The Falcons Online -- Seattle Pacific University Athletics

Falcons Apart, Together: 4 Meets In 9 Days
LeCount Takes Down 10K Record; Women Win Again
April 5, 2005

2005 Men's Schedule/Results

2005 Men's Roster

2005 Women's Schedule/Results

2005 Women's Roster

Fractions

Seattle Pacific athletes are currently NCAA leaders in four events. Chris Randolph (Jr., Lone Tree, Co./Denver Christian) has the best decathlon score (6996) by 293 points. Dickson (34:40.59) owns a margin of 80 seconds over the No. 2 qualifier in the 10k. Ayers-Stamper (19-6 1/4) and VerMulm (154-3) top the long jump and javelin lists, respectively. Ayers-Stamper is also No. 2 in the 100 hurdles (13.93)... Ayers-Stamper scored in three individual events at the Vernacchia and ran a leg on both relays. Her shot put of 39-8 3/4 rates No. 2 in the GNAC and took third. She ran fifth in the 800 in a PR of 2:23.23...Cooley was also third in the long jump...Crosswinds affected the pole vault, with Studer’s best clearance of 11-1 3/4 nearly a foot below her season best...The women’s team outcome was not determined until the final event, the 1600 relay. Josie Lavin (Jr., Bremerton, Wa./Bremerton), running the anchor leg, held off Central Washington for third in 4:03.88...For the first time, SPU did not add any new NCAA qualifying marks last week...Ayers-Stamper, a two-time All-American in the heptathlon, owns a career-best score of 5149 as a freshman and is well within range of hitting the automatic qualifying standard of 5250. She missed most of last season with a back injury and scored 4955 at nationals...Randolph opted to compete in the first five events of the decathlon rather than the Vernacchia. Among his marks was a season-best 11.58 in the 100 dash. Phil Bayley (Sr., Seattle, Wa./King’s) scratched due to illness...In the Spring Forward heptathlon, Kristin Janney (So., White Salmon, Wa.) scored 3594–well below her best total of 4494...Ryan Jewell (Fr., Olympia, Wa./Olympia) owns the top GNAC times in the 100 (11.13) and 200 (22.41). Other male leaders are Mach (1500/3:56.62) and Randolph (decathlon). Women’s leaders are Jean Kolb (Jr., Eugene, Or./South Eugene) in the 400 (60.56), Bridgette Sexton (Fr., LaCenter, Wa.) in the 800 (2:15.28), Dickson (10k), Ayers-Stamper (100H, long jump), Studer and Amy Harris (Jr., Corvallis, Or./Crescent Valley) (pole vault/11-11 3/4), VerMulm (javelin/154-3) and Cooley (heptathlon/4524)...Linda Blake (Jr., Richland, Wa.) will run her first 400 hurdles this week, Sexton will race the 400 and Dickson the 1500. Kinyatta Leonhardt (So., Petaluma, Ca./St. Vincent) will participate in the relays after missing three weeks with a tender hamstring. Mach will bypass the Pelluer meet.

Scattered. They’re here, there and seemingly everywhere over the next couple weeks. In a relative experience of togetherness, the Seattle Pacific University track & field teams begin a fortnight full of variety Friday (Apr. 8) at the 34th annual Pelluer Invitational in Cheney, Wa. Most of the gang will go there before things get really interesting, with selected individuals deployed to the California Invitational heptathlon and Mount SAC Relays in Southern California and others to Central Washington’s Spike Arlt Invitational the following week.

Key entries. The Falcons will concentrate on national qualifying marks for the balance of April. They already have nine women and one male on NCAA Championship lists, yet are far from done. After a near-hometown (50 miles) appearance at Cheney, Danielle Ayers-Stamper (Jr., LaCrosse, Wa.) will enter her first heptathlon Apr. 13-14 at Azusa, Ca., and Paul Mach (Sr., Seattle, Wa./King’s) will take aim on the 800 meters standard at Mount SAC Apr. 15. Seattle Pacific’s sole automatic qualifier to date, Karen Dickson (So., El Dorado Hills, Ca./Oak Ridge), will run the 10,000 and Lauren VerMulm (Fr., Mount Vernon, Wa.) will throw the javelin at Mount SAC.

Won by that much. Although missing some key individuals, the SPU women still managed to win their sixth straight Vernacchia Team Classic title last week. VerMulm continued her strong start by winning the javelin and leading a 1-2-3-4 sweep while Ally Studer (Sr., Redmond, Wa.) took top honors in the pole vault. Ayers-Stamper accounted for 15 points and Kelsey Cooley (Fr., Missoula, Mt./Hellgate) 14 as the Falcons prevailed by a slim margin of 1.5 points over Simon Fraser, 93.5-92. Western Washington (117.5) won the men’s crown for the eighth year in a row with a shorthanded SPU squad (26) sixth.

For the record. Adding more luster to what has been a great year to date, Tim LeCount (Sr., Battle Ground, Wa.) broke a 23-year-old school record in the 10,000 meters at the Willamette Invitational in Salem, Ore. It was LeCount’s first 10k on an oval and his time of 31 minutes, 27.54 seconds eclipsed Lester Groom’s clocking of 31:44.0 in 1982. Last fall LeCount won the Great Northwest Athletic Conference cross country title and led the men to their first team trophy and a 19th-place finish at the NCAAs. Indoors, he was the GNAC runner-up in the 5k and set a school record in the process.

Spear mint. It was the Falcons’ vast riches in the javelin which enabled them to win the Vernacchia title. Despite the absence of All-American Sara Johnson (Sr., Kennewick, Wa.), the four spear throwers accounted for nearly one-third (29) of the team’s points. A week after uncorking the top throw in Div. II, VerMulm sent the spear 150 feet, 4 inches to win by more than 17 feet over teammate Molly Hornbuckle (So., Burien, Wa./Highline), who threw 132-8. It was VerMulm’s second win and she has finished among the top four of all five meets. In her first competition in almost four years, basketball star Amy Taylor (Sr., Shoreline, Wa./Shorewood) came within 6 inches of her personal best and finished third at 129-6. Ayers-Stamper was fourth at 120-9.

Mach speed. He could probably run and win a fourth conference title in the intermediate hurdles and qualify for nationals. But clearly the intent of Mach is to earn All-America status, and so he’s made himself into an 800 runner and a pretty good one at that. Mach, who had run the 400 (and finished fourth) earlier, dueled with Nathan Carlson of Saint Martin’s in the metric half-mile and ran a season-best 1:55.22. Carlson, on fresh legs, prevailed in a GNAC season-best 1:54.42. This season Mach owns the team’s top times in the 400, 800 and 1500, with the latter also leading the conference. He also anchored the 1600 relay to a season-best time of 3:26.32.

Silver makes a nice gift. Three women and two males earned second-place finishes in Bellingham. Karin Rohde (Fr., Bellingham, Wa.) was runner-up in the 3000 in 10:38.0 and Cooley ran second in the 100 hurdles in 15.29. Sharon Bjella (So., Everett, Wa./Everett) leaped a collegiate-best 5-5 in the high jump. The 400 relay was second in 50.60. Besides Mach, Brian Cronrath (Fr., Battle Ground, Wa.) pressed eventual winner Shane Carlos of British Columbia in the 1500. Carlos crossed the line in 3:59.08 and Cronrath was next in a personal record of 3:59.48.

SPU Coaches. Jack Hoyt is now in his sixth 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.