Fractions

Spectator admission to the Foreman Invitational is free. Entries must be submitted by 7 p.m. May 12...Marsh’s 18 points (she was second in the 1500) was the most for SPU, followed by 16 each of Leonhardt (second in the 200 and 400) and Kristin Janney (So., White Salmon, Wa./Columbia). Leonhardt ran on both relays and Marsh on the 1600 which took second...Randolph competed in the 110 hurdles, discus and javelin last week. His PR in the decathlon is 6288...Ayers-Stamper last competed for the U.S. Junior National Team last summer in Europe. She has a career-best total of 5149. The top mark in the NCAA is 5105 this spring. Johnson’s win was her sixth in nine meets.

Going for broke. Never before has the last regular season track & field meet had such a ‘go-for-broke’ attitude as this weekend’s Ken Foreman Invitational. Seattle Pacific University’s lone home meet begins with the decathlon, heptathlon and selected events getting underway Friday (May 14) in Tacoma, but the bulk of the competition comes to West Seattle’s Southwest Athletic Complex Saturday (May 15). It marks the final opportunity for the Falcons and other NCAA Division II programs to post national qualifying marks. The NCAA Championships are May 27-29 in Walnut, Ca.

Multi comebacks. Barring any last-minute setback, a big comeback will be attempted by Danielle Ayers-Stamper (So., LaCrosse, Wa.) at the Foreman Invitational heptathlon and by Chris Randolph (So., Lone Tree, Co./Denver Christian) in the decathlon. Ayers-Stamper, the NCAA runner-up as a freshman, has missed the entire season to date while recovering from a back injury and she was planning to redshirt. However, her recent progress and the relatively soft scores nationwide in the heptathlon prompted Coach Jack Hoyt to propose that Ayers-Stamper make a late debut and take a run at the 4800 points likely needed to book a flight to nationals. Randolph, meanwhile, missed six weeks with an ankle sprain before returning to action at last week’s Great Northwest Athletic Conference Championships. He has sufficient potential to score the 6700 points necessary to assure entry to the NCAA field.

The last mile. Played out against the last-chance drama will be the celebration of a life on the run. Doris Heritage, head coach of cross country and assistant for track, will be honored Saturday with a 12 noon running of the Heritage Mile. A minimum donation will entitle anyone to run alongside Heritage–at least at the start. The two-time Olympian and five-time world cross country champion will leave most people behind soon after. Heritage will undergo hip replacement surgery next month, effectively ending her days of beating the world’s roads, trails and tracks. Donations benefit the Heritage Scholarship endowment for SPU runners.

Javelin thrower Sara Johnson seems assured of being NCAA-bound.

Bubble people. While the Seattle Pacific women own a total of 12 provisional qualifying marks, only javelin thrower Sara Johnson (Jr., Kennewick, Wa.) seems assured of being NCAA-bound. Based on their current national ranking, four others are on the bubble and still more are longshots for California. Allie Hedges (So., Richland, Wa.) is 10th among pole vaulters and Hoyt sees indications that she and Amy Harris (So., Philomath, Or./Crescent Valley) are about to raise their respective bars for seasons bests. Jennifer Marsh (Fr., Kirkland, Wa./Juanita) stands 14th in the 800, Linda Blake (So., Richland, Wa.) 12th in the heptathlon, Kinyatta Leonhardt (Fr., Petaluma, Ca./St. Vincent) 16th in the 400 and Karen Dickson (Fr., El Dorado Hills, Ca./Oak Ridge) 19th in the 10,000, a field which will likely receive several scratches.

Sixteen points short. Unfortunately, Ayers-Stamper was not available for last week’s GNAC Championships, when the Falcon women came up just 16 points short in their attempt to reclaim the crown from Western Oregon. A late surge made up 24 points, but the Wolves prevailed with 231 1/2 points. Seattle Pacific got wins from Marsh in the 800 (2:15.50), Janna Schaafsma (So., Soldotna, Ak.) in the 400 hurdles (1:03.72), Johnson in the javelin (a mark of 141-10 on her final throw) and the 400 relay, which set a meet record of 47.87. Blake had won the heptathlon Apr. 23. Tim LeCount’s victory in the 5000 (a PR of 14:58.98) paced the men, who finished sixth. In addition to the relay, the other new provisional qualifying mark was by Dickson in the 5000 (17:49.55).