Upcoming meets...
Sat., Mar. 24, 9 a.m. -- TRACK & FIELD at UC DAVIS QUADRANGULAR, Toomey Field, Davis, Ca.
Thr., Mar. 29-30, 12 p.m. -- TRACK & FIELD at UC DAVIS MULTIPLE EVENT, Toomey Field, Davis, Ca.
Sat., Mar. 31, 9 a.m. -- TRACK & FIELD at STANFORD INVITATIONAL, Stanford Stadium, Stanford, Ca.
Sat., Mar. 31, 10 a.m. -- TRACK & FIELD at SPRING BREAK OPEN, Edmonds Stadium, Edmonds, Wa.

Complete Women's Track Schedule

Complete Men's Track Schedule

Sporadic activity ahead...
Already off to the strongest start perhaps in the past half-dozen years, members of the Seattle Pacific University track & field teams will compete on a sporadic basis over the next two weeks during spring break. The next time the Falcons will assemble in large number will be Mar. 31 at the Spring Break Open.

Great day in Eugene...
The grades for winter quarter won't be posted for a few days but the reports on progress for the Falcons at the Oregon Preview were sensational and instantaneous. Two NCAA Division II season-best marks and a school record was broken before the athletes went their separate ways. Rachel Ross (Jr., Kennewick, Wa.), who is tentatively scheduled to race Saturday (Mar. 24) at Davis, Ca., and again the following weekend at Stanford, resumed her blistering rate of progress in the 800 meters. Ross won handily in 2 minutes, 8.68 seconds‹the top provisional qualifying time in the nation so far and the No. 3 time in school history. An All-America both in the 800 and cross country as a freshman, she is rapidly approaching the longstanding SPU record of 2:06.6, set by Susie Griffith in 1977.

A little higher, please...
It seems useless to print the women's pole vault record in ink because Ally Studer (Fr., Redmond, Wa./Redmond) has rewritten it twice in three meets. Studer, who obliterated the old mark by nine inches in her outdoor debut Mar. 3, raised the bar nearly another nine inches at the Oregon Preview. She cleared 11 feet, 11 3/4 inches to finish third and move to No. 2 on the NCAA qualifying list.

And still farther...
The Falcons' first automatic qualifier for nationals figures to be a contest between Ross, who needs to break 2:08, and Stephanie Huffman (Jr., Brush Prairie, Wa./Prairie), who will take a crack at the heptathlon standard of 5250 points at Davis Mar. 29-30. Huffman is already a likely qualifier in the javelin, following a Div. II-best heave of 141-6 at Eugene. She scored 5121 to take second place at the 1999 NCAA Championships in the heptathlon, and has come back from a redshirt season much stronger. Her key events next week will be the high jump and the long jump. She's coming off a season-best mark of 17-9 in the latter.

Backen back in action...
After electing to compete unattached in the first two outdoor meets, Kelsey Backen (Jr., Yakima, Wa./East Valley) pulled on the SPU singlet for the first time at Oregon and proceeded to win his heat of the 1500 in a near-PR of 4:01.78. Backen also came back to run a 3000, taking third in 8:42.29. The only other top-three finish for the men was from Paul Mach (Fr., Seattle, Wa./King's), third in the 400 hurdles (55.63).

Can't win 'em all...
Not even Ross is as accustomed to winning competitions as frequently as Natalie Dorow (Sr., Billings, Mt./West). Dorow's runner-up finish in the triple jump at Eugene snapped her streak of wins at four, dating back to last season. Dorow's mark of 36-4 was nearly identical to her winning ones in the first two meets of the season. High-jumper Abby Harris (Sr., Auburn, Wa./Auburn) finished third at 5-4 1/4 while Huffman was third in the long jump and fourth in the javelin.

Fractions...
Jamie Witt (Fr., Folsom, Ca.), who is also due to run Saturday at Davis, took 11th in the Oregon Preview 3000 in 10:10.56. Witt is the Pacific West Conference leader in the 5000 (17:43.82) and No. 2 in the 3000 (10:06.21)...Seattle Pacific athletes own the top performance marks in 13 women's events. Besides Ross in the 800 and 1500 (4:35.3) and Witt, Cyrena Bell (Sr., Kent, Wa./Christian Faith) leads both the 200 (25.95) and 400 (58.05) and Karen Summers (Sr., Bremerton, Wa./Seattle Christian) is No. 1 in the 400 hurdles (1:01.1). Both relays also rate first. Among the field events, Harris holds an edge in the high jump (5-5 3/4), Studer a wide advantage in the pole vault, Dorow in the triple jump (36-6 1/4), Morgan Ranta (Jr., Kent, Wa./Kentridge) in the long jump (18-0 1/2) and Huffman in the javelin...Mach leads the men's field in the hurdles...Nathanael Castle (Jr., Gooding, Id.) joined Backen in the 3000, running fifth in 8:44.2.

SPU women's track rosters & season best marks...
Yr Hometown (High School) Event/Best '00 Marks (bold indicates PR)
Dionna Anderson Jr Lynnwood, Wa. (Edmonds-W'way) Sp/41-0 1/4
Hailey Armstrong Fr Pocatello, Id. (Pocatello) 5000/19:45.47
Schaylee Baumgertner Jr Quincy, Wa. (Quincy) 1500/ 3000/
Cyrena Bell Sr Kent, Wa. (Christian Faith) 200/25.95 400/58.05
Kirsten Bjork Fr Olympia, Wa. (Black Hills) 3000/11:05.14 5000/19:08.87
Dana Cantrell Jr Bellingham, Wa. (Sehome) 1500/ 3000/
Amy Cowden Sr Seattle, Wa. (Seattle Christian) Hj/5-1 3/4 Lj/17-2
Natalie Dorow Sr Billings, Mt. (Billings West) Tj/36/4 3/4 Lj/17-0
Amber Farthing Sr LaConner, Wa. (LaConner) 800/2:20.00
Christie Goering Sr Boulder, Co. (Fairview) 800/ 1500/ 3000/
Jawea Harder Jr Port Townsend, Wa. (Pt. Townsend) 200/26.81 400/60.82 400H/1:05.3
Abby Harris Sr Auburn, Wa. (Auburn) Hj/5-5 3/4
Ruth Hawkinson So Roy, Wa. (Yelm) 3000/11:06.97 5000/18:59.49 10k/
Stephanie Huffman Jr Brush Prairie, Wa. (Prairie) 200/ 800/ 100H/15.82 Hj/5-1 3/4 Lj/17-6 1/4 Sp/30-8 1/4 Jt/141-6 Hep/
Lauren Kooy Fr George, Wa. (Quincy) Dt/118-1 Jt/99-9
Sarah Kraybill So Seattle, Wa. (Ballard) 400/ 800/2:15.81
Sarah Lyne So Kelseyville, Ca. (Kelseyville) Pv/8-0
Annie McCabe So Spokane, Wa. (Mead) 1500/ 3000/11:06.09
Lindsey Northwall Fr Omaha, Ne. (Ralston) 3000/ 5000/20:00.89
Candy Owens Fr Ridgefield, Ct. (Ridgefield) 3000/
Erica Owens So Normandy Park, Wa. (Mt. Rainier) 800/2:28.93 1500/5:11.8
Rachae Probst Jr Spokane, Wa. (Mead) 3000/ 5000/ 10k/
Morgan Ranta Jr Kent, Wa. (Kentridge) LJ/18-0 1/2 TJ/34-5 3/4
Mackensie Rogers Fr Otis Orchards, Wa. (East Valley) Pv/8-6 1/4
Amber Rose Fr Olympia, Wa. (Capital) Lj/15-10 1/4 Tj/35-0 1/2
Rachel Ross Jr Kennewick, Wa. (Kennewick) 400/ 800/2:08.68 1500/4:35.3
Nicole Seana So Carnation, Wa. (Kamiakin) 3000/11:02.71 5000/19:50.81 10k/
Lindsey Stewart So Shoreline, Wa. (King's) 100/ 200/
Ally Studer Fr Redmond, Wa. (Redmond) Pv/11-11 3/4
Karen Summers Sr Bremerton, Wa. (Seattle Christian) 100H/15.11 400H/61.1
Laura Widman Jr Colfax, Wa. (Colfax) HJ/ LJ/ Shot/38-9 200/26.01 100H/17.36 Jav/ 800/ Hept/
Jamie Witt Fr Folsom, Ca. (Folsom) 3000/10:06.21 5000/17:43.82

SPU men's track rosters & season best marks...
Yr Hometown (High School)
Kelsey Backen Jr Yakima, Wa. (East Valley) 800/ 1500/4:01.78 5000/
Nathanael Castle Jr Gooding, Id. (Gooding) 800/ 1500/ 5000/15:22.46
David Denniston So Laguna Hills, Ca. (Laguna Hills) 400/
Neal Fryett Jr Pullman, Wa. (Logos) 800/1:56.89 1500/4:11.07
Brandon Littlefield Fr Selah, Wa. (Eisenhower) Pv/12-11 3/4
Paul Mach Fr Seattle, Wa. (King's) 400/ 100H/ 400H/55.63
Tim Marston Fr Pullman, Wa. (Logos) 1500/ 5000/
Ryan Nash Jr Spokane, Wa. (Mead) 1500/ 5000/
Trevor Sharp Sr Bala-Cynwyd, Pa. (Delaware Chrstn) 400H/57.18
Zeph Shepard Fr North Easton, Ma. (Oliver Ames) 200/ Lj/
Andrew Steiner So Edmonds, Wa. (Sno. Cty. Chrstn) Shot/34-6 1/4 Disc/126-1
Zach Starr Fr Bend, Or. (Bend) 5000/15:51.26
Scott Van Hess So Salem, Or. (McKay) 800/2:02.29
Blake Witman Fr Lynden, Wa. (Lynden) 400/52.17