TACOMA, Wash. – On the way to just her second college victory, Johanna Brown ran twice as far as usual.
 
But she went the distance …
 
… and got the win.
 
The Seattle Pacific junior took the lead right off the starting line on Saturday, then gradually pulled away to win the 800 meters Ed Boitano Invitational to start the outdoor track and field season.
 
In gradually worsening conditions inside Baker Stadium on the University of Puget Sound campus, Brown came across the finish line in 2 minutes, 24.41 seconds. That was two-plus seconds ahead of Whitworth's Lily Jones, who clocked 2:26.66.
 
"I was hoping to win and I thought I could, so that was definitely pretty exciting," said Brown, who kept those winning ways going at the end of the meet by running the second leg on SPU's victorious 4-by-400 relay. "It would have been nice to have some competition at the end to push a little bit more, but I was definitely happy with that very first race."
 



Brown not only beat the other runners in her section of the race, she beat some gradually worsening weather conditions inside Baker Stadium. What had been rather mild mid-40 temperatures in the late morning gradually dropped into the upper 30s, and then hail started to fall near the end of the race.
 
In fact, by the time the second section stood on the starting line, it was coming down even heavier, to the point where the track was more white than red before it quickly tapered off.
 
"It was definitely cold, and I didn't have my long-sleeve shirt on under my top. So I was definitely feeling the cold," Brown said. "Then the hail was pretty intense, kind of straight in the face. But we did it."
 
Brown usually is found in the 400. She has run that race 20 times as a Falcon (winning it once, on this same Baker Stadium track in 2022), along with a dozen 4-by-400 relays (three wins) and four tries at the 400-meter hurdles.
 
Saturday was just her fourth time in the 800. And there just might be a few more in her future.
 
"I definitely want to keep the 4 as my main (event)," she said. "But the 8 helps with my 4, too."
 
AND THAT'S NOT ALL
-- While the hail pelted down during the second section of the women's 800, SPU's Marissa Crane bided her time. Taking the bell in third place, she surged to the lead starting up the backstretch and won the section with room to spare, stopping the watch in 2:27.46. That gave her third place overall. Like Brown, Crane is at her best in the 400. Saturday was her first 800.

-- After competing unattached during the winter indoor season, David Njeri started is final outdoor campaign in winning fashion, taking the men's triple jump with a leap of 44 feet, 3½ inches. He also was fifth in the long jump at 20-8½.
-- Aniya Green, Johanna Brown, Hannah Chang, and Charisma Smith teamed up to win the women's 4x400 in 4:03.35.
-- Green also was second in the 200-meter dash and placed fourth in the 100.
-- Chang, who finished second in the GNAC indoor pentathlon and plans to compete in the heptathlon later this spring, did three of the hep's seven events on Saturday. She tied for second place in the long jump at 16-1 ¾, fifth in the 200 at 27.15, and 11th in the javelin at 88 feet, 11 inches.
 

-- Sophomore Maya Ewing made an impressive debut in the 5000. Running that event outdoors for the first time, she finished in 18 minutes, 46.18 seconds. That would have given her fourth place in last year's GNAC Championships.

-- Speaking of the 5K, Brennan LeBlanc was third on the men's side in 15:24.58. That was an outdoor personal best, well below his previous best of 15:38.20 at the 2022 Doris Heritage Track Festival. His overall best of 15:22.33 was indoors this past Dec. 9 at the Spokane Invitational.
-- Freshman Jonathan Lieb won his heat of the men's 800 in 2:04.38. That placed him 16th overall.
 
UP NEXT
The Falcons are off from competition next weekend, but return to action on Saturday, March 16 at the PLU Open. Competition at the Pacific Lutheran track begins at 10:00 a.m., both on the track and in the field.
 
Annika Esvelt will race in the women's 5000 meters at the NCAA Division II indoor nationals this coming Friday, March 8. It is scheduled for 4:15 p.m. Pacific time.
 

NCAA WOMEN'S TRACK & FIELD
Ed Boitano Invitational
Saturday, March 2, 2024
Baker Stadium @ UPS / Tacoma, Wash.
 
Team scores – 1, Whitworth 138; 2, Western Washington 92; 3, Puget Sound 90; 4, Pacific Lutheran 84; 5, Seattle Pacific 63; 6, Spokane CC 61; 7, Lewis & Clark 56; 8, Evergreen State 18; 9, Saint Martin's 15; 10 (tie), Everett CC and S.E.T.A. 13; 12, Olympic College 12; 13, Club Northwest 10; 14, Green River College 6.
 
SPU EVENTS ONLY
100 – 1, Alison Ball (Whitworth) 12.41.  SPU – 4, Aniya Green 12.75.
200 – 1, Jackilyn Lewis (UPS) 25.55.  SPU – 2, Aniya Green 25.75; 5, Hannah Chang 27.15; 12, Charisma Smith 27.77; 17, Maliyah Hicks 28.66; 21, Anika Segall 29.04.
800 – 1, Johanna Brown (SPU) 2:24.41.  Other SPU – 3, Marissa Crane 2:27.46; 5, Charisma Smith 2:29.93; 13, Anika Segall 2:37.78.
5000 – 1, Melissa Phung-Rojas (Club NW) 18:09.29.  SPU – 2, Maya Ewing 18:46.18; 5, Katelyn Flolo 19:45.72.
10,000 – 1, Ashley Reeck (WWU) 36:29.29.  SPU – 10, Matise Mulch 38:38.25.
4x400 relay – 1, Seattle Pacific (Aniya Green, Johanna Brown, Hannah Chang, Charisma Smith) 4:03.35.
High jump – 1, Corona Parker (Evergreen St.) 5-1 ¾  1.57m.  SPU – Paige Kessler no height.
Pole vault – 1, Sydney Mohlman (WWU) 11-10 / 3.61m.  SPU – Lizzy Daugherty, Charlie Hill, Emily Thomason no height.
Long jump – 1, Brianna Tira (Whitworth) 16-4½ / 4.99m.  SPU – 2, Hannah Chang 16-1 ½ / 4.92m; 19, Maliyah Hicks 13-5 / 4.09m.
Javelin – 1, Devyn Chelin (Whitworth) 133-4 / 40.65m.  SPU – 11, Hannah Chang 88-11 / 27.11m.
 
 
NCAA MEN'S TRACK & FIELD
Ed Boitano Invitational
Saturday, March 2, 2024
Baker Stadium @ UPS / Tacoma, Wash.
 
Team scores – 1, Whitworth 149; 2, Western Washington 84; 3, Pacific Lutheran 78; 4, Puget Sound 75; 5, Lewis & Clark 69; 6, Club Northwest 65; 7, Spokane CC 42; 8, Seattle Pacific 26.5; 9, Olympic College 26; 10, (tie) Saint Martin's and Olympia Track Club 16; 12, Green River College 13; 13, Johnson Joggers 5; 14, Everett CC 2.
 
100 – 1, Alesander Donigan (Olympia TC) 10.64.  SPU – 11, Evan Carpenter 11.58; 47, Mikel Saxon 12.45
200 – 1, Cameron Andrews (Unattached) 21.32.  SPU – 10, Evan Carpenter 23.52.
800 – 1, Kainalu Pagente (Unattached) 1:55.89.  SPU – 16, Jonathan Lieb 2:04.38; 25, Ben Sheirbon 2:11.54; 29, Kade Franco 2:46.07.
5000 – 1, Mac Franks (Club NW) 14:33.38.  SPU – 3, Brennan LeBlanc 15:24.58; 7, Silas Demmert 15:50.04.
10,000 – 1, Ryan Clough (WWU) 29:56.56.  SPU – 24, Isaac Venable 32:56.24; 31, Nathaniel Gale 33:33.01; 33, Gabe Endresen 33:39.75.
4x400 relay – 1, Whitworth 3:29.03.  SPU – 6, Seattle Pacific (Evan Carpenter, Jonathan Lieb, Ethan Erickson, Ben Sheirbon 3:40.13.
Pole vault – 1, Andrew Shirley (Unattached) 15-11 ¼ / 4.86m.  SPU – T7, Kainoa Lee 13-5 ¾ / 4.11m; 14, Mikel Saxon 11-0 ¼ / 3.36m.
Long jump – 1, Andrew Schulz (Unattached) 21-8 ¾ / 6.62m.  SPU – 5, David Njeri 20-8 ½ / 6.31m; 15, Brady Boun 19-0 ¾ / 5.81m.
Triple jump – 1, David Njeri 44-3 ½ / 13.50m.  No other SPU.


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