SPOKANE, Wash. – As she got closer to the finish line, Maya Ewing knew she was going to win her race. She just didn't know by how much.
 
As he approached the starting line, Robert Joshua knew he was going to run a personal best – and maybe even break the school record. He just didn't know by how much.
 
Both of the Seattle Pacific track standouts got their respective jobs done with room to spare.
 
Junior distance star Ewing turned up her kick around the final six laps to win the women's 5000 meters, freshman sprinter Joshua became the first Falcon man ever to break seven seconds in the 60-meter dash, and fellow freshman Andrew Bell broke his own 60-meter hurdles record yet again, all on Monday at the Great Northwest Athletic Conference Indoor Track & Field Championships.

 

It added up to a solid first day of the two-day meet inside The Podium for SPU, much to the delight of head coach Karl Lerum.
 
"I'm just proud of Robert. He's really working hard and wants to put his best effort out there in practice and in meets," head coach Karl Lerum said. "He certainly deserves it. For Andrew, that was the smoothest 8.10 (Bell's record-breaking time) that I've ever seen And Maya, it's been so fun to watch her development as an athlete and just the confidence she's bringing to her racing."
 




EWING LEFT 'EM IN THE DUST
After showing during last fall's cross country season that she's a force to be reckoned with, Ewing further solidified that status on Monday.
 
She played it very patiently through the first 13 of the 25 laps (2600 meters) around The Podium's banked 200-meter oval, hanging in fourth place in a group of eight that were all within two seconds of each other as Northwest Nazarene's Morgan Erler led the way
 
 

By 2,800, she was No. 2 all by herself, two seconds behind Erler, but now at least two seconds in front of everyone else. By 3,400, Ewing was 3½ seconds in back of Erler, but that's when she started to pick it up. She had been splitting in the 41- to 42-second  range, but came through with a 39.52 and was just three-tenths back with 1,400 to go.

Ewing took the lead on the next lap by two tenths of a second with six laps left. At the 4,000 mark, she had a two-second lead. Then it was five … then eight … then 11. She crossed the finish line in 17 minutes, 24.40 seconds. Erler was next, 14 seconds back in 17:38.75.

Of Ewing's last eight 200-meter splits, four were in the 39 range, and her final two were 38s.
 
"The plan was to take the lead when it felt good toward the end. It just happened to be six laps (to go) this time," Ewing said. "I just took off. I thought she would kind of go with me, but I couldn't tell where she was, so I just went.
 
"I wasn't sure exactly when to go, but I was ready to go then," Ewing added. "And when I saw Eric (Hansen, SPU's assistant / distance coach), he just gave the sign and I was gone."
 
Not everyone makes a big move with that much left in a race, but Hansen was as confident in Ewing's decision as she was.
 
 

"She set it up perfectly," Hansen said. "We felt good about her ability to hang with everyone in that race. Knowing her skillset, she's got an incredible kick. She actually made a move pretty far out from the finish. But she looked over and gave me a smile with 1,200 to go.
 
"Once we saw that, it was like, 'Oh, she knows she's about to win this thing.'"
 
Ewing's time wiped out not only her indoor personal best (18:10.41 on the same Podium track in December), but also her overall best of 17:39.65 set outdoors last year in Bellingham.
 
FASTEST FALCON EVER
Robert Joshua came so close last time. On Feb. 1 in the UW Invitational at Dempsey Indoor, he finished his heat of the 60 dash in 7.01 seconds – a scant one-hundredth short of David Njeri's record of 7.00 and two-hundredths away from becoming the first sub-7 Falcon.
 
He accomplished both on Monday, stopping the watch in 6.94. What's more, Joshua will get another shot to go even faster on Tuesday, as he earned the No. 7 seed for the championship finals.
 
 

"I was honestly in disbelief," Joshua said of his reaction after looking at his time on the readerboard. "I was genuinely happy and was like, 'Wow – I actually ran good.'"
 
He was quietly confident in his ability to get what he came for.
 
"Yesterday and today, I kept on thinking about my race," Joshua said. "I knew I was going to PR regardless. I just didn't know by how much. I was really focused on winning my race (he was second in his heat, .01 behind Western Washington's Cameron Trichel) – and I was close."
 
It was nearly a double-record day for Joshua. Later in the 200, he did win his heat in 22.35 seconds. That was .01 away from the school standard of 22.34 set by Jeff Gordon on the same Podium straightaway at the 2022 GNACs. Joshua's previous best was 22.55.
 
MAKE IT FIVE FOR BELL
In his first-ever college race, Andrew Bell broke the SPU record in the 60 hurdles, clocking 8.31 at The Podium on Dec. 14.
 
 

Barely two months later, he broke that record for the fifth time. It's now down to 8.10 after Monday's performance that gave him the win in his preliminary heat and made him the No. 1 seed for Tuesday's finals.
 
From the get-go, it figured to come down to a race between Bell and Central Washington freshman David Brown. He came in as the top seed at 8.08; Bell was at 8.13. They actually were in the same preliminary heat on Monday (Bell in Lane 3, Brown in Lane 5). While Bell came across in 8.10, Brown was next in 8.21.
 
They likely will be the two front runners – in whatever order – on Tuesday. The closest one to them is Western Washington's Hunter Flick, the No. 3 seed at 8.29.
 
AND THAT'S NOT ALL
-- Hannah Chang retained her No. 1 seed for the women's 60-meter hurdles finals. She won her preliminary heat in 8.72 seconds, getting to the wire just ahead of Alaska Anchorage's Liv Heite (8.74). The only other sub-9 was Alejandra Gomez of Northwest Nazarene (8.97).
--Sophomores Mason Hrcek and Mikel Saxon placed fourth and sixth in the men's pole vault. Hrcek cleared 13 feet, 9¼ inches; Saxon got over at 13-3½.
-- Freshman Justin Brooks qualified for the men's 400 dash finals. He'll be the No. 5 seed at 48.90.
-- SPU will have wo competitors in the women's 400 finals. Senior Johanna Brown is the No. 6 seed at 58.55, and freshman Evey Rowland squeezed into the eighth and final spot at 59.73, her first sub-one minute mark.. Rowland won her preliminary heat.
-- Freshman Tia Cates went 17 feet in the women's long jump for the first time, placing 10^th at 17-0½.
 
UP NEXT
The second day of action begins at 9:30 a.m. with field events. Track events start at 11:00 a.m. The last race is the women's 4-by-400 relay at 2:45 p.m., followed by team and individual awards at 3:05.
 
 
NCAA MEN'S INDOOR TRACK & FIELD
GNAC Championships
Monday, Feb. 17, 2025
The Podium / Spokane, Wash.
 
Team scores (through 6 of 17 events) – 1, Western Washington 50; 2, Central Washington 43; 3, Northwest Nazarene 36; 4, Western Oregon 32; 5, Saint Martin's 17; 6, Simon Fraser 16; T7, Alaska Anchorage and Montana State Billings 13; 9, Seattle Pacific 11.
 
MONDAY FINALS
5000 – 1, Kevin McDermott (WWU) 14:38.56.  SPU – 10, Isaac Venable 15:28.24; 12, Silas Demmert 16:15.63.
4000 distance medley relay – 1, Northwest Nazarene 10:01.63.  SPU – 6, Seattle Pacific (Nathan Korth, Robert Joshua, Jonathan Lieb, Nathaniel Gale). 10:53.26.
High jump – 1, Cal'von Baker (CWU) 6-7½ / 2.02m.  No SPU.
Pole vault – 1, Drew Klein (CWU) 15-3 / 4.65m.  SPU – 4, Mason Hrcek 13-9¼ / 4.20m; 6, Mikel Saxon 13-3½ / 13.50m.
Long jump – 1, Isaiah Webster (CWU) 23-10¾ / 7.28m.  No SPU.
Weight throw – 1, Mark Warren (WOU) 63-8¾ / 19.42m.  No SPU.
 
MONDAY PRELIMINARIES
60-meter dash – 1, Joshua Caleb (UAA) 6.67.  SPU finals qualifiers – 7, Robert Joshua 6.94 (school record, breaks old record of 7.00 set by David Njeri on Feb.11, 2022).  No other SPU finals qualifiers.  Other SPU – 18, Tarelle Hunter 7.16.
200 – 1, Joshua Caleb (UAA) 20.97.  No SPU finals qualifiers.  SPU – 11, Robert Joshua 22.35; 21, Tarelle Hunter 22.97.
400 – 1, Brennen Murphy (WOU) 48.50.  SPU finals qualifier – 5, Justin Brooks 48.90.  No other SPU.
800 – 1, Isaiah Rodriguez (WOU) 1:52.51.  No SPU.
60 hurdles – 1, Andrew Bell (SPU) 8.10 (school record, breaks old record of 8.13 set by Bell on Jan. 31). No other SPU.
 
HEPTATHLON
Standings (through 4 of 7 events) – 1, Gabe Burchfield (WOU) 2,799; 2, Drew Klein (CWU) 2,769; 3, Kaden Miller (WWU) 2,399; 4, Ryan Fenley (MSUB) 2,281; 5, Owen Windrope (WWU) 1,751.  No SPU.
 
Monday events
60-meter dash – 1, Drew Klein (CWU) 7.21 (837 points).
Long jump – 1, Drew Klein (CWU) 22-0 ¾ / 6.72m (748).
Shot put – 1, Gabe Burchfield (WOU) 40-11 ¾ / 12.49m (636).
High jump – 1, Gabe Burchfield (WOU) 6-3 ½  1.52m (731).
 
 
 
NCAA WOMEN'S INDOOR TRACK & FIELD
GNAC Championships
Monday, Feb. 17, 2025
The Podium / Spokane, Wash.
 
Team scores (through 5 of 17 events) – 1, Western Oregon 45; 2, Western Washington 36; 3, Central Washington 25; 4, Alaska Anchorage 22; 5, Northwest Nazarene 20; 6, Seattle Pacific 14; 7, Montana State Billings 12; T8, Saint Martin's and Simon Fraser 10.
 
MONDAY FINALS
5000 – 1, Maya Ewing (SPU) 17:24.40#.  Other SPU – 10, Anna Prussian 18:19.29.
4000 distance medley relay – 1, Simon Fraser 12:09.48.  SPU – 5, Seattle Pacific (Nicki Yorges, Evey Rowland, Ella Milanovich, Madelyn Buckley)12:545.55.
Long jump – 1, Emy Ntekpere (CWU) 19-3 ¼ / 5.87m.  SPU – 10, Tia Cates 17-0½ / 5.19m; 13, Sophie Hanay 16-5¼ / 5.01m; 15, Sophie Mock 15-8¼ / 4.78m.
Weight throw – 1, Jocelyn Saribay (STM) 52-9¼ / 16.08m.  No SPU.
 
MONDAY PRELIMINARIES
60-meter dash – 1, Marie-Eloise LeClair (Simon) 7.35.  No SPU finals qualifiers.  SPU – 18, Sarah Bailey 8.22.
200 – 1, Marie-Eloise LeClair (Simon) 23.74.  No SPU finals qualifiers.  SPU – 14, Jada Sarrys 26.00; 19, Sarah Bailey 27.02.
400 – 1, Bec Bennett (WWU) 54.85.  SPU finals qualifiers – 6, Johanna Brown 58.55; 8, Evey Rowland 59.73.  Other SPU – 10, Jada Sarrys 1:00.63.
800 – 1, Sophie Wright (WWU) 2:16.50.  No SPU.
60 hurdles – 1, Hannah Chang (SPU) 8.72.  No other SPU finals qualifiers.  Other SPU – 16, Tia Cates 9.78; 17, Sophie Mock 10.51.
 
PENTATHLON
Final standings – 1, Amariyah Clay (WOU) 3,436; 2, Macy Clemons (WOU) 3,435; 3, Vivien Liessfeld (UAA) 3,380; 4 Carley Huber (CWU) 3,308; 5, Amity Deters (WOU) 3,183; 6, Nicole Avery (WWU) 2,946; 7, Alexa Mcgowan (WOU) 2,635; 8, Daisy Macias (UAA) 2,576; 9, Joy Ayodeji (CWU) 2,220.  No SPU.
 
60 hurdles – 1, Macy Clemons (WOU) 9.21 (867 points)
High jump – 1, Amity Deters (WOU) 5-5 ¾ / 1.67m (818).
Shot put – 1, Vivien Liessfeld (UAA) 36-3 / 11.05m (598).
Long jump – 1, Vivien Liessfeld (UAA) 18-7 ¾ / 5.68m (753).
800 – 1, Carley Huber (CWU) 2:25.65 (748).
 
 
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