TACOMA, Wash. – Maya Ewing is picking right up outdoors where she left off indoors:
 
Running fast and winning races.
 
Not quite two weeks removed from convincingly winning the Great Northwest Athletic Conference indoor title in the 5000 meters, the Seattle Pacific junior posted a personal-best of 4 minutes, 41.26 seconds to win the 1500 on Saturday at the outdoor season-opening Ed Boitano Invitational.
 
 

Ewing's time on the track at the University of Puget Sound's Baker Stadium had her comfortably four seconds in front of runner-up Erin Schmidlin from Puget Sound. It beat her previous best of 4:45.56 from the 2023 Bryan Clay Invitational in Azusa, California.
 
All of that made Ewing one of three winners for the Falcons was one of three winners for the Falcons on an unusually warm opening day at UPS. Fellow junior Matise Mulch won the women's 5000 meters, and the quartet of Sophie Hanay, Johanna Brown, Jada Sarrys, and Evey Rowland won the women's 4-by-400 relay.
 
 

Mulch completed her 12½ laps in 18 minutes, 44.18 seconds. Like Ewing, she had the lead all to herself, 78 seconds clear of the next runner to finish.
 
The winning 4-by-4  group clocked 3:58.38. That was one of two SPU teams among the top eight finishers. Sophie Mock, Lucia Templeton, Ella Milanovich, and Madelyn Buckley were seventh in 4:27.80. Buckley also took third in the 1500 in 4:47.03.
 
Kaitlyn Askay was second in the women's pole vault with a clearance of 10 feet, 7½ inches, making the freshman the highest SPU placer outside of the three winners.
 
 

Junior Isaac Venable came up with a lifetime best by a considerable margin in Friday's 10,000 meters. Venable went 25 laps in 32 minutes, 4.76 seconds. His previous best was 32:27.17 at last year's Beach Invitational in Long Beach, California. His time on Friday would have placed sixth in last year's GNAC Championships. (He was 10th in 33:23.07.)
 
On Saturday, the team of Andrew Bell, Robert Joshua, Ethan Erickson, and Nathan Korth took fourth in the 4-by-400 relay in 3:34.06. That was six seconds faster than last year's best SPU time of 3:40.13.
 
AND THAT'S NOT ALL
-- The thermometer started out in the low 50s and worked its way up to the mid-50 – highly unusual for the traditional season opener at UPS. Typically, temperatures are cold (or colder), sometimes with an icy wind. Snow flurries are not unheard of, and last year, an afternoon hail storm blew through, turning the red track to mostly white.
-- Ethan Erickson ran a personal-best of 2:00.73 in the men's 800 meters, placing 10th.
-- Maliyah Hicks, Sophie Hanay and Sophie Mock went 4-5-6 in the women's long jump.
-- Hanay also was fifth in the triple jump at 32-8½. That made her Seattle Pacific's first female triple jumper since Kellie May in 2021.
-- The Boitano is one of the few regular-season meets with team scoring. The SPU women were fourth with 82 points. Whitworth won with 214. The men were ninth with 19. Western Washington won with 182½.

INDOOR UPDATE
While Annika Esvelt is a sure thing to be invited to the NCAA indoor championships for the women's 3000 and 5000 meters on March 13-15 in Indianapolis, teammate Hannah Chang was bumped out of a spot in the 60-meter hurdles.

The top 18 on the provisional qualifying list – no more, no less – are guaranteed a starting lane at nationals. Chang came into this weekend tied for 17th with the 8.55 that she clocked at the season-opening Spokane Invitational this past December. But with a handful of conference meets still taking place around the country, several runners came up with faster times.
 
As of Saturday evening, the No. 18 time is 8.53. Chang's 8.55 is now tied for 22nd.
 
Esvelt is No. 4 in the 5000 and No. 9 in the 3000.

The official list of meet entries will be announced on Tuesday.
 
UP NEXT
The Falcons are back in Tacoma next Saturday for the PLU Open at the Pacific Lutheran track. First events both on the track and in the field are at 10:00 a.m. The last event (men's 4-by-400 relay) is scheduled for 2:40 p.m.
 

NCAA WOMEN'S TRACK & FIELD
Ed Boitano Invitational
Friday-Saturday, Feb. 28-March 1, 2025
Baker Stadium @ UPS / Tacoma, Wash.
 
Team scores – 1, Whitworth 214; 2, Western Washington 109.83; 3, Puget Sound 88.5; 4, Seattle Pacific 82; 5, Pacific Lutheran 60.33; 6, Saint Martin's 49.5; 7, Spokane CC 41.5; 8, Lewis & Clark 31; 9, Get Strong First Track Club 18; 10, Green River College 13; 11, Olympic College 11.33; 12, Everett CC 2.
 
SPU EVENTS ONLY
100 – 1, Kyrstin Wilson (UPS) 12.21.  SPU – 19, Maliyah Hicks 13.80.
400 – 1, Elizabeth Bellswanger (UPS) 56.15.  SPU – 6, Sophie Mock 1:06.92.
800 – 1, Malia Heien (L&C) 2:17.01.  SPU – 3, Madelyn Buckley 2:21.19; 4, Johanna Brown 2:21.67; 9, Jada Sarrys 2:24.198.
1500 – 1, Maya Ewing (SPU) 4:41.26.  Other SPU – 3, Madelyn Buckley 4:47.03; 6, Alexa Gossett 4:57.00; 14, Ella Milanovich 5:17.01.
5000 – 1, Matise Mulch (SPU) 18:44.18.  No other SPU.
10,000 – 1, Emma Smith (WU) 36:58.80.  SPU – 6, Anna Prussian 38:15.88.
4x400 relay – 1, Seattle Pacific (Sophie Hanay, Johanna Brown, Jada Sarrys, Evey Rowland) 3:58.38.  Other SPU – 7, Seattle Pacific (Sophie Mock, Lucia Templeton, Ella Milanovich, Madelyn Buckley) 4:27.80.
Pole vault – 1, Sydney Mohlman (WWU) 11-7¼ / 3.54m.  SPU – 2, Kaitlyn Askay 10-7½ / 3.24m.
Long jump – 1, Brianna Tira (Whitworth) 17-5¼ / 5.31m.  SPU – 4, Maliyah Hicks 16-3¾ / 4.97m; 5, Sophie Hanay 16-3¼ / 4.96m;6, Sophie Mock 16-2¼ / 4.93m.
Triple jump – 1,Isabella Pereira (Whitworth) 39-7¼ / 11.51m.  SPU – 5, Sophie Hanay 32-8½ / 9.97m.
 
 
NCAA MEN'S TRACK & FIELD
Ed Boitano Invitational
Friday-Saturday, Feb. 28-March 1, 2025
Baker Stadium @ UPS / Tacoma, Wash.
 
Team scores – 1, Western Washington 182.5; 2, Whitworth 151.5; 3, Puget Sound 94; 4, Pacific Lutheran 77; 5, Saint Martin's 60; 6, Spokane CC 50; 7, Green River College 30; 8, Olympic College 24; 9, Seattle Pacific 19; 10, Lewis & Clark 12; 11, Husky Running Club 3.
 
SPU EVENTS ONLY
400 – 1, Alexander Rhodes (UPS) 46.50.  SPU – 6, Robert Joshua 52.22; 15, Andrew Bell 53.76.
800 – 1, Kainalu Pagente (Sain Martin's) 1:54.96.  SPU – 8, Nathan Korth 1:58.82; 10, Ethan Erickson 2:00.783; 16, Jonathan Lieb 2:03.46; 25, Noah Bouknight 2:07.83.
1500 – 1, Ben Kerr (UPS) 3:56.36.  SPU – 13, Jonathan Lieb 4:15.42.
5000 – 1, Clan Monaghan (UPS) 15:15.44.  SPU – 5, Silas Demmert 16:20.50.
10,000 – 1, Ryan Clough (WWU) 30:20.66.  SPU – 11, Isaac Venable 32:04.76; 26, Nathaniel Gale 33:37.42; 33, Gabe Endresen 37:19.51.
4x400 relay – 1, Western Washington 3:23.69.  SPU – 4, Seattle Pacific (Andrew Bell, Robert Joshua, Ethan Erickson, Nathan Korth) 3:34.06.
Pole vault – 1, Andrew Strawn (Whitworth) 15-0 / 4.57m.  SPU – 3, Mikel Saxon 13-6¼ / 4.12m.


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