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Carolina on their minds. All the repetitions, all the mileage and all the focus of the past eight months has been directed at this particular week of activity. Now it’s time to make good on that goal-setting for the eight athletes representing Seattle Pacific University at the NCAA Division II Track & Field Championships. The meet begins Thursday (May 24) and runs through Saturday (May 26) in Charlotte, N.C.

First or thereabouts. In each of the Falcons’ last four visits to NCAA meets they have produced a national champion, and there’s an excellent chance of that string being extended. Jessica Pixler (Fr., Sammamish, Wa./Eastlake) won the indoor mile back in March and is the No. 1 seed in the 1500-meter run, as well as No. 2 in the 800. Selected as the West Region track athlete of the year, Pixler is unbeaten versus collegians at those distances. Not since 1992 has an SPU freshman won an NCAA outdoor crown, and only one individual has won both an indoor and outdoor event in the same season. Pixler’s final competition of the season will be the USA Junior Championships, June 20-24 in Indianapolis.

Immediate impact. Pixler is one of four newcomers who are bound for Carolina. Brittany Bekins (So., Everett, Wa./Cascade), a transfer, is top contender for both the heptathlon and javelin titles. Bekins ranks No. 3 and 2, respectively, in each. The Falcons’ most explosive sprinter in over 10 years, NyEma Sims (Fr., Portland, Or./Jefferson) broke a longstanding school record in the 200 and also qualified for the 100. Sims ran the 60 at indoor nationals. Jane Larson (Fr., Fall City, Wa./Cedar Park Christian) is coming off a personal record in her NCAA event, the 3000. Larson qualified for the indoor mile and the distance medley relay which took eighth.

Done that. The other four members of the travel party are experienced and certainly candidates for medals. Molly Barnes (Sr., Burien, Wa./Highline), now a two-time qualifier, is No. 3 in the javelin. Teona Perkins (Sr., Kennewick, Wa.), a veteran of three previous national meets, indoors and outdoors, is tied for sixth in the high jump. Karin Rohde (Jr., Bellingham, Wa./Mt. Baker) is No. 7 in the steeplechase. Rohde competed last year, plus cross country and indoor meets this year. The men’s sole qualifier, Eddie Strickler (Sr., Richland, Wa.), is No. 9 in the 800, a race in which he placed eighth nationally indoors.

Another top 10? Pixler, Rohde and Larson have been a part of three conference championships and two top-10 NCAA finishes by the Falcons already this season. And if they can make it a hat trick, it would possibly be the best outdoor finish by Seattle Pacific since 1993. That year, the team finished fifth and their only top-10 placement since then was ninth (2001). Last autumn, cross country was sixth and in March the indoor team was seventh. Coach Karl Lerum, cautiously optimistic because of his team’s youth, believes his women will score 30 points with the potential to go over 40. Generally, 30 is sufficient for the top 10 and 50 for the top five.

Busy Bekins. Officially, it’s only two events. But in truth, Bekins will be competing eight times in three days. The heptathlon, of course, consists of seven events: 100 hurdles, high jump, shot put, 200, long jump, javelin and 800. And then there’s the open javelin for Bekins on Saturday. Both events are wide-open, with Bekins and three other competitors all owning scores of 4900-5100 points in the heptathlon, and the javelin volatile in terms of one throw making the difference. Bekins has been held out of most activity since sustaining a rib injury in mid-April. Beforehand, she had scored 4944 in her only heptathlon and thrown the spear just in just four meets, with a best of 150 feet, 4 inches coming in her debut Mar. 3.

Quick Pix. Pixler is coming off yet another win, her ninth in 11 outdoor races, at the Ken Foreman Invitational. Although not pressed, her time of 2:08.13 broke the Great Northwest Athletic Conference record and ranks No. 4 all-time at SPU. Pixler came back to take third in the 3000, although her primary task was to pace Larson. She was victorious in all three of her 800 starts. The only two 1500 runners to defeat her were ex-collegians, and Pixler holds an advantage of 8-plus seconds over the No. 2 qualifier. She is within a 1.05 seconds of the top seed in the 800.

Near miss. Of those athletes making provisional standards, Brian Cronrath (Jr., Battle Ground, Wa.) received the unkindest cut in the 1500. He missed an NCAA berth by 0.34 seconds and has twice beaten one of the top eight qualifiers. Monica Anderson (Jr., Bremerton, Wa.) became the Falcons’ first 12-foot vaulter to be left out in that rapidly evolving event. Anderson had gone 12-1 1/2 and the dividing line was 12-5 1/2. Pixler, who had the No. 3 qualifying time in the 3000, opted out of that distance.

Tradition. Apart from Sims in the sprints, the other NCAA contestants come from traditionally strong events for the Falcons. For instance, there have been 18 heptathlon qualifiers in 18 years (Sims plans to do so next year) and four national champions. Twenty-six women have been All-America in the middle (800-3000) distances (one champion) and 20 in the javelin (two champs). Perkins is aiming to become the eighth high jump national scorer and Rohde was one of the first two SPU steeplechase qualifiers a year ago. Strickler’s half-miler lineage dates back to the school’s first national champion in 1953, Ben Moring. There have been five All-Americans, the last being Paul Mach in ‘05.

Racing form. Strickler’s run of 1:50.83 at the Foreman pushed him up to No. 2 on the GNAC all-time list and earned him conference athlete of the week. He remains No. 4 on the SPU chart. Strickler has PR’d in two of his last three races. Larson shaved 3.46 seconds off her PR in the 3000 last week. Rohde led wire-to-wire in the steeplechase, earning her third win in four outings in 11:04.90. For the sixth straight outdoor meet, Perkins jumped over 5-5 3/4, taking second (5-6) at the Foreman. Barnes has thrown for more than 136 feet in five of her seven meets, including 137-1 last week.

Got next. Lerum’s recruiting class for women grew to six members with the signings of Brittany Aanstad of Lake Stevens and Oregon’s Jacquie Mattson and Jeeni Schantin. Aanstad won the state 4A javelin title as a junior, when her best throw was 146-1. She currently ranks third in the state at 144-7 and has qualified for four events (high jump, long jump, triple jump, javelin) at state this weekend. Mattson, from Hood River Valley, won the Oregon 6A high jump title (5-5) last week after taking fourth the previous year. Schantin, who will be a junior at SPU, has thrown the javelin 150-5 this season at Clackamas Community College, located in Oregon City. She took second in the NWAACC as a freshman.

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.