Friday night lights. With only three meets remaining in the regular season, Seattle Pacific University track and field athletes will go under the lights in the final opportunity to qualify for next week’s Great Northwest Athletic Conference Championships. Friday night’s (Apr. 29) Western Washington Twilight will bring together many of the same teams who will converge on Ellensburg May 7 for the conference meet. The last chance to qualify for the NCAA Division II Championships will be the May 14 Ken Foreman Invitational at Husky Stadium.

There she goes (again). Assistant coach and cross country head coach Doris Heritage will be among those inducted into the Tacoma-Pierce County Sports Hall of Fame during the Banquet of Champions May 7 at the Tacoma Dome. Heritage, a graduate of Gig Harbor’s Peninsula High School, was the world’s dominant distance runner of the Sixties and early Seventies, winning five consecutive world cross country championships and setting numerous world and American records. At last count she is a member of five halls of fame, including the Falcon Legends at Seattle Pacific. Tickets for the evening event are $30 and available by calling 253-848-1360.

Get the White Out. If the number of revisions in the record book are any indication, this promises to be a special season at the championship level for the Falcons. Two SPU men’s records were rewritten at Eugene. Tim LeCount (Sr., Battle Ground, Wa.) improved his own standard in the 10,000 by over 5 seconds to 31:22.25 at the Oregon Invitational. He missed making the NCAA provisional list by just over 2 seconds. A five-year-old mark in the 1600 relay was erased in Eugene as the foursome of Kurt Engelson (Sr., Stanwood, Wa./Marysville-Pilchuck), Chris Randolph (Jr., Lone Tree, Co./Denver Christian), Paul Mach (Sr., Seattle, Wa./King’s) and Eddie Strickler (So., Richland, Wa.) beat it by 1.68 seconds in 3:18.05–the best time in the GNAC this season. For the women, Karen Dickson (So., El Dorado Hills, Ca./Oak Ridge) moved up to No. 4 on the 5000 list. Dickson qualified for nationals by running the race in 16:59.43–just missing the GNAC record by 0.38 seconds. She already had posted qualifying marks in the 1500 and 10,000.

The 5-year itch. A little more than a week after getting a big win at the Mount SAC Relays heptathlon, Danielle Ayers-Stamper (Jr., LaCrosse, Wa.) bolted to another victory against an impressive field at Oregon. Ayers-Stamper came from behind to finish first in the featured section of the 100 hurdles in 14.04. It was the first such win at Oregon by an SPU athlete since Jennifer Pyeatt in the same event in 2000. Ayers-Stamper was also runner-up in the high jump (5-7) and threw the javelin a season-best 127-3.

Right combination. A pair of freshmen starred for SPU at the GNAC combined events finals earlier this week in Ellensburg. Kelsey Cooley (Fr., Missoula, Mt./Hellgate) took second place in the heptathlon and fast-closing Jason Childress (Fr., Arlington, Wa.) was the runner-up in the decathlon. Along with Linda Blake (Jr., Richland, Wa.), who was fourth in the heptathlon, they posted career-best scores and each made the NCAA provisional list. Childress turned in eight PRs and his total of 6550 points was a freshman record and puts him 11th nationally. Cooley had five career marks, raised her score by 318 over earlier this season and now is seventh in the nation at 4842. Blake scored 4612. Bridgette Sexton (Fr., LaCenter, Wa.) was sixth with 4325.

Hang on, holdout. With some Falcons on the mend and others needing a little rest, Coach Jack Hoyt will not take a full compliment of competitors to Bellingham. Dickson will get the week off along with those who competed at the conference combined events. Javelin throwers Lauren VerMulm (Fr., Mount Vernon, Wa.), Molly Hornbuckle (So., Burien, Wa./Highline) and Sara Johnson (Sr., Kennewick, Wa.) are expected to return from injury at the GNAC meet along with steeplechaser Doug Gibson (So., Yakima, Wa./Riverside Christian) and metric miler Brian Cronrath (Fr., Battle Ground, Wa.). Kristin Janney (So., White Salmon, Wa.), a heptathlon hopeful, is out for the season with a fracture.

Oregon tale. Also at Oregon, Kinyatta Leonhardt (So. Petaluma, Ca./St. Vincent) made her season debut in the 400 and turned in a GNAC-best time of 58.13 while finishing seventh. Leonhardt then ran the anchor leg of the 1600 relay which was fourth in 3:59.27. In the day portion of the meet which was plagued by rain, Mach won his heat of the 800, leading wire to wire in 1:53.66. Randolph long-jumped 21-0 for a new outdoor PR. Season-best times were turned in by Jean Kolb (Jr., Eugene, Or./South Eugene) in the 100 (13.16), Josie Lavin (Sr., Bremerton ,Wa.) in the 1500 (4:47.45), Jennifer Marsh (So., Kirkland, Wa./Juanita) in the 800 (2:17.02) and Karin Rhode (Fr., Bellingham, Wa./Mount Baker) in the 3000 (18:30.32). Amy Harris (Jr., Corvallis, Or./Crescent Valley) cleared 11-8 to tie for fourth in the pole vault.

Chart toppers. The Falcons have eight qualifying marks which rate among the top six in the nation. Ayers-Stamper and Randolph are the heptathlon and decathlon respective leaders while Dickson and VerMulm are No. 2 in the 10k and javelin. Ayers-Stamper is also No. 3 in the 100 hurdles, No. 4 in the long jump and tied for sixth in the high jump. Dickson is also sixth in the 5k.

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.