School’s out. It’s time to snap those No. 2 pencils in half, forget about the blue books and catch some rays. That is, if you’re one of the 22 Seattle Pacific University track & field athletes making the trip to the Sacramento area for spring break. The Falcons will send individuals to four meets during the 10-day stay, beginning with Saturday’s (Mar. 20) Panther/Stan Wright Invitational. Next week brings the first heptathlon and decathlons of the young season at Berkeley, followed by the Hornet and Stanford Invitationals, plus the Spring Break Open in nearby Edmonds.

Will he pump us up? The Falcons will get a warm welcome in the California capital. No, not from Governor Ahnuld. Mother Nature will provide sun and temperatures near 80 this weekend, and such conditions can help athletes make gains in flexibility and performance. Or so they say. At any rate, this trip could help swell the list of NCAA qualifiers. Currently, Seattle Pacific has two: javelin thrower Sara Johnson (Jr., Kennewick, Wa./Kennewick-Spokane Falls CC) and pole vaulter Allie Hedges (So., Richland, Wa./Richland).

Best and brightest. Coach Jack Hoyt set some qualifying standards of his own to determine who will travel south, with 18 women and four males making the cut and some others staying behind to nurse injuries. However, with six meets on the menu, it’s safe to say that somewhere along a 1000-mile stretch of the Interstate 5 corridor there will be an SPU singlet running nearby in the next fortnight. Assistant coach Doris Heritage will take three male runners to the Oregon Preview in Eugene Saturday (Mar. 20). The decathlon and heptathlon hopefuls will deploy to Berkeley next Wednesday and Thursday (Mar. 24-25) and the another handful of athletes will join the team in Sacramento and Stanford. The entire team will finally reassemble Apr. 3 in Bellingham.

Ally goes dark. Hoyt has the team to beat in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference, despite the fact that he’s losing another All-America for the spring. Ally Studer (Sr., Redmond, Wa./Redmond) has decided to claim a redshirt status for the outdoor season. Studer, a three-time All-America, joins Danielle Ayers-Stamper (So., LaCrosse, Wa.), last year’s NCAA heptathlon runner-up, on the shelf. Their projected return makes the ‘05 team particularly strong.

On the outs indoors. The Falcons’ indoor campaign unfortunately ended without a bang in Boston as none of the three qualifiers scored. Paul Mach (Sr., Seattle, Wa./King’s), still hampered somewhat by a hip injury, finished ninth in the 800-meter final in 1:53.23–more than a second off his best time. Studer cleared just 11-3 3/4 and took 11th in the pole vault. She had qualified with a mark of 12-4. Jennifer Marsh (Fr., Kirkland, Wa./Juanita) did not advance out of the women’s 800 prelim with a time of 2:14.30.

Chips and Salzman. Outdoors, the skies and news was brighter. Seattle Pacific claimed its first Salzman Invitational women’s title in nine years, finishing comfortably ahead of second-place Central Washington, 184.5-118.5. The men who, like the women were without several key individuals, were seventh. Janna Schaafsma (So., Soldotna, Ak.) won the 100 hurdles (a PR of 15.0 seconds) and came back to take second in the intermediate hurdles in 1:05.0. In the field events, Andrea Pennington (Sr., Bellingham, Wa./Bellingham) claimed the javelin with a throw of 131-5 and Hedges led a 1-2-3 sweep of the pole vault, clearing 10-11 3/4. Eddie Strickler (Fr., Richland, Wa.) provided the men’s highlight, taking first in the 800 in 1:54.5. It was the best time in the GNAC this spring and earned Strickler athlete of the week. Western Washington won the men’s crown with 158 points. SPU (32) took fourth.