RENTON, Wash. – The track season hasn't been quite what Even Carpenter was hoping for.
 
But his performance on Senior Day was everything he could have hoped for – and more..
 
The Seattle Pacific sprinter won the 400-meter dash and then came back awhile later to win his heat of the 200 dash at the Doris Heritage Invitational on a cloudy, cool afternoon at Renton Memorial Stadium.
 
Carpenter clocked season-best times in both races, going 51.28 in the 400 and 23.22 in the 200. The overall first-place finish in the 400 was his third individual event college victory and his first since 2022.
 
"It has been a tough season so far, So it was good to come out and put down a decent time (in the 400) and a heat win on Senior Night," he said "Given the  conditions and that I was by myself for the last 200 meters (of the 400), I'm just happy with the way I ran. It's starting to come together, so I'm excited for it."
 
Carpenter was one of five Falcons to come away victorious on Friday. Aniya Green won the women's 100-meter dash, David Njeri took the men's triple jump, Hannah Chang was first in the women's 100 hurdles, and Annika Esvelt triumphed in the women's 1500 meters.
 



While Carpenter was clearly in control toward the end of the 400 (he was 1¼ seconds ahead of second-place Carl Christopherson from Seattle University at the finish line) the 200 was a much closer call – and a come-from-behind effort. He got to the wire just 15 hundredths of a second in front of Puget Sound's Matthew Hannah, surging in front down the stretch, then hanging on at the wire for the heat win and sixth place overall.

 
"

I didn't get out very well," Carpenter said. "My legs were shot from the 400. At the start, my calves were cramped for some reason. I came off the turn and it was, 'Hey man, it's Senior Night – you have to stick with it and go.' I came off the curve in fourth place or something, started picking people off and managed to get the win at the end. It felt fun, felt good."
 
With just a few weeks left in his college career, Carpenter still has some goals to race for – and one in particular.
 
"My PR is a 50.0 (50.04 in the 2022 Great Northwest Athletic Conference preliminaries), so obviously, a sub-50 is the ultimate goal," he said. "I've been chasing that for a couple years. I just want to keep getting better and fixing things that I know need to be fixed. I always finish strong, and I'm trying to get conference points at the end of the season coming up."
 



GREEN MEANS GO – AND SHE DID
Carpenter wasn't the only SPU senior sprinter coming up victorious on Friday. Aniya Green went stride-for-stride with Puget Sound's Kyrstin Wilson in the women's 100-meter dash and got to the finish first by one-hundredth of a second – 12.72 to 12.73.
 
That was Green's third individual college victory, and her first in the 100. Her others were in the 200 and the 400, both last season.
 
The 200 also came right down to the end as Green battled with Jackilyn Lewis of Puget Sound. But it was the Loggers sprinter who hung on with a winning time of 25.60. Green clocked 25.92.
 
Friday's final event was a mixed 4-by-400 relay. Green was the second runner for Seattle Pacific and received the baton from Ethan Erickson in eighth place. But she immediately started making up ground, and by the time she came down the homestretch and handed off to Jonathan Lieb, she had moved the Falcons all the way up to third. (They eventually finished second.)
 
"It was really fun, actually," Green said of the unusual event, then added, "I feel like that should be a thing from now on."
 
SWEET 16 FOR NJERI
 

David Njeri has won his share of triple jump competitions over the years. He got another one on Friday – his16th in that event for the Falcons.
 
Njeri secured this one with a mark of 47 feet, 5 inches. He has entered the triple jump five times this season and has won four of them. He is already on the NCAA Division II provisional qualifying list with his mark of 48-6 at the Mangrum Invitational in San Marcos, California, on March 22.
 
Njeri was also in the long jump on Friday, placing second at 22-5¼. That was just an inch behind the top mark posted by Seattle University's Jamaari Jefferson.
 
SPEEDING THROUGH THE DISTANCE RACES
With cloudy conditions and temperatures barely above 50, it wasn't necessarily an ideal day for racing. But SPU's distance runners didn't seem to mind.
 
 

That starts with freshman Silas Demmert. Running the 5000 for the third time, he came through in 15 minutes, 17.82 seconds. His previous best – from just three weeks ago at the PLU Open – was 15:45.24. Friday's time was a drop of a whopping 27-plus seconds. That's nine seconds per mile for the 3.1 miles or two-plus seconds per lap for the 12 ½ laps.
 
In the 1500, Isaac Venable, Nathaniel Gale, and Brennan LeBlanc all ran to career bests. LeBlanc went 4:09.71 (previous 4:11.53), Venable went 4:10.17 (previous 4:18.42), and Nathaniel Gale clocked 4:11.31 (previous 4:20.75, a drop of nine-plus seconds).
 
Then there was Annika Esvelt in the women's 1500. Coming off a national-qualifying performance in the 5000 meters last Friday at the Stanford Invite and looking for another national-qualifying mark when she races the 10,000 next Thursday at the Bryan Clay Invitational in Azusa, California, Esvelt asked assistant coach / distance coach Eric Hansen on Friday about running the 15. Hansen said to go ahead.
 
Esvelt not only won the race, pulling away late from Western Washington's Elie Bassett, she knocked 3 ½ seconds off her personal best by coming across the finish line in 4:35.50. Her old PB was 4:39.08 from 2022.
 
REVVING UP THE RELAY
In the mixed 4-by-400 relay, the Falcons made up plenty of ground to finish second. The team of Ethan Erickson, Aniya Green, Jonathan Lieb, and Johanna Brown stopped the watch in 3:47.10. Puget Sound was exactly 10 seconds faster to win.
 
After Green picked off four runners to move SPU up from eighth to third on the second leg, freshman Jonathan Lieb held his ground to keep SPU in third as he handed off to anchor runner Johanna Brown. She had the Falcons in second even before coming out of the near turn and starting up the backstretch. She had SPU well clear of second-place Seattle U by the end, with nearly three seconds between her and the third-place Redhawks.
 
AND THAT'S NOT ALL
 

-- Hannah Chang's win in the 100 hurdles was her second in a row and her third of the season. Chang's time was 15.01. She also was fourth in the javelin at 88 feet, 2 inches.
-- Senior Emily Thomason took second in the women's pole vault, clearing 11-7 ¾.
-- Kainoa Lee was second in the men's pole vault at 14-0 ¾.
-- Freshman Paige Kessler tied for third in the women's high jump at 4-11 ¾.
-- Johanna Brown was a top-4 finisher in both the 200 dash (fourth) and the 400 (third).
 
SALUTING THE SENIORS
A total of 10 SPU seniors were honored following the conclusion of Friday's meet.

The group on the women's side included Marissa Crane, Lizzy Daugherty, Aniya Green, Charlie Hill, Charisma Smith, and Emily Thomason.
 
For the men, Evan Carpenter, Kade Franco, Kainoa Lee, and David Njeri were the honorees.
 
UP NEXT
The Falcons make their final California trip of the season for three meets in three days. On Thursday, April 11, they'll be in Long Beach at the Pacific Coast Invitational. On that same day, Hannah Chang will begin heptathlon competition at the Bryan Clay Invitational in Azusa with the first four of the seven events (100 hurdles, high jump, shot put, and 200).
 
Everyone on the trip will be in Azusa on Friday for the first full day of competition at the Clay. Then on Saturday, it's back to Long Beach for the Beach Invitational.
 
 
NCAA WOMEN'S TRACK & FIELD
8th Annual Doris Heritage Invitational
Friday, April 5, 2024
Renton Memorial Stadium / Renton, Wash.
 
Team scores – Not kept.
 
100 – 1, Aniya Green (SPU) 12.72.  Other SPU – 12, Maliyah Hicks 13.91.
200 – 1, Jackilyn Lewis (UPS) 25.60.  SPU – 2, Aniya Green 25.92; 4, Johanna Brown 26.55; 9, Hannah Chang 27.33; 16, Anika Segall 29.05.
400 – 1, Elizabeth Beiswanger (UPS) 57.91.  SPU – 3,  Johanna Brown 58.49; 6, Charisma Smith 1:01.15; 9, Anika Segall 1:04.76.
800 – 1, Elie Bassett (WWU) 2:19.50.  No SPU.
1500 – 1, Annika Esvelt (SPU) 4:35.50.  Other SPU – 5, Maya Ewing 4:50.74; 7, Matise Mulch 4:57.62; 11, Katelyn Flolo 5:08.56.
5000 – 1, Alana Parker (WWU) 17:49.60.  No SPU.
100 hurdles – 1, Hannah Chang (SPU) 15.01.  No other SPU.
4x100 relay – 1, Seattle University 49.48.  No SPU.
Mixed 4x400 relay – 1, Puget Sound 3:37.10  SPU – 2, Seattle Pacific (Ethan Erickson, Aniya Green, Jonathan Lieb, Johanna Brown) 3:47.10.
High jump – 1, Kora Cook (WWU) 5-3¾ / 1.62m.  SPU – T3,  Paige Kessler 4-11¾ / 1.52m.
Pole vault – 1, Sydney Mohlman (WWU) 11-7¾ / 3.55m.  SPU – 2, Emily Thomason 11-7¾ / 3.55m (Mohlman gets higher spot on fewer-misses tiebreaker); 5; Charlie Hill 9-8 / 2.95m; Lizzy Daugherty no height.
Long jump – 1, Manthita (Seattle U) 17-4¼ / 5.29m.  SPU – 5, Maliyah Hicks 15-2¾ / 4.64m.
Triple jump – 1, Zoe Tibbo (Seattle U) 36-4¼ / 11.08m.  No SPU.
Shot put – 1, Katie Potts (WWU) 45-2¼ / 13.77m.  SPU – 17, Sophie Mock 20-10¾ / 6.37m..
Discus – 1, Katie Potts (WWU) 151-8 / 46.24m.  No SPU.
Hammer – 1, Eva Wirth (PLU) 146-4 / 44.52m.  No SPU.
Javelin – 1, Halsie Keltner (Northwest U) 122-4 / 37.29m.  SPU – 4,  Hannah Chang 88-2 / 26.88m.
 
 
 
NCAA MEN'S TRACK & FIELD
8th Annual Doris Heritage Invitational
Friday, April 5, 2024
Renton Memorial Stadium / Renton, Wash.
 
Team scores – Not kept.
 
100 – 1, Miguel Rosario (Seattle U) 10.88.  No SPU.
200 – 1, Alexander Rhodes (UPS) 21.82.  SPU – 6, Evan Carpenter 23.22.
400 – 1, Evan Carpenter (SPU) 51.28.  Other SPU – 5, Ethan Erickson 55.20; 10, Kade Franco 59.45.
800 – 1, Ian Eifert (WWU) 1:57.86.  No SPU.
1500 – 1, Ian Eiferrt (WWU) 3:53.78.  SPU – 16, Brennan LeBlanc 4:09.71; 17, Isaac Venable 4:10.17; 21, Nathaniel Gale 4:11.31; 23, Jonathan Lieb 4:13.48; 25, Ben Sheirbon 4:17.68.
5000 – 1, Clan Monagham (UPS) 14:45.69.  SPU – 4, Silas Demmert 15:17.82; 13, Gabe Endresen 15:58.23.
110 hurdles – 1, Grady Lemma (PLU) 15.28.  No SPU.
4x100 relay – 1, Puget Sound 42.78.  No SPU.
Mixed 4x400 relay – 1, Puget Sound 3:37.10  SPU – 2, Seattle Pacific (Ethan Erickson, Aniya Green, Jonathan Lieb, Johanna Brown) 3:47.10.
High jump – 1, Jack Morse (Green River) 6-2¾ / 1.90m.  No SPU.
Pole vault – 1, Dylan Jones (PLU) 14-6¾ / 4.44m.  SPU – 2, Kainoa Lee 14-0¾ / 4.29m; 3, Mason Hrcek 13-7 / 4.14m; 5, Mikel Saxon 11-7¾ / 3.54m.
Long jump – 1, Jamaari Jefferson (Seattle U) 22-6¼ / 6.86m.  SPU – 2, David Njeri 22-5¼ / 6.84m; 14, Brady Boun 14-6¾ / 4.44m.
Triple jump – 1, David Njeri 47-5 / 14.45m.  No other SPU.
Shot put – 1, Noah Turner (WWU) 50-4½ / 15.35m.  No SPU.
Discus – 1, Liam Wall (WWU) 148-6 / 45.29m.  No SPU.
Hammer – 1, Miller Campbell (WWU) 170-10 / 52.8m.  No SPU.
Javelin – 1, Andrew Nelson (WWU) 199-1 / 60.69m.  No SPU.


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