Seattle Pacific University Athletics

AUDRA SMITH
Audra Smith, who started out as a sprinter, became a heptathlete, and now has competed in four marathons, is in her seventh year on the Falcons coaching staff, coming aboard in August 2013. In addition to her track & field assistant coaching role, she is also the athletic department's head strength & conditioning coach.

The graduate of Idaho State University spent the previous four years before joining the Falcons as a coach at the University of Washington – one year as a multi-events assistant  for track, and then three as a strength and conditioning coach.

On the track, she works primarily with SPU's sprinters -- and those sprinters came up big during the 2019 track seasons.

During the winter indoor campaign, Grace Bley won the Great Northwest Athletic Conference 200-meter dash title, teaming with freshmen Jenna Bouyer and Peace Igbonagwam for a 1-2-3 finish in that race, with sophomore Renick Meyer 5th. Igbonagwam, Meyer, Bouyer, and Stepper went 2-3-5-7 in the 60-meter dash, and Bley was 6th in the 400. Altogether, the Falcon sprinters racked up 55 of SPU's 154 points, a big factor in edging Central Washington by four points for the program's 13th indoor conference crown.

The spring was every bit as productive for Smith's speedsters. The 4-by-100 relay team of Igbonagwam, Bouyer, Bley, and Stepper set a school record and posted an NCAA provisional qualifying time of 46.23 seconds at the Aztec Invitational in San Diego. In the GNAC Championships on May 11 at Western Oregon in Monmouth, that same foursome set a conference meet record of 46.32. It was the second year in a row a 4-by-1 had set rewritten the school and conference meet standards. Bley won her second straight outdoor 200 championship, and led a 2-3-4-5-7 finish in the 100-meter dash.

As was the case indoor, it came down to a battle between SPU and Central for the team title, and the Falcons again prevailed by four, 166-162. Of those, 62 came from the sprinters.

During the 2018 indoor season, Smith's sprinters accounted for 47 of SPU's 136 points at the GNAC Indoor Championsips,  including 10 for a victory in the 60-meter dash by Meyer to help the Falcons earn a share of the team title.

Outdoors in the spring of '18,  that sprint group racked up three GNAC titles – Meyer in the 100, Grace Bley in the 200, and the 4x100 relay of Meyer, Julia Stepper, Becca Houk, and Bley – to help account for 62 of the 155 points SPU scored to take the team championship going away. Just a week prior to the conference meet, that same 4x100 group set a school record with a time of 46.33 at the Ken Shannon Invitational. 

During the 2015-16 school year, the Falcon women won a bronze medal and All-American honors in the 4x400 relay at the NCAA Division II indoor meet, sent two women to the open 400 at indoor nationals, then had one in the 400 and another in the 400 hurdles at outdoor nationals. New school records were set in the women's indoor and outdoor 400, the outdoor 400 hurdles, the indoor 200, and the indoor 4x400 relay.

In the winter of 2016, Smith was named the West Region Women's Indoor Track Assistant Coach of the Year by the USTFCCCA.

Smith starred in the heptathlon at Idaho State, placing second at the Big Sky Conference meet in 2007 by tallying 5,085 points. She also was a member of the victorious 4x100 relay team, and scored in the 100, 200, 100 hurdles, and javelin as the Bengals won the team championship for the first time in school history.

She was All-Big Sky six times in two years at the school, and was a USTFCCCA All-Academic pick as a senior, finishing her master's degree in health education.

A native of Pima, Ariz., Smith has been in the Seattle area since 2008. She is married to Raul Sheen, who is a volunteer assistant with the Falcons. They and son Griffin live in the South Seattle suburb of White Center.


CHRIS REED
Chris Reed is beginning his ninth year as a collegiate coach and his seventh as an assistant at Seattle Pacific, joining the staff in December 2013.
 
The native of Klamath Falls in southern Oregon is a 2011 graduate of Western Oregon University, majoring in economics.

The 2018-19 year was a big one for Reed's distance runners. During the fall, the women's cross country team placed 15th among 32 teams at the NCAA nationals, after a 3rd-place finish at the Great Northwest Athletic Conference Championships and 4th at the NCAA West Regionals. Kaylee Mitchell was All-GNAC, GNAC Freshman of the Year, All-Region, and All-American. Kate Lilly, and Katherine Walter also earned All-Region awards. The Falcon men were 7th at GNAC for their best finish since 2012. They were 14th at Regionals, also their best performance since 2012.

During the 2019 winter indoor season, Lilly was a second-team All-American with a 12th-place finish in the mile at nationals. The distance runners accounted for 42 of SPU's 154 points, beating Central Washington by four to help win the GNAC title for the 13th time in school history.

Outdoors in the spring, Lilly was an All-American in the NCAA 5000 meters, placing 5th. She also ran in the 1500 and was joined by sophomore Dania Holmberg in both races. Mitchell made the NCAA field in the 3000 steeplechase. As was the case indoors, Seattle Pacific edged Central Washington by four points for the title, this time by a 166-162 count, and the distance crew contributed 51 of those points. On the men's side, Jesse Phan capped his career with a stunning victory in the 800 meters, that coming on the heels of an All-GNAC 3rd-place finish in the indoor 800.

Reed helped guide Lynelle Decker race to three individual All-American honors during the 2015-16 school year: the indoor and outdoor 800, and the outdoor 1,500. In addition, the SPU distance medley relay team has posted three straight All-American finishes at the NCAA indoor meet.

In 2016, the foursome of Decker, Jahzelle Ambus, Chynna Phan, and Anna Patti ran to fifth place. The 2017 team of Sarah Macdonald, Lani Taylor, Phan, and Mary Charleson came from behind to take eighth. And in 2018, it was Kate Lilly, Taylor, Phan, and Charleson crossing the line in fifth.
 
Reed became an assistant coach at Western Oregon in 2011 prior to joining the Falcons. He was named the West Region Women's Indoor Assistant Coach of the Year in 2015 by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association. He also is the director of the Falcon Running Camp.

In addition, Reed serves on the Cross Country Executive Committee for the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association, and is on the USTFCCCA Polls Committee.

On the cross country course, Reed was a two-time All-Great Northwest Athletic Conference selection, finishing seventh as a junior in 2009 and third as a senior in 2010. He also was a two-time NCAA qualifier, earning All-American recognition in 2009.
 
During the track season, Reed raced to a pair of All-GNAC honors, taking third in the 5,000 meters as a freshman in 2008, then placing third in the 1,500 as a senior in 2011. He also was fourth in the 5K as a junior and senior. Indoors, he won the 2011 GNAC mile title and anchored the Wolves' distance medley relay to All-American status later that season.

Reed finished his WOU career with five school records: the mile, 5000, and DMR indoors, along with the 5000 and 10,000 outdoors. He ran in five NCAA championship meets (twice in cross country and outdoor track, and once in indoor track).

He and his wife, Annie, live in Seattle.