Together again. Following an exceptional set of results during spring break in California, members of the Seattle Pacific University track & field teams reunite this weekend for the second scored meet of the season. The Falcon women will be aiming for their fourth straight Vernacchia Team Classic crown Saturday (Apr. 5) in Bellingham. Beginning the next day, a couple SPU athletes may take part in the Western Washington Spring Forward Multi-Event meet. Next week provides an opportunity to preview the conference championship facility with the Spike Arlt Invitational in Ellensburg.

Could be close. Unlike the earlier Salzman Invitational meeting with Western Washington in which the Vikings prevailed, Coach Jack Hoyt should have his complete compliment of women available Saturday as SPU defends its Vernacchia title. A year ago, the Falcons edged Western 101-99 and it could be just as close this time around. The Vikings won the Salzman by a count of 164.5-133 Mar. 15. At the time, Seattle Pacific's Sarah Kraybill (Sr., Seattle, Wa./Ballard), Ally Studer (Jr., Redmond, Wa./Redmond) and Danielle Ayers-Stamper (Fr., LaCrosse, Wa.) were all absent while competing at the NCAA indoor championships. In the men's competition, SPU hope to improve on last year's fifth-place finish. Other teams expected to compete are Central Washington, Pacific Lutheran, Puget Sound, Saint Martin's, Seattle University and Simon Fraser.

From California, here they come. Spring break can serve as a time for rejuvenation and the Falcons definitely injected new life into their season while in northern California for an assortment of four meets. The list of NCAA provisional qualifiers swelled from one to six, including the first male. Paul Mach (Jr., Seattle, Wa./King's) broke 54 seconds in the 400-meter hurdles twice in two days, including a personal record and qualifying time of 53.19 seconds at the Hornet Invitational in Sacramento. He took second in the race. Meanwhile, the women added four provisional marks. Studer went to the top of the Div. II qualifier list with a pole vault of 12 feet, 1 1/2 inches to tie for first at Sacramento. It was just a half-inch shy of her own school record, set in 2001. Studer had vaulted 11-6 1/4 the previous day at Stanford. Kraybill also doubled up, running at both meets. She won the 800 at Stanford in 2:10.91 and then improved to 2:10.50-the No. 2 time in the nation-in taking second at Sacramento.

PRs and then some. Another couple qualifying marks were posted in the multi-event meet at nearby UC Davis. Ayers-Stamper obliterated her PR in the heptathlon with a score of 4909 points. Linda Blake (Fr., Richland, Wa.) scored 4446, just surpassing the cutoff. Ayers-Stamper boosted her PR by 219 and Blake by 379. Each achieved PRs in the 800, shot put and high jump. Unfortunately Laura Widman (Sr., Colfax, Wa.) was a late scratch from the heptathlon after experiencing a leg muscle cramp prior to the first event. Widman, a two-time All-America in the heptathlon, may enter the Western Washington multi-event instead. In the decathlon, Chris Randolph (Fr., Lone Tree, Co./Denver Christian) came up short in his bid for the provisional standard of 6500, totaling 5994 in his first try at all 10 events.

World according to Doris. Doris Heritage returns this week from Switzerland, where she served as Team USA head coach of the World Cross Country Championships. The American women finished third in the long course and the juniors achieved a best-ever placement of fourth.

"The junior women did a bang up job," said Heritage, the SPU cross country head coach and assistant track coach. "The first four finishers in the women's 8K race today probably had the race of their lives. If (bronze medalist) Deena Drossen had been on the track, we probably would've seen an American record at 5K."

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.