Gold standard. It would be difficult to surpass the track and field season completed by Seattle Pacific University in 2006. The men’s program produced an NCAA champion for the second year in a row and a young women’s squad completed a trifecta by garnering a third Great Northwest Athletic Conference championship, clinching the Falcons’ first GNAC All-Sports title. And away from the oval, SPU produced an Academic All-American and two finalists for NCAA Postgraduate Scholarships.

And still going. He may have worn his Seattle Pacific singlet for the last time, but Chris Randolph (Sr., Lone Tree, Co./Lone Tree) will just keep on going. Randolph has been selected to represent the U.S. at the NACAC Under 23 Championships, July 7-9 in the Dominican Republic. In addition, Linda Blake (Sr., Richland, Wa.), an ESPN the Magazine Academic All-American, is a finalist, along with pole vaulter Amy Harris (Sr., Corvallis, Or./Crescent Valley), for a postgraduate scholarship, due to be awarded next month.

Champion by a mile. Randolph wrapped-up his second straight NCAA Division II decathlon crown before the final event got underway. His score of 7872 was nearly 800 more than the runner-up and 251 more than his school record, set a month earlier. He became the first SPU male to win back-to-back national championships since Ben Moring in 1953-54. Before and after the meet, Randolph reaped numerous awards. He was voted the NCAA Division II Field Athlete of the Year by the U.S. Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association. In addition, the GNAC bestowed its All-Sports Athlete of the Year and Track and Field Athlete of the Year for the second and third consecutive years, respectively. Randolph also repeated as the SPU Athlete of the Year and was one of five recipients of the Falcon Award for Excellence for career achievement in athletics, academics and leadership.

3-for-3. Next fall, when the GNAC All-Sports trophy is formally present to President Philip Eaton, it will have the fingerprints of the women’s track and cross country program all over it. Seattle Pacific managed to end Western Washington’s four-year reign by a margin of 157-154, and only after the Falcons swept the GNAC cross country, indoor and outdoor track titles. That accounted for three of the record six conference championships for SPU.

Solid cast to return. Although the women slipped from 13th to 26th place in the nation this year, they figure to rebound. Two of their three All-Americans, Lauren VerMulm (So., Mount Vernon, Wa.) and Kelsey Cooley (So., Missoula, Mt./Hellgate), are due to return, along with indoor All-American high-jumper Teona Perkins (Jr., Kennewick, Wa.). VerMulm finished fifth in the NCAA javelin with a season-best throw of 154-3 and Cooley was sixth in the heptathlon with a career-high score of 4926. In addition to Perkins, who placed sixth indoors and 15th outdoors, the Falcons will also have qualifiers Karin Rohde (So., Bellingham, Wa./Mount Baker) and Mary Moriarty (Fr., Seattle, Wa./Ballard) back in the fold.

Bright prospects. Coach Karl Lerum and cross country coach Doris Heritage have put together perhaps the strongest recruiting class in a decade. Nyema Sims of Portland’s Jefferson High School won Oregon 4A championships in the 100 (12.04) and 200 (24.66). Jessica Pixler (Sammamish, Wa./Eastlake) claimed the Washington 4A 800 and was runner-up in the 1600, while and Jane Larson (Fall City, Wa./Cedar Park Christian) swept the 1A titles in the 800, 1600 and 3200. Pixler will also play soccer in the fall. Among the key losses will be seniors Brandi McCoy (Sr., Richland, Wa.), Harris and Allie Hedges (Sr., Richland, Wa.), all national qualifiers during their careers.

Guys show promise. Although Randolph leaves some sizable spikes to fill next season, there are several national qualifying candidates. Steeplechaser Doug Gibson (Jr., Yakima, Wa./Riverside Christian) and long sprinter Eddie Strickler (Jr., Richland, Wa.) just missed the cutoff this time around, and Brian Cronrath (So., Battle Ground, Wa.) is a promising miler. The men have managed to send at least one individual to nationals each of the last five years.

Red carpet-worthy. Randolph now has enough awards to merit a second shelf in his domicile. Meanwhile, Blake waited a long time for two major awards. She made All-America by finishing eighth in the heptathlon in her final collegiate meet. She graduated Magna Cum Laude as a chemistry major with a 3.94 grade point average and became the school’s first Academic All-American in any sport during 2005-06. Lerum was voted GNAC coach of the year by his peers, completing a very successful first season in charge.

For the record. Randolph stamped his name all over the outdoor record book, with two new standards and a total of seven top-five marks. In addition to the decathlon record, he also broke the long-standing 400 record with a time of 48.27. He is now No. 2 in the 110 hurdles (14.82), pole vault (15-5) and discus (161-9) and No. 3 in in the high jump (6-8¾), long jump (23-11¾). Gibson is No. 4 in the steeple (9:19.0). On the women’s side, the newer events continue to be affected. Rohde lopped more than 31 seconds off the steeplechase, down to 10:58.47 while McCoy settled in at No. 2 (11:13.1). Monica Anderson (So., Bremerton, Wa.) raised the No. 3 height in the pole vault to 11-8.

Be a camper. Lerum’s Falcon Track & Field Camp is July 5-8 on Wallace Field, and Heritage’s Falcon Running Camp is July 23-28, at Camp Casey on Whidbey Island. For information, call (206) 281-2085 or download a registration form at the Falcons Online's summer 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.