Back home again. A string of three consecutive track & field meets for the full men's and women's teams begins Saturday (Mar. 30) with Seattle Pacific University's athletes joining many of the state's other collegians at the 14th annual Spring Break Open in Edmonds. The Falcons will close ranks following the travel squad's return from Southern California and a productive pair of meets after final exams. Next week SPU travels to the Vernacchia Invitational scored meet in Bellingham.

See Ross run. Dominant in the Northwest throughout her career, Rachel Ross (Sr., Kennewick, Wa./Kennewick) took her show on the road to California for spring break, and she proved to be a one-woman wrecking crew. Ross won three of her four races in Long Beach and San Diego, including victories in both the 800- and 1500-meter runs at last week's Aztec Invitational. Her metric half-mile time of 2 minutes, 12.63 seconds improved her NCAA Division II provisional qualifying mark and came despite a severe crosswind. Ross, who won the 1500 in 4:41.29, repeated as the Great Northwest Athletic Conference selection for co-athlete of the week and has won four of five starts in the outdoor season.

Four more qualifiers. It's not yet April and Coach Jack Hoyt can already claim seven provisional qualifiers for the women's team. Last week at Point Loma, Stephanie Huffman (Sr., Brush Prairie, Wa./Prairie), already a provisional qualifier in the javelin, added a heptathlon mark along with Leah Wiiest (Sr., Spokane, Wa./Deer Park-Cornell). A day later the list grew longer with the addition of shot putter Dionna Anderson (Sr., Lynnwood, Wa./Edmonds-Woodway) and intermediate hurdler Jawea Harder (Sr., Port Townsend, Wa.). Ross is qualified in both the 800 and 1500. Anderson threw for an outdoor PR of 44-4 to take second place and Harder's fifth-place time of 1:02.70 was her best in two years.

Steve, meet Nate. The Falcons got their 15 minutes of fame in San Diego as Nathanael Castle (Sr., Gooding, Id.) immediately followed Ross's victory with one of his own in the men's 1500. Prior to the race, assistant coach Doris Heritage introduced Castle to Steve Scott, the three-time Olympian and American record-holder in the mile. No doubt inspired, Castle then peeled off a 59-second final lap to win in 3:58.24.

What's with Wiiest? Of the current cast of qualifiers, none is more surprising than Wiiest. Until this past winter, she had no experience in track & field, although she was an all-region selection in volleyball last fall. Wiiest's all-around athleticism and the Falcons' history of producing national-caliber competitors in the heptathlon fit together perfectly. The result: about 15 weeks into her new sport, Wiiest scored 4601 points to easily surpass the provisional standard of 4400 and finish second to Huffman (4933) at Point Loma. Most impressive among her seven marks were a shot put of 35-11, a 200 dash of 26.27 and, finally, a gutsy 800 of 2:24.63. Wiiest has also won a spot on the 1600 relay, running the leadoff leg. An SPU relay has qualified for nationals each of the last seven years.

Only the beginning. Wiiest, Huffman and Seattle Pacific's two other heptathletes­Laura Widman (Jr., Colfax, Wa./Colfax) and Jennifer Pyeatt (So., Graham, Wa./Bethel)­will get opportunities to improve their heptathlon scores next month and perhaps again in early May. Huffman, like Wiiest, formerly a crackerjack volleyball player for SPU, should have no trouble going well over 5000 points this season. Huffman PR'd in the 200 (26.41) and high-jumped 5-4 1/2 on her way to a career-best first day total. She then moved comfortably into the lead with a long jump of 17-10 1/4 and by throwing the spear 131-3. Pyeatt and Widman, both taking it relatively easy while rebounding from injuries, showed progress. Pyeatt put the shot 40-8 and Widman cleared 4-10 1/2 in the high jump with a five-step approach before withdrawing as a precautionary measure.

Fractions. Huffman's score was her best since a PR of 5121 to finish second at the 1999 NCAA heptathlon...Paul Mach (So., Seattle, Wa./King's) put together another strong race, placing third in the 400 hurdles (54.85)...Harder has improved her times by at least 1.5 seconds in each of her last two outings. Angie Ocampo (Jr., Vancouver, Wa./Mtn. View-Highline CC) lopped over 4 seconds of her time, to 1:07.13. In the men's hurdles, Micah Kellcy (Jr., Lakewood, Wa./Clover Park) ran a season-best 56.93... Despite suffering a gash to her forehead in warm-ups, Ally Studer (So., Redmond, Wa./Redmond) cleared a season-best 11-0 3/4 in the pole vault...Anderson and discus thrower Lauren Kooy (So., George, Wa./Quincy) were winners at last year's Spring Break Open along with both men's relays.