam Cheetahs, Trinity Western and Green River College 16; 12, Team Salty 15; 13, Northwest University 8; T14, Husky Running Club and Edmonds College 6; 16, Olympic College 5.5; 17, Kajaks 4; 18, Club Northwest 3; T19, Bellingham Distance Project, Comox Cougars, and Vancouver Thunderbirds Track Club 2
 
SPU EVENTS ONLY
100 – 1, Jesaiah Penson-Mccoy (Simon Fraser) 10.63.  SPU – T9, Jeff Gordon 11.06; 26, Nate Thomas 11.41; 29, Solomon Wittrell 11.54.
200 – 1, Enrique Campbell (UAA) 21.55.  SPU – 32, Solomon Wittrell 24.01.
400 – 1, Isaiah Archer (SPU) 48.48.  Other SPU – 7, Julius Shepherd 50.93; 11, Evan Carpenter 52.18; 22, Gabe Woodard 55.52.
1500 – 1, Kevin McDermott (WWU) 3:48.47.  SPU – 23, Jon Owen 4:13.58; 24, Rory McClelland 4:14.66
10,000 – 1, Aidan Jones (WWU) 33:33.12.  SPU – 2, Isaac Venable 34:09.89; 4, Nathaniel Gale 34:30.15; 5, Gabe Encresen 34:38.14; 7, Ben Sheirbon 35:20.08.
3000 steeplechase – 1, Jeret Gillingham (WWU) 8:57.80.  SPU – 9, Brennan LeBlanc 9:55.12.
4x100 relay – 1, Simon Fraser 41.98.  SPU – 7, Seattle Pacific (David Njeri, Jeff Gordon, Julius Shepherd, Isaiah Archer) 44.65.
4x400 relay – 1, Western Washington 3:17.67.  SPU -- 3, Seattle Pacific (Julius Shepherd, Evan Carpenter, Jeff Gordon, Isaiah Archer) 3:26.40.
Pole vault – Jaime Martin (Trinity Western) 15-0 / 4.57m.  SPU – T3, Brad Bowman 14-0 / 4.27; 9, Kainoa Lee 13-6 ¼ / 4.12m.
Long jump – 1, Ryan Greenwalt (WWU) 23-4 ¾ / 7.13m.  SPU – T12, David Njeri 21-6 ¼ / 6.56m; 24, Brady Boun 18-3 / 5.56m.
Triple jump – 1, David Njeri (SPU) 48-1 ¼ / 14.66m.  No other SPU.