Where it all began. As the track & field season hits the halfway point, Seattle Pacific University sends its troops south to where the campaign began six weeks ago. The Falcons will compete Saturday (Apr. 10) at the J.D. Shotwell Invitational in Tacoma, where they will be joined by, among others, Central Washington, Pacific Lutheran, Saint Martin’s, Seattle University, Western Washington and host Puget Sound. The Spike Arlt Invitational is next weekend in Ellensburg.

Make it five. Despite losing three of last year’s NCAA qualifiers to the redshirt list this spring, the SPU women’s team keeps chugging along, getting the job done. They overcame the absence of still more performers last week to win their fifth consecutive Vernacchia Invitational team title, and they now have five provisional national qualifiers–just one shy of last year’s total–at this point. Joining the list were Karen Dickson (Fr., El Dorado Hills, Ca./Oak Ridge) in the 10,000-meter run and Amy Harris (So., Philomath, Or./Crescent Valley) in the pole vault. Dickson improved her personal record by 78 seconds and finished fourth at the Vernacchia. It was the No. 8 qualifying mark in Div. II. Harris vaulted a career-best 11 feet, 5 3/4 inches to earn first place by virtue of a tiebreaker with teammate Allie Hedges (So., Richland, Wa.), who had qualified at the same height Mar. 6.

Who would’ve thunk it? With so many missing, Coach Jack Hoyt wasn’t concerned so much with scoring points at the Vernacchia. He was without four potential scorers on the women’s side, while the men’s squad was decimated by the absence of multi-event star Chris Randolph (So., Lone Tree, Co./Denver Christian), hurdler Miach Kellcy (Sr., Lakewood, Wa./Clover Park), half-miler Paul Mach (Sr., Seattle, Wa./King’s) and top distance runner Tim LeCount (Jr., Battle Ground, Wa.). Hoyt used the meet to try people in some different events, leaving such staple races as the 800 and 5000 without a single SPU entry, man or woman. Still, somehow things worked out. The Falcons finished with a slight, 103-97, edge over Central Washington women and the men, given the circumstances, took a respectable sixth.

Bearing the load. The unsung stars may have been relay sprinters Kelsey Gleason (So., Salem, Or.), Kinyatta Leonhardt (Fr., Petaluma, Ca./St. Vincent) and Jean Kolb (So., Eugene, Or.), who ran on both quartets, including the 1600 which set a meet record of 3 minutes, 54.02 seconds and clinched the team title. The 400 relay was timed in a season-best 48.52 seconds despite some shaky exchanges. Kolb also took second in the 100 dash (13.01) and sixth in the 200 (26.92). Gleason was third in the 100 (13.06) and fourth in the the 400 hurdles (1:05.48). Jennier Marsh (Fr., Kirkland, Wa./Juanita) ran the long relay’s anchor leg. Earlier, Marsh had come from behind in the final 400 meters to win her debut in the 1500 in 4:41.42–less than a second off the provisional minimum. She already has qualified for the NCAA 800 this season. Other victors were Sara Johnson (Jr., Kennewick, Wa.), who won her fourth javelin title (141-5); Abby Groth (So., Roseburg, Or./Glide), running a 19-second PR in the 3000 (10:30.2); and Dianna Grossglass (So., La Conner, Wa.) in the high jump (5-2 1/4).