Blake Keeps GNAC Heptathlon Crown at Seattle Pacific
April 22, 2004

Heptathlon Final Results     Decathlon Final Results

MONMOUTH, Ore. (Apr. 23) –Linda Blake surged from fourth place to first in the final three events, keeping the Great Northwest Athletic Conference heptathlon crown at Seattle Pacific University for the third year in a row Friday at McArthur Field.

Blake (So., Richland, Wa.), who hit career-best marks in two events and season-bests in four others, took over the lead following the javelin throw and won with a total of 4593points for the seven events. The Falcons’ Kristin Janney (Fr., White Salmon, Wa./Columbia) passed first-day heptathlon leader Monica Smith of Western Oregon late in the final event, the 800-meter run, and finished third overall with 4446.

Both Blake and Janney’s scores qualified for the NCAA Division II provisional list. Blake, who was second in the heptathlon last year, raised her PR score by 147 points.

Dan Larimer (Fr., Libby, Mt.) of SPU placed sixth in the men’s decathlon, which was won by Central Washington’s Michael Morrison with 6342 points. Larimer scored 4936–more than 900 points fewer than his previous decathlon this season.

Blake became the third Seattle Pacific woman in as many years to win the GNAC multi-event title, following Stephanie Huffman in 2002 and Danielle Ayers-Stamper last season. Blake’s second-day marks included a long jump of 16 feet, 7 1/4 inches, a javelin throw of 104-3 and a time of 2 minutes, 27.76 seconds in the 800. She finished with 129 points more than runner-up Bridget Smith of host Western Oregon.

Janney won the javelin with a PR of 118-5. Her other marks were 16-1 3/4 in the long jump and 2:29.54 in the 800. Janney’s late kick in the 800 moved her four points in front of Smith (4442) in the final standings. Her score was an improvement of 799 points higher than earlier this season. Janney and Blake earned all-conference honors and give SPU 16 points going into the GNAC Championships May 8 in Monmouth.

A dozen Seattle Pacific athletes will be in action Saturday at the Oregon Invitational in Eugene.