An annual rite. Technically it's still winter, but an annual rite of the spring track & field season awaits Saturday (Mar. 9) as Seattle Pacific University sends its men's and women's teams to Tacoma for the Salzman Invitational. Joining the Falcons will be Washington, along with most of the state's small-college programs. With spring break looming, it marks the last time the team will compete en masse until April. A select group of athletes will see action Mar. 16 at the Long Beach State Classic.

Please come to Boston. Almost everyone will be heading to the Pacific Lutheran University campus. Everyone, that is, except Coach Jack Hoyt and Dionna Anderson (Sr., Lynnwood, Wa./Edmonds-Woodway), who has qualified in the shot put for Saturday's NCAA Division II Indoor Championships in Boston. Anderson is the No. 8 seed with a personal- and season-best heave of 45 feet, 3 3/4 inches. She is the first SPU athlete to compete at the indoor national meet since 1994. That year Karin Grelsson repeated as champion in the women's triple jump.

Salzman sensation. She's lopped off her long locks but that can only make Rachel Ross (Sr., Kennewick, Wa. /Kennewick) more aerodynamic as she treads the track. And that's bad news for her rivals this week because Ross is the defending Salzman champion in both the 800- and 1500-meter races. In fact, she has never lost a race on the PLU oval, winning the 800 at the 2000 Salzman and another metric half-mile there in a 1999 regional meet. She is entered only in the 1500 and 4 x 400 relay this weekend. Also defending their meet titles this weekend will be Jamie Witt (So., Folsom, Ca./Folsom) in the 5000m and Lauren Kooy (So., George, Wa./Quincy) in the women's discus. Washington won the women's by a 288-186 margin over SPU. The men's team took eighth, scoring 21 points while the Huskies were runaway winners.

It's a wrap. The indoor season wrapped-up last week with the Washington Qualifier meet. A quartet comprised of Neal Fryett (Sr., Pullman, Wa./Logos), Micah Kellcy (Fr., Lakewood, Wa./Clover Park), Paul Mach (So., Seattle, Wa./King's) and Nathanael Castle (Sr., Gooding, Id./Gooding) won the distance medley relay over PLU and Washington. Kellcy was clocked in 50 seconds over his 400, Mach ran a 1:55 in the 800 and Castle's mile was in 4:15. That was the only SPU win. For the women, Stephanie Huffman (Sr., Brush Prairie, Wa./Prairie) was runner-up in the long jump (17-3) and fifth in the 60 hurdles (9.36). The top marks came from Ally Studer (So., Redmond, Wa./Redmond), who cleared an indoor-best 11-9 3/4 in the pole, finishing sixth, and volleyball standout turned heptathlon hopeful Leah Wiiest (Sr., Spokane, Wa./Deer Park) ran the 400 in 59.41 seconds, also taking sixth. Along with the Huskies, the meet also attracted athletes from Stanford, Arizona State, UCLA, Oregon, Washington State and Idaho.

Oval notes. Anderson is a first-time national qualifier. She won the Great Northwest Athletic Conference title as a junior but her indoor qualifying mark is a PR by more than two feet. Anderson was seventh at Washington with a throw of 42-10 3/4...Seattle Pacific has finished ahead of all small college women's teams at the Salzman since 1999...Studer's mark last week came too late for the Div. II deadline but would've earned her the No. 4 seed in this weekend's national meet. She was 14th on the final performance list while Ross was 17th in the 800, both just missing the final cut...Jennifer Pyeatt (So., Graham, Wa./Bethel), an All-America hurdler in 2000 and injury redshirt last season, is giving the heptathlon a try. Although she won't hurdle this week, Pyeatt is expected to throw the shot and javelin. Laura Widman (Jr., Colfax, Wa./Colfax), an indoor redshirt who missed the 2001 outdoor season due to mononucleosis, will not compete this week. A tight hamstring will limit Widman's activity throughout the next month. She was second in the NCAA heptathlon in 2000.

SPU Coaches. Coach Jack Hoyt, 37, has the Falcons on the fast track back to national prominence going into his third season. In his first two seasons, Hoyt was voted conference coach of the year and in 2001 he had the women's program back in the top 10 for the first time in eight years, tying for ninth. He was ideally suited to take charge of the program as a former All-America decathlete at SPU and serving as an assistant to the legendary Ken Foreman for seven years. Doris Heritage, the coach of cross country and track runners from 800 meters up, is a legend in the world of athletics. She is a member of halls of fame for both athletes (one-time world record-holder, two-time Olympian and five-time world cross country champion) and coaches (two Olympic staffs, 53 all-America cross country and track runners at SPU). Juli Van Pelt, former All-America in heptathlon and high jump, returns for her second season on the staff of her alma mater. Algerian Hart, former Long Beach State star, is in his first year as hurdles/sprints coach.