Fractions
The 2005 NCAA Championships will be hosted by Abilene Christian, marking a return to Abilene, Tx., for the first time since 1993. The indoor championships remain in Boston next winter. The GNAC indoor meet will be held again in Nampa, Id., while Bellingham is tentatively designated as the outdoor site with the multi-events at Ellensburg...Cross country gets underway with the Emerald City Open Sept. 11 at Lower Woodland Park. The GNAC Championships are at Arcata, Ca., and the West Regional will be held in Bellingham.
Chris Randolph has been voted track and field male co-athlete of the year in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference.The Falcons’ Jennifer Marsh is the women’s freshman of the year.

Just a hint. Giving just a hint of what’s in store for 2005, the Seattle Pacific University track & field contingent returned from the NCAA Championships with three All-Americans and five athletes who will be all the better and wiser when they return. The Falcons won a women’s conference indoor title, took second outdoors and both teams lose a total of only six seniors.

Oh, so young. Seattle Pacific sent seven athletes to indoor and outdoor national meets this season and each will be back in ‘05, including All-Americans Chris Randolph (So., Lone Tree, Co./Denver Christian), Danielle Ayers-Stamper (So., LaCrosse, Wa.) and Sara Johnson (Jr., Kennewick, Wa./Kennewick-Spokane CC). Randolph finished third in the NCAA decathlon, scoring a Great Northwest Athletic Conference record 7030 points to also earn a share of GNAC track & field athlete of the year. Ayers-Stamper, who missed all but two meets with a back injury, was fourth in the national heptathlon (4955) and Johnson threw for sixth (145-3) in the javelin. Jennifer Marsh (Fr., Kirkland, Wa./Juanita), who was 11th overall in the 800 meters (2:12.41) and conference champion, was voted GNAC freshman of the year.

Just the beginning. Coach Jack Hoyt will no doubt have expectations of a return to the nation’s top 10 for the women, plus some individuals with realistic aspirations of winning NCAA titles. With neither of the finishers ahead of him due to return next season, Randolph could become the decathlon favorite. Similarly, Ayers-Stamper and Johnson were among fields dominated by seniors. Five of the seven indoor and outdoor qualifiers were underclassmen, including Marsh, pole vaulter Allie Hedges (So., Richland, Wa.) and 10,000-meter runner Karen Dickson (Fr., El Dorado Hills, Ca./Oak Ridge). Hedges finished tied for 10th in the pole vault (11-7 3/4) and Dickson ran 12th (36:45.46). Paul Mach (Sr., Seattle, Wa./King’s), ninth in the indoor 800, and Ally Studer (Sr., Redmond, Wa./Redmond), 11th in the indoor pole vault, opted to redshirt outdoors and finish in ‘05.

Can’t complain. While it was a five-month rollercoaster ride in terms of health and relative potential in the postseason, the Falcons fared pretty well, all things considered. Randolph and Ayers-Stamper, who scored 11 of the program’s 14 points at nationals, were injured and thought out for the season in mid-April. Randolph retuned from an ankle sprain in time to qualify, and Ayers-Stamper made a last-minute decision to shed her redshirt status. Still, Hoyt was missing Studer and Mach the entire outdoor season, and 41 of the other 54 roster athletes were freshmen or sophomores.

For the record books. Few of the outdoor records was seriously challenged, yet there were several new all-time top five marks, particularly in the women’s pole vault and hammer throw. Randolph’s NCAA decathlon score rates No. 4 and, along with a No. 5 400 time of 56.22 by Kinyatta Leonhardt (Fr., Petaluma, Ca./St. Vincent), was the most impressive. Hedges improved her No. 2 all-time vault to 12-2 3/4, while Amy Harris (So., Philomath, Or.) brought her No. 3 standard to 11-5 3/4. In the hammer, the Falcons finally filled-out the top five, including Jennifer Urrutia (Fr., Sunnyside, Wa.) at No. 2 (130-7).

For the textbooks. Mach became the first SPU male in six years to become a Verizon Academic All-America selection, earning a place on the third team for the college division (non-Div. I). Earlier, Mach, Tim LeCount (Jr., Battle Ground, Wa.) Linda Blake (So., Richland, Wa.) and Jamie Witt (Jr. Folsom, Ca.) were voted to the Academic All-District VIII team. Mach, the only repeat selection for the Falcons, is a computer science major with a 3.72 grade point average. The GNAC indoor 800 champion this past winter, he is the first Academic All-America for the men since Matt Cooper in 1998 and the program’s fourth overall. LeCount, the GNAC outdoor 5000 winner, is a history major with a 3.66 GPA. Blake won the conference heptathlon and is a chemistry major with a 3.96 GPA. Witt won the GNAC indoor mile and was the conference cross country runner-up last fall. She is an English major with a 3.85. All four were previously named to the Academic All-GNAC team announced earlier.

Jamie Witt recently received the Falcon Award for Excellence for career achievement in athletics, academics and leadership.

More applause, more awards. Witt was among those honored at the annual athletic awards ceremony June 3. Eligible to return for competition but electing to graduate instead, Witt received the Falcon Award for Excellence for career achievement in athletics, academics and leadership. A four-year squad member and three-year letterwinner, she was a two-time all-conference selection in both cross country and track. Last fall Witt served as cross country team captain, and was voted most inspirational and team MVP. For team awards, Johnson was the outdoor MVP and Marsh the MVP indoors. Dickson was most inspirational and co-most improved with Victoria Perkins. Studer was team captain. The men’s outdoor MVP was Randolph and Mach was indoor MVP. Randolph was most improved, LeCount was most inspirational and Mach was the captain.

Help on the way. Hoyt has signed four recruits to national letters of intent for next season. Lauren VerMulm, one of the top javelin throwers in the state from Mount Vernon, was third (138-7) in the state 4A championships last month. Karin Rohde, a standout distance runner from Deming’s Mount Baker High School, took third in last fall’s 2A cross country championships after winning her district crown. She was runner-up as a sophomore. On the track, Rohde scored in three events at the 2004 state track championships, taking second in the 3200, fourth in the 1600 and eighth in the 800. Bridgette Sexton of La Center, Wa., will join the heptathlon group after being one of the top 2A runners from 200-800 meters for the past three years. For the men, Brian Cronrath of Battle Ground was fourth in the 4A 1600 and eighth in the 3200.

Go camping this summer. Space is growing tight for cross country head coach Doris Heritage’s Falcon Running Camp on Whidbey Island this summer. The resident camp is July 25-30 at the Casey Conference Center and the cost is $340. For a registration form, call (@06) 281-2085 or click here for the sports camps area.

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.