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Dry run. What a difference a week will make. Seattle Pacific University’s next two track and field meets will be in the same city, on the same oval but with decidedly different stakes. Friday’s (Apr. 27) Western Washington Twilight will be laid back while Bellingham’s next offering, the Great Northwest Athletic Conference Championships on May 4-5, will be an all-out affair. The Falcons host the Ken Foreman Invitational in West Seattle May 12.

Fill-in the blanks. If there’s a strategy to retaining the GNAC women’s outdoor title, it begins this weekend. Coach Karl Lerum, his squad depleted by injuries, will seek to fill-in the blanks on his conference entries. To that end, there may be some personnel deployed in hurdles and field events for the first time this spring. Currently, SPU runners hold 15 of 24 top-four marks between 100-3000 meters, including the No. 1 athlete in five of six events.

Multiple hurts. Seattle Pacific is hurting elsewhere, however. Most of the injuries involve the multiple-event personnel, so the impact is widespread. Brittany Bekins (So., Everett, Wa./Cascade), the nation’s top heptathlon qualifier and No. 2 in the javelin, has been out of action since Apr. 13 with a rib injury. Not only did Bekins miss the GNAC heptathlon but her availability is questionable in as many as five open events next week. Foot injuries have knocked out Kristin Janney (Sr., White Salmon, Wa.) and Kelsey Cooley (Jr., Missoula, Mt./Hellgate) has been noticeably slowed.

Points on the board. In past years, Seattle Pacific has parlayed early points in the multi-event meet into a necessary edge entering the GNAC meet proper. Cooley was able to score five points, taking fourth place with a score of 4074. But chief rival Western Oregon got 13 and Northwest Nazarene 18 out of the heptathlon.

Felt fourth. It wasn’t a huge score, but something to build upon, nevertheless. Justin Felt (Fr., Eugene, Or./Churchill) took fourth place in the GNAC decathlon this week. Felt’s score of 5568 was 207 below his first effort last month. On the first day he hit a winning long jump of 21 feet, 7? inches and personal records of 33-7? in the shot put and 51.53 seconds in the 400 meters.

Unbeaten, sort of. What’s it take to beat Jessica Pixler (Fr., Sammamish, Wa./Eastlake)? Collegians are still trying to come up with an answer after Pixler ran third in the featured 1500 heat at the Oregon Invitational. Her time of 4 minutes, 19.81 seconds was her best to date and is nearly 5 seconds better than anyone else in Division II. Still, it was her first loss in 10 outings. The two competitors to finish in front of her own quality credentials. Former Olympian and 800 national champion Nicole Teter won in 4:14.83. Megan Metcalfe, a past Div. I 5000 winner, was runner-up in 4:16.28. Pixler, whose time was better than the other 18 (all Div. I) collegians racing in the featured sections, will rest this week and undoubtedly double at the GNAC Championships.

Good golly, Miss Molly. The Falcons got great improvement on a couple of qualifying marks at Eugene and Pullman last week. At the Cougar Invitational, Molly Barnes (Sr., Burien, Wa./Highline) sent the spear 6 feet farther than ever before. Her mark of 147-3 lifted her to No. 3 on the javelin list going into this week, and virtually assures her of a spot in Charlotte May 24-26. Barnes finished second in the meet and was named the GNAC athlete of the week. At Oregon, Karin Rohde (Jr., Bellingham, Wa./Mt. Baker) clipped 18 seconds off her time in the steeplechase (11:03.73), moving her up to No. 6. Jane Larson (Fr., Fall City, Wa./Cedar Park Christian) dropped nearly 3 seconds off her previous season best with a third-place time of 4:36.94 in her heat of the 1500. The men also made strides, with Eddie Strickler (Sr., Richland, Wa.) running a PR in the 800 at Hayward Field. His 1:52.49 is No. 2 in the GNAC.

Week in review. Teona Perkins (Sr., Kennewick, Wa.) and Brian Cronrath (Jr., Battle Ground, Wa.) each earned victories during the final day of the Oregon Invitational. Competing in a steady rain and cold temperatures, Perkins notched her first high jump win of the outdoor season, clearing 5-6 to win a jump-off with Utah State’s Carrie Yost. Perkins came back to run the second leg of 1600 relay, which won in a season-best time but just missed the provisional qualifying cutoff in 3:53.89. Winning his section of the 1500 was Cronrath, who held on to edge conference rival Keith Lemay of Western Washington in 3:53.39. Sloppy conditions and a prevailing headwind hampered the sprinters. NyEma Sims (Fr., Portland, Or./Jefferson) clocked a 12.21 in the 100 and 24.91 in the 200. She finished second and third, respectively. Latasha Essien (Fr., Portland, Or./Reynolds) ran a 12.37 in the 100 for third. Essien, Sims and Pixler teamed with Perkins in the relay. At Pullman, Jessica Hinton (Fr., Lake Stevens, Wa.) won the 100 (12.70) and was fourth in the 200 with a PR of 25.61.

Coming soon. Lerum received his first commitments from three recruits last week. Carrie Houck of Mark Morris High School, Jennifer Pike of Vancouver’s Skyview, and Andrew Matschiner of Portland’s Jesuit all signed national letters of intent. Hauck has the top pole vault mark in the Greater St. Helens League this spring. The Longview resident finished tied for fifth in the state 3A championships as a junior, clearing 11-0. Pike qualified for the state 4A 100 and 300 hurdles as a junior. She took eighth in the intermediate hurdles at the Pasco Invitational earlier this month. Matschiner, a top shot and discus thrower, won the Metro League and took fifth place in the Oregon 4A shot put as a junior. Earlier this month he was fourth in the shot and seventh in the discus at the Pasco Invitational meet. His best marks this season are 54-3 inches in the shot and 149-5 in the discus.

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 Falcons Online.

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.