Complete Results
Heptathlon       Decathlon

ELLENSBURG, Wash. (Apr. 25) ­ Seattle Pacific University's hopes of retaining the Great Northwest Athletic Conference heptathlon title for the fourth successive year remained very much alive after the competition's first four events, with the Falcons' Kelsey Cooley in second place and defending champion Linda Blake in fourth.

Monica Smith of Western Oregon was the first-day leader with 3017 points after winning the 100-meter hurdles, high jump and 200 dash. Cooley (Fr., Missoula, Mt./Hellgate) is 37 points back with 2980 and Blake (Jr., Richland, Wa.) has 2836. Bridgette Sexton (Fr., LaCenter, Wa.) of SPU stood eighth with 2493.

In the men's decathlon, Jason Childress (Fr., Arlington, Wa.) enters the final day in third with 3299. Western Washington's Josh Freeman was the halfway leader with 3464, followed by Gunner Argo of Central Washington at 3377.

Seattle Pacific's Danielle Ayers-Stamper and Chris Randolph, the NCAA Division II leaders in the heptathlon and decathlon, respectively, did not enter.

Cooley, who had the top qualifying score among the heptathlon entries, cleared a personal record of 5 feet, 4½ inches in the high jump and finished the first day with a significantly improved 200 time of 25.87. She was second in those events as well as the shot put (35-5¾), and third in the hurdles (15.28).

Blake began with a PR (14.82) in the hurdles. Her other marks were 5-3¼ in the high jump, 32-5 in the shot and a season-best 27.13 in the 200.

Sexton, in just her second heptathlon, realized improvements in her hurdles (15.89), shot put (30-11¾) and 200 (26.07). Her high jump was 4-6. She owns the GNAC's top season time in the 800, which is Tuesday's final event.

Childress, the meet's No. 2 seed, made personal gains in all five vents, including four inches in the high jump (6-2), a foot in the long jump (20-6½) and nearly four feet in the shot put (34-0). His other marks were 11.70 in the 100 and 51.64 in the 400.

The decathlon's final five events are the 110 hurdles, discus, pole vault, javelin and 1500 while the heptathlon finishes with the long jump, javelin and 800.