Complete Results

NAMPA, Id. (Feb. 18) ­ Teona Perkins led group of six Seattle Pacific University women who scored 10 or more points as the Falcons won their third straight Great Northwest Athletic Conference indoor track and field championship Saturday at the Idaho Center Sports Complex.

With 18 points in her two open events, Perkins (Jr., Kennewick, Wa.) paced a balanced effort by the Seattle Pacific women, who fended off Central Washington, 154-134. SPU was fourth (63) in the men's final standings, which was topped by Western Washington (151).

Making a strong bid for his second straight GNAC male athlete of the meet award was Chris Randolph (Sr., Lone Tree, Co.) of SPU, who set a meet record in the long jump and also ran a leg of the victorious distance medley relay.

Perkins and Blake (Sr., Richland, Wa.) helped give the Falcons an early lead which was never relinquished. SPU started off with a combined 44 points in the high jump and pole vault.

Perkins won the high jump tiebreaker on fewer misses while establishing a meet record leap of 5 feet, 6½ inches, which also improved her NCAA Division II provisional qualifying mark. She was second in the 400 meters (58.03) and ran on the distance medley relay which took silver.

"Teona and Linda came up big, but we also had some unsung people with unexpectedly big performances, getting points in those middle places," said SPU coach Karl Lerum.

Blake had two personal-record performances. After finishing eighth in the high jump (5-1), she long-jumped 17-4 to the bronze and then bolted to first in the 60 hurdles in 9.10 seconds. Blake ran on the runner-up 1600 relay as well.

Amy Harris (Sr., Corvallis, Or.) cleared 11-7 3/4 to lead a sweep of the top three places by the Falcons in the vault.

"The high jump and pole vault were key events for us," said Lerum. "Teona got her best jump of the year and in the pole vault, a volatile event, our people all nailed their jumps."

Blake scored 17 points while sprinter Anna Soule (Jr., Puyallup, Wa./Emerald Ridge), distance runner Karin Rohde (So., Bellingham, Wa./Mt. Baker) and Kelsey Cooley (So., Missoula, Mt.), like Blake a multiple event standout, had 14 apiece.

To begin his busy day, Randolph won his third straight GNAC long jump title at 22 feet, 7 3/4 inches. He then ran a PR of 8.38 seconds in taking second in the 60 hurdles, was third with a season-best high-jump of 6-6 and pole-vaulted 14-9½ for fifth. Randolph alone accounted for 28 points.

"I thought Chris had an outstanding meet," Lerum noted. "When you look at what he did and his marks, it really was remarkable. Maybe they just wanted to give the award to someone else for a change."

Soule claimed her first GNAC crown, sprinting to the 60 title in 8.12 and Rohde paced the distance corps with a pair of top-three placements. She finished second in the mile (5:10.52) and third in the 5k (18:37.16), despite beating her meet record of a year ago by more than 4 seconds.

Monica Anderson (So., Bremerton, Wa.) and Allie Hedges (Sr., Richland, Wa.) were second and third in the pole vault, both at 11-2¼.

Central Washington won seven events, including a pair by Krissy Tandle in the throws. Tandle and Andy Prentice of Saint Martin's were named the meet's outstanding performers. Prentice swept the men's 800 and mile.

Notching third for the Falcons were high-jumper Sharon Bjella (Jr., Everett, Wa./Everett) at 5-3, Brandi McCoy (Sr., Richland, Wa.) in the mile (5:16.44) and Victoria Perkins (Jr., Kent, Wa./Kentwood) in the 800 (2:19.83).

For the men, Eddie Strickler, (Jr., Richland, Wa.) was runner-up in the 800 (1:55.33). He join Randolph, Brian Cronrath (So., Battle Ground, Wa.) and Doug Gibson (Jr., Yakima, Wa./Riverside Christian) on the winning medley relay (10:28.71).

The final opportunity for national qualifying marks will be next Saturday in at the Dempsey Indoor facility.

Women's Team Scores, Awards Complete Results
Seattle Pacific 154, Central Washington 134, Western Oregon 110, Northwest Nazarene 77, Western Washington 66, Saint Martin's 27, Seattle 8.
Outstanding Performer - Krissy Tandle, Central Washington.
Coach-of-the-Year - Kevin Adkisson

Men's Team Scores, Awards Complete Results
Western Washington 151, Central Washington 134, Western Oregon 103, Seattle Pacific 63, Northwest Nazarene 59, Saint Martin's 41, Seattle University 30.
Outstanding Performer - Andy Prentice, Saint Martin's.
Coach-of-the-Year - PeeWee Halsell, Western Washington.