PORTLAND, Ore. – Lizzy Daugherty won her fifth of the season. Isaiah Archer won his fifth in a row.
 
And Jeff Gordon finally snagged his first of the spring.
 
 

Seattle Pacific senior Gordon was first across the finish line in the 200-meter dash on Saturday, clocking 22.72 seconds at the Portland Twilight to conclude the regular season track and field calendar.
 
Along with being his first individual victory of 2023, it was Gordon;s third win of his college career. The previous two also were in the 200.
 
Gordon also took second place in the 100 meters, stopping the watch at 11.30.
 
 

On the same Griswold Stadium oval at Lewis & Clark College, Falcons sophomore Archer sprinted to a victory in the 400-meter dash, this one in 48.97 seconds. Archer has won his last five 400s: March 25 at the Point Loma Collegiate Invitational, April 8 at the Pomona-Pitzer Invitational, April 22 at the Wildcat Open, April 29 at the Ralph Vernacchia Invitational, and now Portland.
 
 

Down in McMinnville at the Linfield Open, Daugherty cleared 11 feet, 9 inches to win the women's pole vault. That was her fifth W and her first since March 25 at Point Loma. Allison Otto-Fitzsimmons of Clackamas Community College also went 11-9, but Daugherty got the top spot on the fewer-misses tiebreaker.
 
Also at Linfield, junior Kainoa Lee went a season-best 14-5¼ to take second placed in the men's pole vault. Brad Bowman tied for third at 13-11¼.

AND THAT'S NOT ALL
-- The men's 200 at Portland was quite a successful day across the board for SPU. Freshman Nate Thomas won his heat in a personal-best time of 23.80 seconds, giving him sixth place overall and leading a 1-2-3 Falcons finish in Heat 1. Brady Boun, also a freshman, was second behind Thomas in 24.56 to tie his personal best, and sophomore Gabe Woodard was third in a personal-best 24.69.
-- In the second heat, senior Solomon Wittrell broke the 24-second mark at 23.93. He barely missed doing that last week in Bellingham, finishing in 24.01.
-- Isaac Venable and Nathaniel Gale, both freshmen, posted huge personal-bests in the men's 5000. Venable completed his 12½ laps in 15 minutes, 47.07 seconds, and Gale was close behind in 15:53.34. It was the first sub-16 for both. Venable's previous PB was 16:16.87 on April 8 at the Emilie Mondor Invitational in Burnaby, B.C., and Gale's was 16:27.51 on March 24 at the Mangrum Invitational in San Marcos, Calif.
-- Junior Aniya Green finished fourth in the women's 200 in 25.86, and freshman Marissa Crane was eighth in a PB time of 26.21.
-- Green had the busiest day among all the Falcons. She led off the 4-by-100 relay, followed by Hannah Chang, Charisma Smith, and Crane, They finished in 49.78. It was Seattle Pacific's first 4-by-1 of the season. Green also was eighth in the 100-meter dash in 12.69.
-- Senior Libby Michael and junior Annika Esvelt both logged season bests in the women's 1500. Michael went 4:38.90, and Esvelt was at 4:39.18. That was just one-tenth shy of her 4:39.08 personal best.
-- McKenzie Fletcher took second in the women's 400-meter hurdles in 1:08.50. That was a drop of more than a full second from last week's 1:09.81 in her first hurdles race of the season.
 
UP NEXT
The Falcons head back to Oregon next weekend, only this time, it's to Monmouth for the Great Northwest Athletic Conference Championships. On Friday, field events start at 1:15 p.m. and track races start at 2:15 p.m. That day will feature six finals in the field and two on the track (3000 steeplechase and 10,000 meters). All of the other track races will be preliminaries.
 
On Saturday, field competition gets going at 11:30 a.m., and track races start at 1:40 p.m. The last event is the women's 4-by-400 relay at 5:00 p.m.

Click on this link for a complete schedule.
 
 
NCAA WOMEN'S TRACK & FIELD
Portland Twilight
Saturday, May 6, 2023
Griswold Stadium / Portland, Ore.
 
Team scores – Not kept.
 
SPU EVENTS ONLY
100 – 1, Victoria McIntyre (Ottawa Lions) 12.44.  SPU – 8, Aniya Green 12.69.
200 – 1, Victoria McIntyre (Ottawa Lions) 24.94.  SPU – 4, Aniya Green 25.86; 8, Marissa Crane 26.21.
400 – 1, Morgan Bayes (E. Oregon) 57.41.  SPU – 4, Johanna Brown 59.05; 8, Charisma Smith 1:01.28.
1500 – 1, Holly McGillvray (British Columbia) 4:21.15.  SPU – 16, Libby Michael 4:38.90; 17, Annika Esvelt 4:39.18; 26, Maya Ewing 4:50.53; 29, Matise Mulch 4:51.67.
400 hurdles – 1, Alexandra Telford (Ottawa Lions) 1:03.26.  SPU – 2, McKenzie Fletcher 1:08.50.
4x100 relay – 1, Seattle Pacific (Aniya Green, Hannah Chang, Charisma Smith, Marissa Crane) 49.78.  No other SPU.
 
Linfield Open
Saturday, May 6, 2023
Linfield Track / McMinnville, Ore.
 
Team scores – Not kept.
 
SPU EVENTS ONLY
Pole vault – 1, Lizzy Daugherty (SPU) 11-9¾ / 3.60m.  Other SPU – Charlie Hill and Emily Thomason, both no height.
 
 
NCAA MEN'S TRACK & FIELD
Portland Twilight
Saturday, May 6, 2023
Griswold Stadium / Portland, Ore.
 
Team scores – Not kept.
 
SPU EVENTS ONLY
100 – 1, Jonelle Halog (C.A.N.I. Athletics) 11.16.  SPU – 2, Jeff Gordon 11.30; 7, Nate Thomas 11.69; 8, Solomon Wittrell 11.73; 10, Brady Boun 11.98.
200 – 1, Jeff Gordon (SPU) 22.72.  Other SPU – 6, Nate Thomas 23.80; 8, Solomon Wittrell 23.93; 11, Brady Boun 24.56; 12, Gabe Woodard 24.69.
400 – 1, Isaiah Archer (SPU) 48.97.  Other SPU – 3, Evan Carpenter 50.37; 5, Julius Shepherd 52.03; 8, Gabe Woodard 55.02.
800 – 1, Matt Wisner (Oregon Track Club) 1:48.41.  SPU – 34, Jon Owen 1:57.36; 56, Kade Franco 2:06.60.
1500 – 1, Jack Yearin (Oregon Track Club) 3:46.11.  SPU – 48, Colin Boutin 4:08.38; 54, Brennan LeBlanc 4:12.81; 57, Rory McClelland 4:14.72.
5000 – 1, Cameron Allen (Adams State) 13:50.17.  SPU – 27, Isaac Venable 15:47.07; 29, Nathaniel Gale 15:53.34.
 
Linfield Open
Saturday, May 6, 2023
Linfield Track / McMinnville, Ore.
 
Team scores – Not kept.
 
SPU EVENTS ONLY
Pole vault – 1, Levi Gibson (George Fox) 14-11 / 4.55m.  SPU – 2, Kainoa Lee 14-5¼ / 4.40m; T3, Brad Bowman 13-11¼ / 4.25m.