To the promised land. With five of the six qualifying marks coming in the most recent meet, Seattle Pacific University’s travel party for the NCAA Division II Track & Field Championships appears to be peaking at precisely the right time. Five women and one male will represent the Falcons when the meet begins Thursday (May 27) in the L.A. suburb of Walnut, Ca. Action runs through Saturday (May 29) at the site of the renowned Mount SAC Relays, Hilmer Lodge Stadium. The SPU women are seeking to finish in the top 20 for the fourth year in a row, and claim their first individual championship since 1993.

The SPU travel party to the NCAA Track and Field Championships include (top to bottom): Danielle Ayers-Stamper; Sara Johnson; Allie Hedges; Karen Dickson; Jennifer Marsh; and Chris Randolph.

California girls. Seattle Pacific possesses championship potential in at least two women’s the vents, the heptathlon and javelin. Danielle Ayers-Stamper (So., LaCrosse, Wa.) made the sudden transformation from redshirt to title hopeful with a heptathlon score of 4855 points at the May 15 Foreman Invitational. That was the No. 4 score in the nation, and Ayers-Stamper, the NCAA runner-up as a freshman, figures to have a few hundred more points in her arsenal. She has a career-best score of 5149 and the top qualifying total is 5105. Javelin thrower Sara Johnson (Jr., Kennewick, Wa./Kennewick-Spokane CC) rates fifth among the qualifiers. Johnson’s flail of 149 feet at the Foreman was a season-best and earned her seventh victory in 10 meets. Also entered in the meet are pole vaulter Allie Hedges (So., Richland, Wa.), 10,000-meter runner Karen Dickson (Fr., El Dorado Hills, Ca./Oak Ridge) and 800 runner Jennifer Marsh (Fr., Kirkland, Wa./Juanita).

One guy, 10 events. Rivaling the comeback of Ayers-Stamper is the story of Chris Randolph (So., Lone Tree, Co./Denver Christian), who could become the Falcons’ seventh All-America in the decathlon since 1970, and first since 1998. After missing six weeks with an ankle sprain, Randolph and Coach Jack Hoyt considered applying for a medical hardship. Instead, they opted to go for broke. In his second meet back, Randolph scored 6881 points–the No. 5 total in school history–to earn the No. 4 seed. The top three NCAA decathlon entries have scores in excess of 7150.

Think first. This could be the first year of a resurgence by the SPU women at the national level. Four of the five qualifiers are underclassmen and several more are in the pipeline for 2005. Ayers-Stamper is among those seeking to become Seattle Pacific’s 28th collegiate champion and the first outdoors since Karin Grelsson won the 1993 heptathlon. SPU is aiming to improve on last year’s tie for 16th place. Fifteen times the Falcons have finished among the top 20 since 1983, including a run of eight straight top 10 placements from 1986-93.

The racing form. Following a midseason lull in terms of distance, Johnson achieved a PR by 17 inches last week. She threw 140-plus in five meets. Hedges vaulted 12-1 or higher in her last three meets, winning two and clearing a PR of 12-2 3/4 last week. That ties her for 10th in the field. A No. 13 seed, Dickson continued her season-long improvement at the Foreman meet, winning in 36:09.66–her third straight PR and an improvement of 36 seconds over the last. Ayers-Stamper should realize her biggest gains in the field events where she was well off her PRs. Randolph is coming off five PRs and a gain of 593 points in his career-best score. Marsh, a No. 16 seed, is the only Falcon who must run a qualifying race to advance to a Saturday final. She ran under 2:14 in her last five meets in which she didn’t double, including a PR of 2:13.24 Apr. 10. She won three races, including the GNAC title.

Return to the West. The NCAA Championships will be hosted by Cal Poly Pomona but located about a mile away on the campus of Mount San Antonio Junior College. It’s the first time the national meet has been on the West Coast since 1996 at Riverside. Information and results will be accessible by clicking on the NCAA logo to the right. Weather forecasts call for high temperatures in the high-70s and only a slight chance of showers Friday.

No matter the weather. Despite some breezy, cool weather, conditions at the Ken Foreman Invitational were sufficient for the Falcons to achieve wins in four events and a total of 14 personal records. Randolph was the SPU athlete of the meet and the GNAC male performer of the week. He smashed several of his PRs: the javelin by 17 feet to 179-0, the pole vault by a foot to 13-9 1/2, the shot put by 19 inches to 3810 1/4 and the long jump by five inches to 21-7 1/2. More than 500 athletes participated and two new meet records were set: Portland’s Julie Elliott won the heptathlon with a total of 5170 and Margaret Butler of British Columbia’s Kajaks was timed in 10:28.37 for the women’s steeplechase. Besides the wins by Randolph, Johnson, Dickson and Hedges, there were second-place marks for Ayers-Stamper and the women’s 400 relay (48.65). Taking third were Marsh (2:13.74), Sharon Bjella (Fr., Everett, Wa./Everett) in the high jump (5-4 1/4) and James Rosser (Fr., Seattle, Wa./Highline) in the 10,000 (34:22.25).

Running with a crowd. Undoubtedly, the most memorable event at the Foreman meet was Doris Heritage, head coach of cross country and assistant for track, running the mile with some 200 friends and former athletes. Heritage, the two-time Olympian and five-time world cross country champion, was running her final race. Hip replacement surgery next month will prompt her to stop pounding the pavement, tracks and trails. The mile race raised nearly $6000 for the Heritage Scholarship endowment for SPU runners. Heritage will meet the Falcons in California Thursday after going to Washington, D.C., for the American Running Association honors gala Wednesday night.

SPU Coaches. Jack Hoyt is now in his fifth season as head coach after succeeding the legendary Ken Foreman. His teams have won two outdoor conference titles and this year’s GNAC indoor crown. Hoyt is a former All-America decathlete at SPU and served as an assistant to Foreman for seven years. Heritage, the coach of cross country and track runners from 800 meters up, is a member of eight halls of fame for both athletes and coaches. Algerian Hart, former Long Beach State star, is in his third year as hurdles/sprints coach. Among the other assistants are Kelly LaBounty, a two-time Olympian in the heptathlon, and Laura Widman, a two-time All-America in the heptathlon.