Run ‘til dusk. With a week remaining before the Great Northwest Athletic Conference track and field championships, Seattle Pacific University’s teams will get one final road test. The Falcons and several other conference teams will converge on Bellingham Friday (Apr. 28) for the Western Washington Twilight meet. Afterwards, there remain only two opportunities to qualify for nationals: the GNAC Championships, May 6 in Monmouth, Or., and the Falcons’ home meet, the Ken Foreman Invitational, May 13 at West Seattle Stadium.

A productive week. It’s been a productive week for SPU, with an added NCAA Division II provisional qualifier and three improvements on existing marks, plus four written commitments from recruits. Linda Blake (Sr., Richland, Wa.) became the newest qualifier, scoring a career-best 4694 points while finishing third in the GNAC heptathlon. Kelsey Cooley (So., Missoula, Mt./Hellgate) finished second in the competition for the second year in a row. She raised her qualifying count by nearly 200 points to 4880. Earlier, at the Cougar Invitational, Teona Perkins (Jr., Kennewick, Wa.) and Lauren Ver Mulm (So., Mount Vernon, Wa.) won while boosting their marks in the high jump and javelin, respectively.

A good start. Seattle Pacific’s bid to unseat Western Oregon as the GNAC women’s champion is underway, as Cooley and Blake combined to score 14 points in the multi-event meet earlier this week. The Wolves’ Bridget Johnson got big throws in the shot put and javelin to successfully defend her heptathlon crown with a score of 5053. Cooley won four of the seven events–the 200 (26.25), 800 (PR of 2:24.86), high jump (5-3) and long jump (a PR of 18-3). Blake finished first in the 100 hurdles (14.72) and lifted her season-best score by 400 points.

Cougar gold. Despite missing most of practice sessions the past couple weeks, Perkins was the Cougar Invitational’s only high-jumper to clear 5-7. Ver Mulm threw the spear a season-best 147-2. The Falcons’ only other win came from Karin Rohde (So., Bellingham, Wa./Mount Baker) in the steeplechase, finishing first by a margin of over 9 seconds in 11:19.18. Suzie Strickler (Fr., Richland, Wa.) ran a season-best 2:17.73 to finish second in the 800 meters and Brandi McCoy (Sr., Richland, Wa.) was third in the steeple (11:33.79). For the men, Bjorn Bostrom (Jr., La Conner, Wa./Bellingham) recorded the best placement, taking fourth in the 3000 (8:56.21).

Welcome to SPU. Jane Larson, Cedar Park Christian’s reigning state 1A champion in track and cross country, was one of four high school seniors to sign a national letter of intent this week. Joining Larson were sprinters Anna Walters (Spokane, Wa./North Central) and Latasha Essien (Portland, Or./Reynolds) and middle-distance runner Kysa Cronrath (Odessa, Wa.). Larson won her second straight state cross country crown last fall and owns a total of seven WIAA titles on the track, including the 1600 and 3200 in 2005. She finished third at both distances in the prestigious Pasco Invitational earlier this month. Walters was the 4A runner-up in the 400 meters and eighth in the 200 as a junior after winning regional championships in both races. Essien took third and fifth in the Oregon 4A 100 and 200, respectively, last season. Cronrath ran seventh in the Washington B 3200 a year ago. Earlier, Eastlake’s Jessica Pixler, another excellent middle-distance runner, had committed to the Falcons.

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.