Coast to coast. It’s the peak of one season and barely the start of another this weekend for the Seattle Pacific University track and field teams. Three women are bound for Boston and the NCAA Division II Indoor Championships Friday and Saturday (Mar. 10-11) while the rest of the athletes return to Tacoma for the second week in a row and the Joe Peyton Invitational outdoor meet. Next week, following final exams, the Falcons will reunite across town at the Husky Preview.

The beat goes on. Although the program has undergone a coaching change and experienced the loss of several All-Americans from last season’s squad, Seattle Pacific’s tradition of excellence on the track continues. SPU won its third straight Great Northwest Athletic Conference women’s indoor championship last month, and now has a chance to add some new All-Americans in Beantown. Teona Perkins (Jr., Kennewick, Wa.) is the No. 2 seed in the high jump–an event won by the Falcons’ Danielle Ayers-Stamper in 2005–and is also a contender in the 800 meters. Mary Moriarty (Fr., Seattle, Wa./Ballard) qualified for her first national meet in the mile and Amy Harris (Sr., Corvallis, Or./Crescent Valley) is going to her third career NCAA event in the pole vault.

Carolina time. Just back from the Eastern Seaboard is Chris Randolph (Sr., Lone Tree, Co./Denver Christian), who finished fifth at the U.S. combined events championships in Chapel Hill, N.C. Randolph surged on the second day of the heptathlon, completing the seven events with a 5-second personal record and victory in the 1000-meter run. His heptathlon total was 5452 points. Ryan Harlan successfully defended his title with 5,949 points. Last season Randolph became the first national champion for the men in 11 years, winning the decathlon in spectacular fashion and with the program’s No. 2 all-time score.

Meanwhile, out West. The outdoor season got underway last week with the annual three-way meet with Puget Sound and Lewis & Clark. Anna Soule (Jr., Puyallup, Wa./Emerald Ridge) and Linda Blake (Sr., Richland, Wa.) each won a pair of events to lead the women to victory. Soule blazed to first place in both the 200 and 400-meter dashes while Blake captured the 100 hurdles and high jump. She was also second in the long jump. Brandi McCoy (Sr., Richland, Wa.) produced the top mark of the day, breaking the school record and running an NCAA provisional qualifying time of 11:26.81 in the steeplechase. That was a PR by nearly 30 seconds and took almost 8 seconds off the old SPU mark. The Falcons, winning eight of nine individual races, finished with 87 points, with UPS second (45) and the Pioneers third (38). In the men’s meet, a shorthanded SPU squad was third (30) behind Puget Sound (123) and L&C (31). Eddie Strickler (Jr., Richland, Wa.) paced the men by running first in the 400 and 800 to earn GNAC male track athlete of the week. Doug Gibson (Jr., Yakima, Wa./Riverside Christian) won the steeplechase.

Bright prospects. Without a doubt, it will be difficult for Seattle Pacific to replicate the success of last season, when the women finished eighth nationally both indoors and outdoors, and both Randolph and Ayers-Stamper claimed national crowns. Difficult to repeat, but not beyond imagination. Javelin thrower Lauren VerMulm (So., Mount Vernon, Wa.) could be the women’s next gold medalist and there’s certainly scoring potential with the likes of Harris, Moriarty, Perkins and heptathlete Kelsey Cooley (So., Missoula, Mt./Hellgate). VerMulm took fourth in the NCAA as a freshman, Harris fifth and Cooley eighth. Four others have been past national qualifiers. The women seek to reclaim their GNAC outdoor title after finishing second for three years. The men were fourth in ‘05 and are looking to identify someone to succeed Randolph as an All-American candidate in future seasons.

Be a camper. The Falcon Running Camp is July 23-28, at Camp Casey on Whidbey Island. The Falcon Track & Field Camp is July 5-8 on Wallace Field. For information, call (206) 281-2085 or download a registration form at the Falcons Online Sports Camp page.

SPU Coaches. In October, Karl Lerum became just the fifth person to take the helm of the Seattle Pacific program’s 56-year existence. A former assistant coach and past All-American in the decathlon, Lerum succeeds Jack Hoyt, who resigned after six seasons. This is the first head coaching position for Lerum after four seasons as an assistant, including two at Trinity College, and serving under Hoyt at SPU during 2000 and again in 2003. Lerum was a four-time All-American from 1995-98 at Pacific Lutheran. He finished second in the NAIA decathlon in 1997 and ’98 and third in ’96... Doris 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. The other assistants are Duncan Atwood, Aaron Bass, Cyrena Bell and Howie Kellogg.

Missing links. For the latest and best information on Seattle Pacific University athletics, stay where you're at -- on The Falcons Online. For updated standings and statistics, see the Great Northwest Athletic Conference Website.