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Nationwide. It’s the weekend to turn ahead the clocks and click the stopwatches because track and field is into full swing. Seattle Pacific University will be sending eight athletes to the East Coast and the NCAA Division II Indoor Championships Friday and Saturday (Mar. 9-10) in Boston. The rest remain close to home and the outdoor Joe Peyton Invitational, hosted by the University of Puget Sound in Tacoma Saturday (Mar. 10). Spring Break begins with the Washington Preview Mar. 16, a twilight meet at Husky Stadium.

Falcons make their mark. The Falcons are in a position to hit 10-year highs in points back in Boston. The women could finish in the top 10 for just the third time while the men are looking to get an All-American for the first time since 1994. Jessica Pixler (Fr., Sammamish, Wa./Eastlake) is the nation’s top seed in the mile with a school and Great Northwest Athletic Conference record of 4 minutes, 47.80 seconds. She also runs on a distance medley relay which owns the No. 2 qualifying team of 11:45.92. All-America high-jumper Teona Perkins (Sr., Kennewick, Wa.) is the third seed (5-8 3/4). Eddie Strickler (Sr., Richland, Wa.) is the No. 6 qualifier in the 800 meters (1:52.26).

Bound for Beantown. Coach Karl Lerum more than doubled his number of indoor qualifiers from a year ago, and four are freshmen. He has three milers in all, with Jane Larson (Fr., Fall City, Wa./Cedar Park Christian) and Karin Rohde (Jr., Bellingham, Wa./Mount Baker) also in the mix. Nyema Sims (Fr., Portland, Or./ Jefferson) becomes the first SPU sprinter to earn a place at the NCAA indoor. Jessica Hinton (Fr., Lake Stevens, Wa.), Pixler, Rohde and Jennifer Marsh (Sr., Kirkland, Wa./Juanita) comprise the DMR, with Larson serving as an alternate.

First time in T-town. Although the outdoor season has only just begun, the Falcons have their first qualifier. Brittany Bekins (So., Everett, Wa./Cascade) did the honors, throwing the javelin 150 feet, 4 inches to easily surpass the NCAA provisional standard at the annual triangular with Puget Sound and Lewis & Clark. Bekins, a budding heptathlete, also won the 800 meters (2:20.75) and the high jump (5-1). For the men, Ben Climer (Fr., Woodburn, Or./McNary) finished first in both the 400 (51.46) and 100 hurdles (16.75) while Brian Cronrath (Jr., Battle Ground, Wa.) broke his own meet record in the 1500 (3:52.12). Cronrath and Bekins were named the GNAC athletes of the week.

Best in West. Seattle Pacific all three available honors as the U.S. Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) named its West Regional indoor award winners. Perkins was voted the women's field athlete of the year while Pixler claimed the top runner of the year. Both achieved automatic qualifying marks in their respective events.

Lerum was selected the region's coach of the year. Division II national winners will be selected this week and will be posted at www.ustfccca.org.

Pixler’s an easy pick. It’s been a harsh winter outdoors, but indoors has been sublime for Seattle Pacific. It equals the largest qualifying contingent ever. A total of four women’s school and five GNAC records have been broken and the Falcons were dominant in winning their fourth straight conference crown last month. Pixler was the pick as the GNAC outstanding female performer, breaking meet records in the 800 (by more than 3 seconds) and mile (by 14 seconds). Earlier in February, she had finished 10th at the USA Junior Cross Country Championships. Last fall, while still playing with the soccer team, Pixler won the GNAC and regional championships before taking 10th in the NCAA.

Winter wonderland. Another double winner at the league meet was Latasha Essien (Fr., Portland, Or./Reynolds). Entering as the No. 2 seed behind Sims, Essien claimed both the 60 and 200. Sims, the runner-up in those races, was the Falcons' high scorer with 21 points over four events. Hinton accounted for 18 points, taking third in the 60, 200 and 400. Seattle Pacific’s other wins came from Kelsey Cooley (Jr., Missoula, Mt./Hellgate) in the 60 hurdles (9.30), Monica Anderson (Jr., Bremerton, Wa.) in the pole vault (11-0 1/4) and Rohde, who took the 5000 for the second time in three years in a meet record of 18:17.35. Perkins was second in the high jump by a half-inch after winning in 2006. For the men, Justin Felt (Fr., Eugene, Or./Churchill) kept the long jump crown in SPU hands while Strickler added the indoor 800 to his outdoor title from last spring. He also ran a leg of the victorious distance medley relay. Felt’s best jump was 22 feet, 3? inches. Chris Randolph, now an assistant coach, had won the previous three years.

Just missed. While the Falcons are certainly sending their fair share of athletes to the NCAA indoor, there were a couple more who barely missed making the cut. Marsh was No. 16 in the 800 list and the final list stopped at 14. Anderson cleared 11-10 in a last chance meet, finishing 18th in the pole vault. Cronrath, usually running a mile on up, made the 800 provisional list as did Essien in the 60. Pixler owned the nation’s No. 4 qualifying mark in the 800 but elected not to double.

Be a camper. Lerum’s Falcon Track & Field Camp is July 2-3, 5-6 on Wallace Field, and Doris Heritage’s Falcon Running Camp is July 22-27, at Camp Casey on Whidbey Island. For information, call (206) 281-2085 or download a registration form at the FalconsOnline (www.spu.edu/falconsonline).

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 web site.