Spring break road trip. It is a time-honored tradition for most, if not all, college students: the spring break road trip. And beginning this weekend, 22 members of the Seattle Pacific University track & field teams are bound for northern California for a little bit of work, play and sun. The first of four meets for the Falcons are the Panther/Stan Wright Invitational in Sacramento and the Oregon Preview in Eugene Saturday (Mar. 22). Next week, before returning home, the squad will be divided between the UC Davis Multi-Event (Mar. 26-27), Stanford Invitational (Mar. 28-29) and Hornet Invitational (Mar. 29). The next full team meet is the Vernacchia Invitational Apr. 5

Follow the sun. Although the weather has been relatively dry for the first two outdoor meets, Coach Jack Hoyt hopes that the competition, sun and warmth (forecasts call for temperatures in the high 60s) will bring out a few national qualifying marks during this trip. Final exams and travel cut into training this week but the heptathlon at Davis presents a prime opportunity to surpass at least the provisional standard of 4400 points in that event.

Falcons go fourth indoors. Ally Studer (Jr., Redmond, Wa./Redmond) and Sarah Kraybill (Sr., Seattle, Wa./Ballard) each took fourth place in their respective events to earn All-America status at the NCAA Division II Indoor Track & Field Championships last week. Studer actually tied for the highest clearance in the pole vault at 11 feet, 11 3/4 inches. However the winner, Jenny Simmons of Northwest Missouri, went over the bar on her first try while Studer missed twice before succeeding. Studer has been an outdoor All-America twice before. Kraybill broke her own indoor school record in the 800-meter run, staying with the lead pack before fading in the final 200 and finishing in 2 minutes, 9.53 seconds. Maria Medina of Saint Augustine's out-kicked favorite Steph Kuhlman to win by two-tenths of a second in 2:07.27. The Falcons' other competitor, Danielle Ayers-Stamper (Fr., LaCrosse, Wa.), took a non-scoring 13th place in the high jump, with a final clearance of 5-3 3/4. Abilene Christian's Maresa Cadienhead won at 6 feet. Seattle Pacific's total of 9.5 points and 17th-place finish was the best in 10 years at indoor nationals.

Same ol' Salzman. Despite the 22 points and winning shot put of Laura Widman (Sr., Colfax, Wa.), the SPU women finished second at the Salzman Invitational for the eighth year in a row. Western Washington accumulated 164.5 points to the Falcons' 133. Seattle Pacific was without the services of Kraybill, Studer and Ayers-Stamper, all competing at the indoor championships in Boston. The Vikings also prevailed in the men's scoring (192.5) while SPU was fifth with 64. Widman heaved the shot 39-5 3/4 inches to win the event handily. She was also third in the 400 dash (60.66), fifth in the 200 (26.81) and seventh in the javelin (107-4). Other winners for the women were Linda Blake (Fr., Richland, Wa.) in the 100 hurdles (15.12) and Allie Hedges (Fr., Richland, Wa.) in the pole vault (10-11 3/4). Blake was also runner-up in the long jump (15-5 1/2). Finishing second were Jamie Witt (So., Folsom, Ca.) in the 5000 (18:10.38), Kelsey Gleason (Fr., Salem, Or.) in the 400 hurdles (1:06.81) and both relays. The SPU men were paced by Paul Mach (Jr., Seattle, Wa./King's), who was the top collegian in the 400 hurdles (54.22) and second in the 400 dash in a personal record of 49.79. Tim LeCount (So., Battle Ground, Wa.) was runner-up in the 1500 (4:04.29).

Missing links. For the latest and best information on Seattle Pacific University athletics, stay where you're at -- on The Falcons Online. For updated standings and statistics, see the Great Northwest Athletic Conference web site.