CLAREMONT, Calif. – That makes three.
 
And chances are, Isaiah Archer isn't done yet.
 
The Seattle Pacific sophomore continued taking an eraser to the school track and field record book, this time rewriting the outdoor standard in the 400-meter dash.
 
 

Archer powered across the finish line in 48.24 seconds at the Pomona-Pitzer Invitational on Saturday afternoon. His time on Strehle Track eclipsed the 17-year-old mark of 48.27 that Chris Randolph set in 2006.

"That's a big one. You break an outdoor school; record, that's really something," SPU head coach Karl Lerum said. "That was a good record from a fantastic athlete in Chris Randolph. I was excited for Isaiah to get it done today. He was just trying to get out there and put his best effort out on the track."

Setting school records has become a productive habit for the Falcon sophomore. Saturday's was his third – all in a span of eight weeks. And he wasn't necessarily aiming for this one -- at least not this time.

"It was almost perfect conditions," Archer said "I just wanted to get out there today, and that's just kind of how it worked out." 

This past winter, he broke the SPU indoor 400 record twice: 49.15 at the Husky Classic in Seattle on Feb 11, then 48.78 at the Great Northwest Athletic Conference Championships in Spokane on Feb. 21. The GNAC time was good for second place in the meet.
 
Later that same afternoon, he was the anchor man on the 4-by-400 relay that went the distance in 3 minutes, 20.86 seconds, giving them third place and Seattle Pacific's first-ever appearance on the GNAC awards stand for that event. With Julius Shepherd, Evan Carpenter, and Jeff Gordon carrying the baton ahead of him, they beat the mark of 3:21.25 that had stood for 20 years, since 2003.
 
SPEAKING OF THE 400 …
After Archer did his speedy business in the men's event, the Falcon women got their turn – and made the most of it.
 
 

Marissa Crane and Aniya Green both broke the 58-second barrier for the first time. Crane clocked 57.81 seconds for fifth place overall, and Green was right behind her in 57.99 for sixth place.
 
Crane, a freshman, came to SPU with a high school best of 58.77. That time has only been going down ever since: 58.57 on March 18 at the Doris Heritage Track Festival, 58.45 on March 24 at the Mangrum Invitational, then 58.13 the next day at the Point Loma Collegiate Invitational.
 
Green came into the spring with a best of 58.59 at last year's GNAC preliminaries. The junior went 58.46 at Mangrum and now 57.99.
 
 

Sophomore Johanna Brown had never broken one minute outdoors, her best being 1:00.59 last March at the PLU Open. Saturday was her first try at the 400 this season and she finished in 58.80. giving her eighth place. (Her first-ever sub-minute came indoors, 59.78 at the Husky Classic on Feb. 11).
 
Senior McKenzie Fletcher ran the 400 for the first time, and beat the one-minute mark at 59.77.
 
ANOTHER DOUBLE 'W' FOR NJERI
For the second consecutive meet, David Njeri is coming home from California with a pair of victories.
 
Njeri went a season-best 49 feet, 7 ¼ inches to win the triple jump, putting him onto the NCAA Division II provisional qualifying list and into the national top 10 (No. 8). That came on the heels of a 22-6 performance to win the long jump.
 
He also won those two events at the Point Loma Invitational on March 25.
 
 

Njeri's triple jump distance was the third-best of his career. The only better ones were his personal-best 49-10 last April 30 at the Fresno State Invitational, and 49-9 ¾ at the West Coast Relays last April 1.

On Saturday, Njeri fouled on his first two attempts before hitting the big one on his third. He finished 16 inches ahead of second-place Isaac Davis from Fresno State.
 
His winning long jump came on he second attempt. That moved him ahead of Pomona-Pitzer's Kirby Lam, and kept him there. Lam went 22-3 ¼.
 
AND THAT'S NOT ALL
-- Emily Thomason made her Seattle Pacific debut in the women's pole vault in Claremont, clearing 11 feet, 11 inches for second place. She is from Central Point, Oregon, and competed three seasons (2019, 2021, and 2022) at Lane Community College in Eugene. Her personal best is 12 feet, 6¼ inches.
-- Junior Lizzy Daugherty tied for fourth place in the women's pole vault at 11-5.
-- Freshman Hannah Chang finished second in the 100-meter hurdles in 14.77 seconds, then set a personal-best of 16 feet, 1 inch for 10th place in the long jump.
-- For the second meet in a row, senior Jeff Gordon came as close as he could possibly come to a personal best in the men's 100-meter dash. Gordon came across the line in 10.90 seconds, the same as he went at the Point Loma Invitational on March 25. His PB is 10.89.

FROM ACROSS THE BORDER
--Freshman Maya Ewing posted a significant personal-best in the 3000-meter steeplechase at the Emilie Mondor Invitational in Burnaby, B.C.  Ewing clocked 11 minutes, 37.77 seconds, a drop of nearly 16 seconds from her initial outing of 11:53.31 at the Mangrum Invitational on March 24, and good for fourth place. Fellow freshman Katelyn Flolo, in her first steeple, went 11:46.15.
--Sophomore Ben Sheirbon won his heat of the 1500 meters in 4 minutes, 11.99 seconds.
--Senior Solomon Wittrell won his heat of the 200 in 24.36. That's the second time he has won a heat, having previously done so at the Doris Heritage Track Festival on March 18.


NCAA WOMEN'S TRACK & FIELD
Pomona-Pitzer Invitational
Saturday, April 8, 2023
Strehle Track / Claremont, Calif.
 
Team scores – Not kept.
 
SPU EVENTS ONLY
200 – 1, Madison Flores (Fresno Pacific) 24.25.  SPU – 10, Aniya Green 25.54; 21, Hannah Chang 26.68.
400 – 1, Kynnedi McCall (Cal State Bakersfield) 54.71.  SPU – 5, Marissa Crane 57.81; 6 Aniya Green 57.99; 8, Johanna Brown 58.80; 11, McKenzie Fletcher 59.77.
100 hurdles – 1, Julie Stein (Cal State Bakersfield) 14.65.  SPU – 2, Hannah Chang 14.77.
4x400 relay – 1, Chapman 3:52.54.  SPU – 3, Seattle Pacific (Aniya Green, Johanna Brown, McKenzie Fletcher, Marissa Crane) 3:54.94.
Pole vault – 1, Miranda Miller (Cal State Bakersfield) 13-1 ½ / 4.00m.  SPU – 2, Emily Thomason 11-11 / 3.63m; T4, Lizzy Daugherty 11-5 / 3.48m.
Long jump – 1, Laura Panteau (Mile Split) 18-6 ¾ / 5.66m.  SPU – 10, Hannah Chang 16-1 / 4.90m.
Javelin – 1, Molly Olson (Azusa Pacific) 139-0 / 42.37m.  SPU – 15, Hannah Chang 92-7 / 28.23m.

Emilie Mondor Invitational 
Saturday, April 8, 2023 
Terry Fox Field / Burnaby, B.C. 
 
Team scores – Not kept. 
 
SPU EVENTS ONLY 
400 – 1, Alison Andrews-Paul (Unattached) 56.26.  SPU – 8, Charisma Smith 1:02.35. 
800 – 1, Haley O'Connor (Bellingham Distance Project) 2:10.52.  SPU – 8, Libby Michael 2:16.88. 
1500 – 1, Holly MacGillivray (UBC) 4:30.12.  SPU – 6, Annika Esvelt 4:45.80; 12, Matise Mulch 4:54.24. 
3000 steeplechase – 1, Ashley Reeck (WWU) 11:05.35.  SPU – 4, Maya Ewing 11:37.77; 5, Katelyn Flolo 11:46.15. 
 
 
NCAA MEN'S TRACK & FIELD
Pomona-Pitzer Invitational
Saturday, April 8, 2023
Strehle Track / Claremont, Calif.
 
Team scores – Not kept.
 
SPU EVENTS ONLY
100 – 1, Asani Hampton (Mile Split) 10.44.  SPU – 12, Jeff Gordon 10.90.
400 – 1, Isaiah Archer (SPU) 48.24 (school record, breaks old record of 48.27 set by Chris Randolph on 2006).  Other SPU – 12, Julius Shepherd 50.59; 16, Evan Carpenter 51.01.
4x100 relay – 1, Redlands 40.91.  SPU – 2, Seattle Pacific (David Njeri, Jeff Gordon, Julius Shepherd, Isaiah Archer) 42.25.
4x400 relay – 1, La Verne 3:19.89.  SPU – 3, Seattle Pacific (Isaiah Archer, Evan Carpenter, Julius Shepherd, Jeff Gordon) 3:21.49.
Pole vault – 1 Jorge Luna-Estes (Risen Performance) 16-10 ¾ / 5.15m.  SPU – 6, Brad Bowman 14-11 ¼ / 4.55m; 10, Kainoa Lee 13-11 ¼ / 4.25m.
Long jump – 1, David Njeri (SPU) 22-6 / 6.86m.  No other SPU.
Triple jump – 1, David Njeri (SPU) 49-7 ¼ / 15.12m.  No other SPU.

Emilie Mondor Invitational 
Saturday, April 8, 2023 
Terry Fox Field / Burnaby, B.C. 
 
Team scores – Not kept. 
 
SPU EVENTS ONLY 
200 –  1, Nathan George (Coquitlam Cheetahs) 21.97.  SPU -- 17, Solomon Wittrell 24.36.
400 – 1, Joshua Adhemar (Coquitlam Cheetahs) 50.41.  SPU – 16, Gabe Woodard 55.41; 17, Solomon Wittrell 55.48. 
800 – 1, Paul Fisher (UBC) 1:54.88.  SPU – 29, Ben Sheirbon 2:12.45; 32, Kade Franco 2:15.40. 
1500 – 1, Spencer Hardy (UBC) 3:57.97.  SPU – 17, Ben Sheirbon 4:11.99 24, Kade Franco 4:18.22; 26 Colin Boutin 4:20.44. 
5000 – 1, Eric Anthony Souza-Ponce (WWU) 14:58.78.  SPU – 11, Isaac Venable 16:16.87; 13 Nathaniel Gale 16:32.54; 14, Gabe Endresen 16:33.16. 
3000 steeplechase – 1. Matthew Salazar (WWU) 9:51.51.  SPU – 3, Brennan LeBlanc 10:12.88.