MONMOUTH, Ore. – This time, it took more than David Njeri's best effort – it also took his second-best effort – to win another conference crown.
 
It took every ounce of Isaiah Archer's effort to set another school record.
 
Both of the Seattle Pacific standouts came through in a big way on Saturday.
 
Njeri captured his second triple jump title in the past three years, and Archer broke his own school standard in the 400-meter dash to highlight SPU's day at the Great Northwest Athletic Conference Track & Field Championships.
 
Falcons junior Njeri and Western Washington's Seren Dances both flew 48 feet, 4 ½ inches in the triple jump final at Western Oregon's McArthur Field. But because Njeri had another mark of 48-1¼ while Dances went 46-10¼ for his second-farthest distance of the day, Njeri left with the first-place medal.
 
It capped a highly successful weekend for Njeri. On Friday, he came from his eighth-seeded entry position to win the long jump at 23 feet, 10 ½ inches.
 
"I felt good from yesterday, so I just came in and kind of executed," said Njeri, who also has won back-to-back GNAC indoor triple jumps. "I was going for a little bit further today, was going for 50. But today, 14.74 (meters) was going to suffice."
 




Njeri started the weekend ranked No. 15 nationally in the triple, so is in good position to make the nationals when the entries are announced on Tuesday.
 
"I felt good and I've got more in the tank," he said. "So hopefully, I'm going to get that soon."
 
Archer was one of the top three contenders for the men's 400 crown, along with Alaska Anchorage's Kevin Angarita and Western Oregon's Amari Hendrix. It was the three of them coming head-to-head down the homestretch, and Angarita got there first in 47.59 seconds. Hendrix was at 47.93, and Archer at 48.07.
 
That time erased the old record of 48.24 that Archer posted on April 8 at the Pomona-Pitzer Invitational in Claremont, California.
 
"I felt really good about the PR," Archer said. "It sucked to get a 480 instead of a 47, but I'll take that, any time you can get a PR and a school record on top of that. It's a really good group of guys in the 400 in the conference, so it was whoever had the best day."
 




Njeri and Archer both were part of a podium performance in the 4-by-100 relay. Njeri led off (just moments after his final try in the triple jump), Archer was on the anchor leg, with Jeff Gordon and Julius Shepherd in between. Together, the clocked 42.35 seconds for third place. But they subsequently were moved up to second place when Simon Fraser was disqualified for interference.
 
"We always knew we could do it," Archer said of the podium finish. "It was just a matter of getting the baton around the track. Me and Julius have been working hard on getting that together, and it feels really good to see it pay off today."
 
POWER IN THE POLE VAULT
Emily Thomason and Lizzy Daugherty put together a 2-3 finish in the women's pole vault.
 
Thomason, a junior who joined the Falcons in April after competing previously at Lane Community College in Eugene, went 12 feet, 4 ½ inches, getting over on her third and final attempt. It was her best height in a Seattle Pacific uniform, beating the 12-4 she went at the Wildcat Invitational in Ellensburg on April 22.
 
Daugherty went 11-10 ½, getting a couple of good looks at 12-4 ½ before going out.
 
Both Falcons earned All-GNAC recognition for their top-3 finishes.
 
Northwest Nazarene's Kinsey Yenor, the indoor champion and the conference leader coming into the meet, went 13-1 ¾, breaking the meet record of 12-10 set in 2019 by former SPU star Scout Cai.
 




AND THAT'S NOT ALL
-- Seattle Pacific finished sixth in the women's team standings with 53 points, and the men were eighth with 51. Western Washington won both team titles, scoring 209 ½ points on the men's side and 183 on the women's
-- Freshman Marissa Crane raced to a third place, All-GNAC finish in the women's 400-meter dash. She did it in a personal-best time of 57.58 seconds, beating her old mark of 57.81.
-- Junior Annika Esvelt took third in the women's 5000 meters, coming across the line in 18:28.21.
-- Freshman Hannah Chang served notice that she will be someone to be reckoned with in the women's 100-meter hurdles. Chang finished fourth in 14.53, just .03 off her career best. She won that event in the GNAC heptathlon on May 1 with the exact same time.
-- Junior Aniya Green was the only Falcon to qualify for two individual finals. She was seventh in the 400-meter dash and eighth in the 200.
  
 
NCAA MEN'S TRACK & FIELD
GNAC Championships
Friday, May 12, 2023
McArthur Field / Monmouth, Ore.
 
Final team scores (through 21 of 21 events) – 1, Western Washington 209.5; 2, Western Oregon 124; 3, Northwest Nazarene 112; 4, Central Washington 106; 5, Alaska Anchorage 66; 6, Simon Fraser 65; 7, Montana State Billings 54; 8, Seattle Pacific 51; 9, Saint Martin's 28.5.
 
SATURDAY FINALS
100 – 1, Enrique Campbell (UAA) 10.51.  No SPU.
200 – 1, Jesaiah Penson-Mccoy (Simon) 21.55.  No SPU.
400 – 1, Kevin Angarita (UAA) 47.59#.  SPU – 3, Isaiah Archer 48.07 (school record, breaks old record of 48.24 set by Archer on April 8, 2023); 8, Evan Carpenter 50.90.
800 – 1, Charlie Dannatt (Simon) 1:49.88.  No SPU.
1500 – 1, Keeton Sanchez (WOU) 3:54.20.  SPU – 12, Jon Owen 4:02.58.
5000 – 1, Kevin McDermott (WWU) 14:42.03.  SPU – 15, Colin Boutin 15:48.31.
110 hurdles – 1, Joshua Wagner (UAA) 14.58.  No SPU.
400 hurdles – 1, Maurice Woodring (WOU) 52.90#.  No SPU.
4x100 relay – 1, Western Washington 41.76.  SPU – 2, Seattle Pacific (David Njeri, Jeff Gordon, Julius Shepherd, Isaiah Archer) 42.35.
4x400 relay – 1, Western Washington 3:15.71.  SPU – 6, Seattle Pacific (Julius Shepherd, Evan Carpenter, Jeff Gordon, Isaiah Archer: 3:23.13.
High jump – 1, Steven Schmidt (NNU) 6-10 ¾ / 2.10m#.  No SPU.
Triple jump – 1, David Njeri (SPU) 48-4 ½ / 14.74m. (Seren Dances of WWU also went 48-4 ½ / 14.74; Njeri gets higher place on the basis of second-furthest jump 48-1 ¼ / 14.66m; Dances second-furthest jump 46-10 ¼ / 14.28m.  No other SPU.
Discus – 1, Dayne Gordien (WOU) 160-0 / 48.78m.  No SPU.
Javelin – 1, Jaydon Tryon (WWU) 202-7 / 61.75m.  No SPU.
 
 
FRIDAY FINALS
10,000 – 1, Andrew Oslin (WWU) 30:3634#.  SPU – 7, Colin Boutin 32:43.69; 11, Nathaniel Gale 34:36.31; 12, Isaac Vanable 35:00.88; 14, Gabe Endresen 35:11.71.
3000 steeplechase – 1, Jeret Gillingham (WWU) 9:04.20#.  SPU – 11, Brennan LeBlanc 9:47.72.
Pole vault – 1, Steven Schmidt (NNU) 15-1 ¾ / 4.62m.  SPU – 3, Kainoa Lee 14-10 / 4.52m; 4, Brad Bowman 14-4 / 4.37m.
Long jump – 1, David Njeri (SPU) 23-7 ½ / 7.20m.  No other SPU.
Shot put – 1, Dayne Gordien (WOU) 54-3¼ / 16.54m#.  No SPU.
Hammer – 1, Dylan Hendry (NNU) 181-3 / 55.26m.  No SPU.
 
FRIDAY PRELIMINARIES
100 – 1, Enrique Campbell (UAA) 10.46.  SPU – 10, Jeff Gordon 11.00.
200 – 1, Jesaiah Penson-Mccoy (Simon) 21.55.  SPU – 14, Jeff Gordon 22.50.
400 – 1, Amari Hendrix (WOU) 48.07.  SPU finals qualifiers – 4, Isaiah Archer 48.54 (No. 3 by time); 8, Evan Carpenter 50.12.  Other SPU – 13, Julius Shepherd 50.83.
800 – 1, Charlie Dannatt (Simon) 1:50.51#.  No SPU.
110 hurdles – 1, Joshua Wagner (UAA) 14.67.  No SPU.
400 hurdles – 1, Maurice Woodring (WWU) 53.91.  No SPU.
 
 
 
NCAA WOMEN'S TRACK & FIELD
GNAC Championships
Friday, May 12, 2023
McArthur Field / Monmouth, Ore.
 
Final team scores (through 21 of 21 events) – 1, Western Washington 183; 2, Western Oregon 160; 3,Simon Fraser 129; 4, Northwest Nazarene 94; 5, Central Washington 85; 6, Seattle Pacific 53; 7, Saint Martin's 45; 8, Alaska Anchorage 37; 9, Montana State Billings 27.
 
SATURDAY FINALS
100 – 1, Marie-Eloise Leclair (Simon) 11.47#.  No SPU.
200 – 1, Marie Eloise Leclair (Simon) 24.12#.  SPU – 8, Aniya Green 26.14.
400 – 1, Claire Bosma (Simon) 57.20.  SPU – 3, Marissa Crane 57.58; 7, Aniya Green 59.50.
800 – 1, Marian Ledesma (WWU) 2:14.50.  No SPU.
1500 – 1, Cassidy Walchak-Sloan (StM) 4:28.45#.  SPU – 9, Libby Michael 4:42.74; 14, Maya Ewing 4:58.05.
5000 – 1, Ila Davis (WWU) 18:1234.  SPU – 3, Annika Esvelt 18:28.21; 9, Matise Mulch 19:14.94.
100 hurdles – 1, Lauryn Chandler (CWU) 13.97#.  SPU – 4, Hannah Chang 14.53.
400 hurdles – 1, Erika Binder (Simon) 1:01.75#.  No SPU.
4x100 relay – 1, Simon Fraser 46.41.  SPU – 5, Seattle Pacific (Aniya Green, Marissa Crane, Hannah Chang, Charisma Smith) 49.10.
4x400 relay – 1, Simon Fraser 3:48.45#.  SPU – 6, Seattle Pacific (Johanna Brown, Libby Michael, Marissa Crane, Charisma Smith) 3:59.28.
Pole vault – 1, Kinsey Yenor (NNU) 13-1 ¾ / 4.01m#.  SPU – 2, Emily Thomason 12-4 ½ / 3.77m; 3, Lizzy Daugherty 11-10 ½ / 3.62m; Charlie Hill no height.
Triple jump – 1, Alyssa Duncan (StM) 39-5 ¾ / 12.03m.  No SPU.
Discus – 1, Katie Potts (WWU) 143-7 / 43.78m.  No SPU.
Javelin – 1, Kaylee Wright (WOU) 141-10 / 43.25m.  No SPU.
 
FRIDAY FINALS
10,000 – 1, Meaera Shannon (WWU) 36:31.65.  SPU – 5, Matise Mulch 38:28.65.
3000 steeplechase – 1, Ila Davis (WWU) 10:41.34#.  SPU – 6, Maya Ewing 11:19.21; 15, Katelyn Flolo 11:34.18.
High jump – 1, Sydney Kania (Simon) 5-5¼ / 1.66m.  No SPU.
Long jump – 1, Ujunwa Nwokoma (WOU) 18-7¾ / 5.68m.  SPU – 21, Maliyah Hicks 15-3½ / 4.66m.
Shot put – 1, Destiny Herbert (NNU) 46-9 ½ / 14.26m#.  No SPU.
Hammer – 1, Raine Westfall (WWU) 172-1 / 52.45m#.  No SPU.
 
FRIDAY PRELIMINARIES
100 – 1, Marie-Eloise Leclair (Simon) 11.44# (GNAC record, breaks old record of 11.45 set by Leclair on March 31, 2023; GNAC meet record, breaks old record of 11.66 set by Leclair in 2022).  No SPU.
200 – 1, Marie-Eloise Leclair (Simon) 23.95#.  SPU finals qualifier – 7, Aniya Green 25.52.  No other SPU.
400 – 1, Claire Bosman (Simon) 57.80.  SPU finals qualifiers – 3, Marissa Crane 57.95 (No. 2 by time); 4, Aniya Green 58.39.  Other SPU – 9, Johanna Brown 59.36; 16, McKenzie Fletcher 1:01.86.
800 – 1, Marian Ledesma (WWU) 2:12.86.  No SPU.
100 hurdles – 1, Lauryn Chandler (CWU) 13.90.  SPU finals qualifier – 5, Hannah Chang 14.63.  No other SPU.
400 hurdles – 1, Erika Binder (Simon) 1:03.29.  No SPU.