Making waves to making saves. ... Claiming a national championship to capturing a big game against a nationally ranked opponent. ... Reaching the record book to reaching a 'grand' scoring milestone. ... Bouncing back from near defeat to pull out a volleyball victory to speeding back from a scary incident to win a track race. Seattle Pacific athletes and teams did all of those things and more during the just-completed 2022-23 academic year. Through the next two weeks, we'll relive some of those special moments through a series of "Falcon Flashback" stories.

     PREVIOUS CHAPTERS
     Monday, June 19: Women's rowing 3rd at NCAAs


March 18, 2023

By MARK MOSCHETTI
Seattle Pacific Sports Information
 
RENTON – Gotta walk before you can run.
 
Or in Solomon Wittrell's case, gotta walk before you can jog …
 
… and jog before you can run.

 

It's one of many things the Seattle Pacific track sprinter was dealing with during the first few weeks of 2023 as he worked his way back from being stabbed while training along the Ship Canal Trail.
 
That incident, which occurred while he was out on a rainy run just a couple days after Christmas, resulted in four hours of emergency surgery and two days in the hospital.
 
Then began the process of recovering and returning to his life as both an SPU student and as a Falcon athlete.
 
"Definitely, the first couple week after the incident, I couldn't even jog," said Wittrell, who nevertheless was walking on his own again within just a few days of returning home. "I questioned if I was going to be able to jog again."
 
For a while though, walking was about as fast as it got.
 
For a while. But not forever.
 
"I just took it day by day. The weeks flew by, (track) practices went well – and here I am."
 
FIRST TO THE FINISH LINE
Last Saturday afternoon, "here" was relaxing in a chair next to the high jump pit at Renton Memorial Stadium, soaking in the sun of the area's first 60-degree day since last fall …
 
… and basking in the glow of a triumphant return to the track.
 
Wittrell had just won his heat of the 200-meter dash at the seventh annual Doris Heritage Track Festival. And in a race of that short length, he won it with room to spare, getting to the finish line 47 hundredths of a second ahead of runner-up Jaelin McQueen of Western Washington.
 
In fact, that was Wittrell's second race of the afternoon. About an hour earlier, he placed third in his heat of the 100 dash.

 

"Winning it wasn't necessarily on my radar," he said. "Every race, I just wanted to make sure I tried my hardest. The 100 didn't go as planned. So I wanted to bounce back in the 200, and that's what I did."
 
For those in the stadium who knew Wittrell's story leading up to the meet – his teammates, coaches, and family members among them -- just seeing him out there competing again made for a feel-good moment.
 
Seeing him cross the finish line first made it a goose-bumpy, feel-good moment.
 
 

"For him to be able to weather trauma and not only hold together his academic obligations, his family and social connections but also to fight like heck to get back and finish what he started on the track – I just admire Solomon in so many ways," Falcons head coach Karl Lerum said. "For him to step back on the track on Saturday was an inspiring moment for me."
 
Wittrell's time of 24.12 placed him 16th overall in the 200. Now that he has a couple races under his shoes, he's already looking forward to the remaining two months of the season for a chance to race some more.
 
"I didn't know where I was at (in terms of race readiness), and now I do," Wittrell said. "I'm just happy I get to run again with my teammates and my coach."
 
"ANY EVENT NOW IS EXCITING"
He originally was slated to go the 400 on Saturday before the decision was made to switch to the 100 and 200.
 
"I'll take the 200 any day and eventually, I'll go back to the 400," Wittrell said, mentioning specific targets of "definitely anything in the 22-second range, preferably low 22" for the 200, and "my goal has always been 50 seconds" in the 400.
 
"But just being able to do any event now is exciting."
 
A 2018 graduate of Hazen High School in the Renton Highlands, this is Wittrell's first season of college track. (It also will be his only season, as he continues toward completing his business administration degree.) His most recent competitive season was at Hazen in 2018. Last summer, he competed in several all-comers meets with the goal of earning a walk-on invitation to the team.

 

"I'm grateful for the opportunity that Karl and Chris (associate head coach Reed) gave me," Wittrell said, "and just being able to go out every day and compete."
 
Knowing the work Wittrell had put in – and the results he had to show for it – Lerum was happy to welcome him aboard.
 
"We put out times that he needed to achieve in order to come back after having so many years away from racing," Lerum said. "He's a determined young man. It's very rare that we tell a kid they need to achieve a mark, and they take it upon themselves to go out and train and achieve the marks we asked.
 
"Solomon doesn't just want to participate. He wants to get better and run fast and contribute," Lerum added. "I'm excited to watch that process unfold."
 
While Wittrell wasn't able to compete during the winter indoor season, he has maintained his sense of perspective and his gratitude, knowing that he has gone from walking to jogging …
 
… and now, back to running.
 
"It's a real experience having my family here and my friends, and my coaches and teammates and my high school coach who all supported me the whole way," he said. "Running in my old high school stadium, that brings back a lot of memories.
 
"I'm just blessed and grateful."