Outdoor Track & Field Seattle Pacific University Mark Moschetti, Assistant SID ● (206) 281-2772 ● [email protected] ● Fax: (206) 281-2266 March 4, 2016 Spring is here - at least on the track Falcons begin 2016 outdoor campaign at Saturday’s Puget Sound Invitational GENERAL INFORMATION Institution: Seattle Pacific University THE SCHEDULE: Address: 3307 Third Ave. W., Seattle, WA 98119 Seattle Pacific at Puget Sound Invitational Enrollment: 4,200 Saturday, March 5, 2016 Nickname: Falcons Colors: Maroon & White Field and running events, 11:00 a.m. Affiliation: NCAA Division II Baker Stadium (UPS) / Tacoma, Wash. Conference: Great Northwest Athletic Conference No live Webcast or live results President: Dr. Daniel J. Martin (S. Nazarene) Interim Athletic Director: Tom Box (Biola 1974) E-mail: [email protected] SEATTLE – It’s still winter on the calendar. But come Saturday morning, the Seattle Athletic Department office: 206-281-2085 Pacific Falcons will welcome spring on the track and field schedule. Fax: 206-281-2266 Athletic Dept. Web Site: www.spufalcons.com That’s when a group of SPU athletes will make the short trek south to Tacoma for the Sports Info. Director: Dan Lepse (206-281-2741; Puget Sound Invitational. The annual season opener at Baker Stadium on the [email protected]) University of Puget Sound campus begins at 11 a.m. for both field and running events. Track SID: Mark Moschetti (206-281-2772, This is the 14th consecutive year the Falcons will open in Tacoma, although the meet [email protected]) previously went by other names (UPS Outdoor Preview, and UPS Quad Meet). It will be larger than usual, with six schools COACHING STAFF competing. Joining Seattle Pacific will be Head Coach: Karl Lerum (PLU ’98) OUTDOOR MEET WILL HONOR Great Northwest Athletic Conference stablemates Office: (206) 281-2897 FALCON LEGEND HERITAGE Saint Martin’s and Western Washington, E-mail: [email protected] With the outdoor season getting along with Lewis & Clark College, Asst. Coaches: Chris Reed started, the Falcons’ schedule Whitworth, and host UPS. Audra Smith includes a new twist on a long- Office: (206) 281-3432 time Seattle-area meet. This will be the first of 11 regular-season meets on the schedule. [email protected] Seattle Pacific will present the [email protected] Doris Heritage Distance Festival on Saturday, March 26, NOT BAD WEATHER FOR OPENERS at West Seattle Stadium. It was In the past, weather conditions have ranged formerly known as the Club from typical-March cool and cloudy to downright 2016 SCHEDULE Northwest Spring Break Open. miserable snow and sleet. March 5 Puget Sound Inv. (UPS-Tacoma) 11 a.m. The meet is named in honor of Saturday’s forecast tends more toward the March 19 L&C Spr. Brk. Open (Portland) 9 a.m. Heritage, a pioneer in women’s normal. Temperatures by meet time should be March 26 Doris Heritage Distance Festival sports, and sometimes referred around 50 degrees, on their way to an afternoon West Seattle Stadium 9 a.m. to as the First Lady of Ameri- high of 58. The afternoon might be little wet, with April 1 S.F. State Distance Carnival 8 a.m. can distance running. She won a slight chance of showers. April 1-2 Stanford Invitationa TBA five straight international cross April 9 Emilie Mondor Inv. (Burnaby, B.C.) country titles, was a two-time F: 9:00 R: 10:45 Olympian, and at one time BIGGER FISH TO FRY April 14 Bryan Clay Inv. (Azusa, Cal.) 4 p.m. owned every American record While most of the Falcon men will be in action April 15 Bryan Clay Inv. (Azusa, Cal.) 10:15 a.m. from 440 yards to a mile. Saturday, a good number of the women will not. April 15 Mt. SAC Relays (Norwalk, Cal.) 10 a.m. The tentative schedule has field In large part, that’s because eight of them are April 16 Mt. SAC Relays (Norwalk, Cal.) 11 a.m. events starting at 10:00 a.m., getting ready to head to Pittsburg, Kan., next April 16 Beach Invitational (Norwalk, Cal.) TBA and running at noon, with the week for the NCAA Division II indoor nationals. April 23 Spike Arlt Invitational (Ellensburg) TBA last race at 3:55 p.m. The official entry list was released on Monday. April 30 Ken Shannon Inv. (Husky Track) TBA SPU’s contingent will include seniors Jahzelle May 2-3 GNAC Multis (Lacey) 10:30 a.m. Ambus (400, 4x400 relay, 400 distance medley relay), Lynelle Decker (800, May 3 GNAC Multis (Lacey) 10 a.m. 4x400, distance medley), Maliea Luquin (60 hurdles), Anna Patti (DMR) and May 13 GNAC (Monmouth, Ore.) Jalen Tims (400, 4x400), junior Cheryl Hong (4x400), sophomore Chynna F: 2 p.m. / R: 2:45 p.m. Phan (800, distance medley), and freshman Geneva Lehnert (high jump). May 14 GNAC (Monmouth, Ore.) Decker (No. 4 in the 800) is the highest seed. Ambus is the No. 9 seed in the 400, F: 9:30 a.m. / R: 11 a.m. Phan is No 10 in the 800, Tims is No. 15 in the 400, Lehnert is No. 12 in the high jump, May 24-26 NCAA (Bradenton, Fla.) TBA and Luquin is No. 17 in the 60 hurdles. The DMR is No. 9 and the 4x400 is No. 10. SCOUTING REPORT: FALCON FODDER SCOUTING THE PUGET SOUND INVITATIONAL FASTEST TIME – BUT NOT AN OUTDOOR RECORD The Falcons will compete in just a limited number of events, When senior Jahzelle Ambus clocked 54.87 seconds to win the primarily the 800 and 1,500. GNAC indoor 400-meter title in February, it easily beat her own Half a dozen SPU men will double up in both. That group includes school indoor record of 55.56, which she set during the previous senior Turner Wiley, who eventually will be found in the longer day’s preliminary heats. events (5,000 and 10,000) as the season progresses Wiley set That time also was the fastest ever by an SPU woman, indoors personal-bests in both the 800 (2:03.50) and 1,500 (4:03.20) last or outdoors. The previous mark of 54.98 was set by Joleen year. In January, he broke the school indoor record for 5K, Schwarzmiller on May 2, 1998, at the Oregon Invitational. clocking 14:56.77. Ambus’ time will go onto the record board on the bottom floor of Also racing the 800 and 1500 will be senior Adam Avischious, Brougham Pavilion as the best in school history, regardless of sophomore Clark Sterling, and redshirt sophomores Brysten venue. And, if she can break 54.98 again this spring, that will be- James, David McLeod, and Joseph Walker. come the new outdoor record. Sophomore Peyton Harris is entered in the 400 intermediate hurdles. Harris is primarily a high hurdler and a long jumper (he ANOTHER RECORD WITHIN REACH isn’t doing either event this week), but did the intermediates in Aside from Ambus in the 400, the best chance for a school record three meets last year, with a PR time of 57.97. to go down is in the men’s 10,000 with Turner Wiley. Senior Ben Smith, who dealt with injuries most of last year, is In fact, Wiley already owns it with the 31:03.68 he in the long jump. He has a lifetime best of 21-0¾ from midway ran last April 3 at the San Francisco State Distance through the 2014 season. Carnival. Wiley believes he also has a legitimate A total of five SPU women are entered in the meet. The group shot at the 5K mark of 14:39.6. His outdoor best is includes junior shot putter Sammi Markham. She’s trying 14:58.83 set in 2014, but he did go 14:56.77 indoors to reclaim the 40-foot range, having topped out last year with a in January. career-best 40 feet, 2 inches at the Saint Martin’s Invitational on May 2. ANSWERING THE MULTI-EVENT CALL Barring anything completely unexpected, senior Maliea Luquin will compete in the heptathlon again this spring. Last year, she WHERE TO SEE THEM finished third at GNAC behind Alaska Anchorage’s Karolin Anders SPU’s entries for the Puget Sound Invite (subject to scratches): and Rosie Smith. Luquin’s total of 4,584 points was a personal best and was an NCAA provisional qualify- MEN WOMEN ing score. Adam Avischious: 800, 1500 Madison Buttice: Shot put But if the winter indoor season was an indicator, don’t Jacob Busald: 1500 Sophie Carroll: 800 be surprised if sophomore Jade Crawford joins her Brandon Graue: 400 Hailey Kettel: 800 for that two-day, seven-event test. Peyton Harris: 400H Sammi Markham: Shot put Austin Hays: PV Kiley Zeitler: 800 Crawford was a last-minute entry for the GNAC indoor Brysten James: 800, 1500 pentathlon in February, and she showed herself remarkably well. Ka’eo Lindsey: 800, 1500 Crawford finished with 2,880 points to take ninth place, just five David McLeod: 800, 1500 points shy of a top-8, team-points spot. Jesse Phan: 800 Justin Ramsey: 800 HOW CLOSE IS CLOSE? Ben Smith: LJ A handful of Falcons will have some added incentive to make the Clark Sterling: 800, 1500 NCAA qualifying list this spring after barely missing out in 2015. Nathan Talbot: Javelin Start with junior pole vaulter Michaella Kahns. She cleared Joseph Walker: 800, 1500 11 feet, 9 ¾ inches – or 3.60 meters. The NCAA provisional qual Turner Wiley: 800, 1500 standard is 11-10, or 3.61. Naphtali Ward, now a sophomore, was one inch away in the UP NEXT high jump, having cleared 5-5.