Working vacation. Putting the wind and rain in their rearview mirror, a select bunch of Seattle Pacific University track & field athletes will spend their spring break in Southern California. The first of three meets in which the Falcons will participate is Saturday (Mar. 16) at the Long Beach Classic. Next week, they move farther south to San Diego for the Point Loma Multi-Event and Aztec Invitational before returning home.

Woollies not necessary. The whole idea of the annual trek to California is to escape the blustery weather of the Northwest and get some quality training sessions under the sun. In some ways, the competition is secondary to Coach Jack Hoyt. Last week his team contended with snow on the track on the day prior to the first outdoor meet. The forecast for Long Beach is partly sunny with highs approaching 70 degrees.

Everybody's All-America. The school's first All-America of 2001-02 is Dionna Anderson (Sr., Lynnwood, Wa./Edmonds-Woodway), who finished eighth in the shot put at last week's NCAA Division II Indoor Championships in Boston. Anderson, the first SPU athlete to compete at the indoor national meet since 1994, heaved the steel ball 44 feet, 5 inches on her second throw to make the finals and assure her of scoring. Adriane Blewitt of Ashland (Oh.) won with a mark of 51-3 1/2. Anderson was the conference champion as a junior and qualified for the NCAAs with a put of 45-3 3/4.

Whodda thunk it? Given the true winter weather of last week, no one was expecting the strong performances which occurred at the Salzman Invitational. Already Seattle Pacific has two NCAA provisional qualifying marks. While it was not surprising that Rachel Ross (Sr., Kennewick, Wa./Kennewick) successfully defended her 1500-meter title, the fact that she did so in 4 minutes, 36.85 seconds was. She was fourth at that distance at nationals last season. Ross has won each of her five collegiate races on the Pacific Lutheran University. And in the field, Stephanie Huffman (Sr., Brush Prairie, Wa./Prairie) wasted no time uncorking a qualifying throw in the javelin, winning the Salzman with a mark of 138-8. Huffman also took second in the long jump (18-0 1/2)­her longest since 1999­and fourth in the high jump (5-3 3/4). Her shot put of 35-2 1/2 was less than three inches off her PR. All things considered, she was the choice for Great Northwest Athletic Conference athlete of the week.

Well done. Behind Huffman, the SPU women took third overall and first among non-Division I squads. Washington won with 168 points, followed by Portland (92), Seattle Pacific (87) and Central Washington (86). The men finished tied for 10th with 28 points. Other winners for SPU were both women's relays (49.84 in the 4 x 100 and 4:01.43 in the 4 x 400). Rounding out the top-three finishes were intermediate hurdler Jawea Harder (Sr., Port Townsend, Wa./Port Townsend), runner-up in 1:06.02, and Sarah Kraybill (Jr., Seattle, Wa./Ballard), third in the 800 (2:18.77). For the men, Paul Mach (So., Seattle, Wa./King's) essentially began the season where he left off in 2001, finishing second in the 400 hurdles in a strong 55.18. Micah Kellcy (Fr., Lakewood, Wa./Clover Park), moving up from the high school 300, debuted in 57.32­comparable to where Mach began last season. He was seventh.

Notable entries. Hoyt is taking 15 athletes to California. This week's featured entries at Long Beach are Ross, who will double in the 800 and 1500; Huffman, who will high-jump, long-jump and throw the javelin; Anderson in the shot; Mach in the hurdles; Ally Studer (So., Redmond, Wa./Redmond) in the pole vault and Nathanael Castle (Sr., Gooding, Id./Gooding) in the 1500. The Long Beach Classic is a scored meet, however only a team's top performer in an event earns points.

Oval notes. Studer was ill and scratched from the pole vault. Also held out were Laura Widman (Jr., Colfax, Wa./Colfax) with a sore hamstring and Jennifer Pyeatt (So., Graham, Wa./Bethel) due to illness...Widman could see her first competition at Point Loma. She's expected to enter the heptathlon there, along with Huffman, Wiiest and Pyeatt...Candy Owens (So., Ridgefield, Ct./Ridgefield) carried her momentum from a year ago into her first race. Owens hit a 2-second PR in the 1500 (5:02.56)...Leah Wiiest (Sr., Spokane, Wa./Deer Park) again ran a solid 400, this time a 59-second split as the No. 2 leg in the relay...Tim LeCount (Fr., Battle Ground, Wa./Battle Ground) ran a good double (2:03.68/4:06.46) in the 800 and 1500...The Falcons got GNAC automatic qualifying marks from Kraybill, Ross, Huffman (high jump, long jump, javelin) and Mach...The SPU women remain unbeaten vs. non-Div. I teams at Salzman since 1999.

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.