Athletics The Scholar-Athlete
Falcons Set for Fierce Regional, National Competitions
Winter Sports Update
By Mark Moschetti | Photo by Dan Sheehan
Junior guard David Downs (left) and his Falcon teammates are flying high heading into the home stretch of the GNAC men's basketball schedule.
Men's Basketball
The Seattle Pacific University Falcons are a big part of the national men's basketball picture. Matter of fact, they're very near the top of that picture, ranked No. 5 in NCAA Division II on February 12.
The Falcons sported a 17–3 overall mark, 10–2 in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference with six games remaining. The regular season concludes on March 2 in Brougham Pavilion with a Senior Night contest against Alaska Fairbanks. After that, SPU will head to the conference tournament, set for March 7–9 at Saint Martin's University in Lacey, and then await the decision of the NCAA for the West Regional tournament.
Women's Basketball
After a bumpy January when two starters were out with injuries, the SPU women's basketball team is back at full strength for the GNAC stretch drive. The Falcons started February at 13–8 overall, 7–6 in the GNAC, with five regular-season games left. That included a stretch of three straight at home, with Senior Day on February 23 against Montana State Billings. The conference women's tournament is at Saint Martin's on March 6, 8, and 9.
Gymnastics
Scores are soaring for SPU's women gymnasts. The Falcons have topped 190 points in four straight meets, with a high of 192.225 on January 26 at Alaska Anchorage. They had back-to-back home contests in February, capped by Senior Night against UC Davis on the 15th. Then they host the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation championships on March 23 in Brougham.
Indoor Track
Seattle Pacific went for its 10th straight GNAC indoor women's track and field title February 15–16 in Nampa, Idaho. No other school has won the women's crown. The NCAAs are March 7–9 in Birmingham, Alabama, and outdoor track begins on March 2 with a meet at the University of Puget Sound in Tacoma.
Autumn Sports Roundup
Three Falcon fall sports teams earned trips to NCAA competition. The women's soccer squad did so for the 10th straight year, beating Brigham Young–Hawaii in the first round before dropping a tough 2–1 double-overtime decision to UC San Diego. The men battled with Grand Canyon in their first-round game, playing to a 1–1 deadlock through double overtime. The Antelopes ultimately prevailed in the penalty-kick shootout.
For the first time since 2010, the women's cross country team was back at nationals, placing 17th among the 32 qualifying schools.