A grab for gold. Although they have ruled indoors, the Great Northwest Athletic Conference outdoor track and field title has proven elusive of late to the Seattle Pacific University women’s team. The Falcons are among the contenders hoping to wrest the title away from host Western Oregon at the GNAC Championships Saturday (May 6). Nine teams will be represented in Monmouth. Afterwards, only one meet remains on the regular season schedule. SPU hosts the Ken Foreman Invitational May 13 at West Seattle Stadium.

Four-way race. For the past few years, the GNAC has been a two-horse race between the SPU and Western Oregon women, but that appears to be changing. Western Washington and Central Washington may join the fight and their greater depth will certainly affect the outcome. The Falcons, reigning indoor champs, feature 16 top-3 seeds, compared to 14 for WOU and 11 for CWU. Western Washington (34) has the most overall entries, ahead of Seattle Pacific’s 28. After winning three consecutive conference crowns from 2000-02, SPU has lost three close decisions to Western Oregon by an average margin of just 8.75 points. The men will try to hold on to their No. 4 finish, both outdoors last season indoors this winter. Western Washington ended Western Oregon’s five-year stranglehold a year ago.

Frontrunners. For Coach Karl Lerum’s team to win the women’s title, they must get big numbers from their frontrunners. Kelsey Cooley (So., Missoula, Mt./Hellgate) and Linda Blake (Sr., Richland, Wa.), who finished 2-3 in the GNAC heptathlon, are each entered in four events. Blake owns the top qualifying mark in the 100 hurdles and Cooley is No. 2 in the long jump. Other top seeds are high-jumper Teona Perkins (Jr., Kennewick, Wa.), pole-vaulter Amy Harris (Sr., Corvallis, Or./Crescent Valley), steeplechaser Karin Rohde (So., Bellingham, Wa./Mount Baker) and 3000 runner Mary Moriarty (Fr., Seattle, Wa./Ballard). Perkins will double in the 400, Rohde in the 5000 and Moriarty in the 1500. Harris is the defending indoor and outdoor champion. Lauren Ver Mulm (So., Mount Vernon, Wa.) won last year’s javelin and is the No. 2 seed.

Chris times five. He holds the NCAA decathlon crown and in 2005 Chris Randolph (Sr., Lone Tree, Co./Lone Tree) single-handedly outscored four teams at the GNAC outdoor. This time around, Randolph is a good bet for gold as the top seed in both the 400 and 110 hurdles. He has yet to win an outdoor title. The Falcons are relying heavily on him scoring around 30 points (he totaled 29 last season) if they are to finish in the upper half overall. Randolph is entered in five events and is the nation’s top qualifier in the decathlon this spring. Eddie Strickler (Jr., Richland, Wa.) is the GNAC No. 2 seed in the 800.

Lights out. A couple weeks after erasing the decathlon standard, Randolph threw the discus within one foot of the school record in winning at the Western Washington Twilight meet last week. Randolph sent the saucer 161 feet, 9 inches to handily claim the event and surpass the NCAA Division II provisional qualifying standard. The SPU record is 162-7, set by Mike Olson in 1992. For the women, Perkins raised her qualifying mark in the high jump, taking first at 5-7 3/4. She also took second in the 400 in 59.15 seconds. Harris bumped her season-best mark 11-11 3/4 with her second victory in three meets. The Falcon women won every race between 800-5000 meters, including Corina James (Fr., Madera, Ca.) with a 28-second personal record of 12:28.94 in the steeplechase. Also taking first for the Falcons were Brandi McCoy (Sr., Richland, Wa.) in the 800 (2:18.97), Janelle Stevens (Jr., Soquel, Ca.) in the 1500 (4:52.60), Moriarty in the 3000 (10:15.85), Nikki Jensen (Jr., Portland, Or./St. Mary’s) in the 5000 (19:11.81) and the women’s 1600 relay (4:04.39).

Day planners. The men have won at least one conference event in each of the past five seasons and Randolph, while a top contender, will only be fresh for the long jump, where he has the No. 4 mark. After that, he will be kept very busy. Next comes the high jump and discus, then–25 minutes apart–the hurdles and 400. Randolph may also be involved in the 1600 relay. While five events per day is par for a decathlon, typically those competitions allow for at least 30 minutes between events. The schedules of Cooley and Blake are a bit more manageable following the morning duty in the long jump and high jump. Cooley is also a likely relay team member. A total of 11 women and three men will compete in at least two individual events.

Medal detectors. The women feature several title contenders, based on the performance lists. Sprinter Anna Soule (Jr., Puyallup, Wa./Emerald Ridge) is No. 2 in the 100 and third in the 200. She has a total of five wins this season. Moriarty owns a 14-second edge on the closest competitor in the 3000 and will go into that race fresh. Rohde’s closest rival in the steeplechase is McCoy while Jensen is No. 2 in the initial oval event, the 10k. Victoria Perkins (Jr., Kent, Wa./Kentwood) is the No. 2 seed in the 400 hurdles. Jennifer Marsh (Jr., Kirkland, Wa./Juanita) is running for her third straight GNAC 800 title. Hampered by injuries, Marsh enters as the No. 10 seed. An SPU runner has won the conference 800 for seven straight years. In the field events, Harris and Teona Perkins have won consistently in Northwest meets. Cooley’s No. 2 in the long jump, where heptathlon rival Bridget Johnson of WOU has the edge. VerMulm, the Wolves’ Johnson and Kate McMeel of CWU are all 147-foot javelin throwers. Eddie Strickler, steeplechaser Doug Gibson (Jr., Yakima, Wa./Riverside Christian) and perhaps 1500 runner Brian Cronrath (So., Battle Ground, Wa.) are capable of finishing in the top three and possibly winning.

The big picture. Beyond this weekend, the ultimate objective is to send athletes to the NCAA Championships, May 25-27 in Emporia, Kansas. Currently, Randolph is automatically qualified in the decathlon, and Cooley, Perkins and VerMulm–each fourth among provisional qualifiers–are near-locks. Blake is eighth in the heptathlon and Rohde and McCoy are 11th and 14th, respectively, in the steeple. Harris moved up to a tie for 13th in the pole vault.

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.