Going for gold. It’s time to grab some gold. Several members of the Seattle Pacific University track and field teams rate as top contenders in wide-open events at this week’s NCAA Division II Championships. The Falcons are sending eight athletes to Emporia, Kansas, where the meet begins Thursday (May 25) and runs through Saturday (May 27) at Welch Stadium on the campus of Emporia State.

First of many honors? Seattle Pacific’s Chris Randolph (Sr., Lone Tree, Co./Lone Tree) is a finalist for the national athlete of the year after being voted the top field performer in the West Region earlier this week. The national award winners will be announced Wednesday night in Emporia. Randolph is the first SPU male to earn such a distinction from the U.S. Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association. Sarah Kraybill won the 2003 women’s award.

History in the making. Not since the Fifties has a Seattle Pacific male managed to accomplish the feat of winning back-to-back national championships. Randolph finds himself in a position to do just that this week as he defends his decathlon crown. A year ago in Abilene, Texas, Randolph came from 622 points down in the final three events to finish first. This time around, Randolph is the favorite, owning a lead of nearly 600 points over the field’s No. 2 qualifier. In the last six weeks, Randolph has broken the 36-year-old SPU decathlon record with a score of 7621 and the 400-meter mark, set back in 1968. His 110 hurdles, pole vault and discus marks this season rate No. 2 all-time. Beyond this week, he is expected to compete at the USA Championships, June 21-22 in Indianapolis.

Likely contenders. Coach Karl Lerum also has some legitimate contenders among his seven female qualifiers. Lauren VerMulm (So., Mount Vernon, Wa.) owns the No. 4 qualifying mark among the javelin throwers, and both heptathlon standout Kelsey Cooley (So., Missoula, Mt./Hellgate) and high-jumper Teona Perkins (Jr., Kennewick, Wa.) are fifth. VerMulm’s season-best is 147-2 and the top flail in the field is 151-11–a distance she has thrown beyond in the past. Cooley is less than 200 points shy of the top posted score in the heptathlon field and Perkins, claims Lerum, has the potential of clearing 5-10. Only one jumper has gone above that this season. Perkins cleared 5-8 indoors, where she took sixth nationally this winter.

What a way to go. A pair of seniors are closing their careers in grand style, having qualified for nationals for the first time. Following a near-miss last season, Linda Blake (Sr., Richland, Wa.) easily made the cut in the heptathlon. She has the No. 7 qualifying score. Brandi McCoy (Sr., Richland, Wa.) has taken over 30 seconds off her steeplechase time this season to warrant inclusion. The Falcons’ other first-time qualifiers are steeplechaser Karin Rohde (So., Bellingham, Wa./Mount Baker) and Mary Moriarty (Fr., Seattle, Wa./Ballard) in the 3000. Rohde is seeded No. 8 and Moriarty, after a personal record by 8 seconds in her final race, is No. 14.

Adding a new twist. For the most part, the Falcons are sending athletes who represent the latest in a long line of All-Americans in the program’s historically strong events. For instance, there have been 17 heptathlon qualifiers in 10 years and a total of four nationals champions. Nineteen women have been All-America (two champs) in the javelin, and the 3000 has yielded seven nationals scorers, including one winner. Rohde and McCoy are the first female steeplechase qualifiers. For the men, there have been nine All-Americans in the decathlon and two champions (Randolph and Steve Gough). The Falcons have finished among the nation’s top 20 women’s teams 24 times since 1973, including 15 in the top 10. SPU has a total of 30 collegiate champions to date. 

The racing form. Most of the qualifiers appear to be at the apex of their respective seasons going into nationals. Rohde has PR’d in four of her six steeples and has finished either first or second in nine of her 13 races overall. She won the Ken Foreman Invitational with a school record, meet record and 7-second PR of 10:58.7. McCoy improved her best time at the Foreman as well. Cooley has established or tied PRs in the 100 hurdles, high jump and 800 during the final three weeks. Randolph is coming off PRs in his last outings in six events, including the SPU-record 400 earlier this month.

Missed by that much. Although the news was good for some, not everyone got the call for nationals. Five of those who made provisional standards missed the cut. Pole-vaulter Amy Harris (Sr., Corvallis, Or./Crescent Valley) never managed to clear 12 feet, which proved to be the cutoff. She missed qualifying for the first time since her freshman campaign, with a best of 11-11 3/4. Monica Anderson (So., Bremerton, Wa.) hit a PR of 11-8 at the Foreman. Javelin thrower Molly Barnes (Jr., Burien, Wa./Highline), a qualifier a year ago, missed the cut by 10 inches; her best was 136-2. Doug Gibson (Jr., Yakima, Wa./Riverside Christian) was about 4 seconds off the necessary time in the steeplechase and Eddie Strickler (Jr., Richland, Wa.) needed to break 1:52.0 in the 800.

On the horizon. The future certainly appears bright, based on the credentials of incoming recruits. Oregon’s top sprinter, Nyema Sims of Portland’s Jefferson High School, has signed a national letter of intent, joining already a bumper crop. Sims is the 4A meet’s top seed in the 100 with a best time of 12.04 and 24.66 in the 200. She also qualified for the high jump (5-2). Earlier this spring, the Falcons got commitments from Jessica Pixler (Sammamish, Wa./Eastlake), owner of Washington’s top times in the 800 and 3200, and Jane Larson (Fall City, Wa./Cedar Park Christian), who is No. 2 in both the 1600 and 3200. Both state meets are this weekend.

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.