The season’s twilight. Rare are the times when track & field meets are held in the evening, and the entire team gets a Saturday off. But such is the case for Seattle Pacific University athletes this week as the Falcons send a portion of their men’s and women’s squads to the Western Washington Twilight meet Friday (Apr. 30) in Bellingham. Afterwards, everyone gets the weekend off to rest and prepare for next week’s Great Northwest Athletic Conference Championships in Monmouth, Ore.

Some, not all. This represents the final opportunity for some people to prolong their season. It is the last chance to qualify for the GNAC Championships or hit a mark enabling Coach Jack Hoyt to post an entry in the final regular season meet, the Ken Foreman Invitational. Under the circumstances, Hoyt is giving several key performers (many having competed at Oregon last week) the weekend off altogether. Among the featured entries for Western are pole-vaulter Amy Harris (So., Philomath, Or./Crescent Valley), metric half-miler Eddie Strickler (Fr., Richland, Wa.) and middle-distance runner Abby Groth (So., Roseburg, Or./Glide). Harris is focused on clearing the bar at 12 feet while Groth, ranked No. 3 in the GNAC 3000, is returning to the oval after missing three meets with an injury. Strickler seeks to break 1:54, a time he’ll likely need to run to challenge for the GNAC title. In the women’s high jump, Sharon Bjella (Fr., Everett, Wa./Everett) and Dianna Grossglass (So., LaConner, Wa.) have a target of 5-6.

Well-deserved rest. Given all the injuries so far this season, last week was a great one for the Falcons and the women’s squad in particular. They picked up four new NCAA provisional qualifying marks and improved a fifth. SPU now has 10 provisionals and the potential to add still more. In addition to meeting standards, Seattle Pacific also picked-up some prizes. Linda Blake (So., Salem, Or./Salem Academy) won the GNAC heptathlon title, becoming the third Falcon to do so in as many years. Blake’s victory and the third-place showing by Kristin Janney (White Salmon, Wa./Columbia) give SPU a slight 18-16 advantage in points over Western Oregon going into the greater conference meet. Blake, with 4593 points, and Janney, with 4446, surpassed the provisional minimum in the heptathlon. Several hours later, Karen Dickson (Fr., El Dorado Hills, Ca./Oak Ridge) moved up the 10,000-meter list by dropping her time by 36 seconds at the Oregon Invitational. Also at that meet, Janna Schaafsma (So., Soldotna, Ak.) won the daytime session of the 400 hurdles in a qualifying time of 1:03.38 and the 1600 relay improved its best time by 2.53 seconds to 3:51.03.

Peaks in the Willamette Valley. Certainly Blake set the tone for last weekend with her second-day surge from fourth to first place in the heptathlon. She hit career-best marks in two events and season-bests in four others, taking the lead going into the seventh and final event. Janney, who missed much of the indoor and early outdoor season while recovering from an ankle fracture, made a similar leap, also getting two PRs. Dickson got things going in Eugene, taking third place in the 10k in 36:46.19. In addition to Schaafsma’s win, Jean Kolb (So., Eugene, Or./South Eugene) bolted to the top conference time in the 100 (12.66). She also ran on both relays. The 400 got second in a season-best 48.27 and the long relay, with a strong anchor leg from Kinyatta Leonhardt (Fr., Petaluma, Ca./St. Vincent), was third.