THE SCHEDULE
Saturday, April 20                Seattle Pacific at Wildcat Invitational
                                                CWU Recreation Sports Complex / Ellensburg, Wash.
                                                Field events, 9:00 a.m.       Track events, Noon
                                                No live Webcast        Live results
                                               

SEATTLE – After a weekend of bouncing around Southern California between Long Beach and Azusa, the Seattle Pacific Falcons get to make one trip to one track and field venue this weekend.
 
That trip will be to Ellensburg, and the venue will be the CWU Recreation Sports Complex at Central Washington University for Saturday's Wildcat Invitational.
 
Field events begin at 9:00 a.m., although the first SPU competitors will be at noon in the women's javelin and men's long jump. Track races start at noon. The last event is scheduled for 6:45 p.m.. The last Seattle Pacific race will be the men's 200-meter dash, slated for 5:50 p.m.
 
The most hectic part of the Falcons' schedule was last week in SoCal. On Thursday, most everyone was at Long Beach for the Pacific Coast Invitational, with a couple of them over at Azusa in the Bryan Clay Invitational. Friday was more of the same, with most everyone remaining in Long Beach for the Beach Invitational. Then on Saturday, the focus shifted entirely to Azusa for the final day of the Bryan Clay.
 
KEEPING TRACK OF THE ACTION
Free live results will be available from Saturday's meet. The appropriate link is at the top of this story. A live Webcast will not be available.
 
MAYBE NICER HERE THAN IT WAS IN CALI
Although it started out warm when the Falcons first arrived in California last week, it gradually got cooler and on Saturday also got wet.
 
Shouldn't be any such problem this week in Ellensburg. Saturday's forecast calls for cloudy with some sun breaks and temperatures pushing into the low 60s, coming off nighttime lows in the mid-30s. Rain is not likely. Ellensburg is known for getting breezy, but that might not be as prominent of an issue on Saturday, with sustained winds of between 6 and 8 miles per hour, gusting to 15.
 
IT'S LOOKING LIKE A GNAC PREVIEW
For the second time in the past three years, Ellensburg and the CWU facility will be the site of the Great Northwest Athletic Conference Championships. That meet is set for Friday and Saturday, May 10-11.
  That being the case, eight of the conference's nine track programs (all except Simon Fraser) are on the schedule as entering this week's meet. Western Oregon will have a split squad, as the Wolves also are scheduled for the Southern Oregon Raider Invitational in Ashland.
 
In fact, this will be the first of two straight Saturdays where a good portion of the GNAC will be in one place. Next week's Ralph Vernacchia Invitational in Bellingham will include SPU, Saint Martin's, Alaska Anchorage, Simon Fraser, and host Western Washington.
 




SCOUTING THE WILDCAT INVITATIONAL
Several  Falcons are doubling up this week, and a couple of them (Hannah Chang and Maliyah Hicks) are penciled in for three events. But coming off a big long-distance weekend in Southern California, Saturday's focus will be on shorter races.
 
Chang is entered in the 100-meter hurdles, 200 dash, and javelin. She set a PB of 26.38 in the 200 to finish the first day of the heptathlon at the Bryan Clay Invite last Thursday. She already has a lifetime best of 14.37 in the hurdles, that coming on March 23 at Point Loma Nazarene. Chang is aiming to make the NCAA provisional qualifying time of 14.22.
 
Hicks is set for the 100, 200, and long jump. She has a personal-best in the 100 of 13.54 this spring, and is still aiming at last year's PBs of 27.82 in the 200 (27.91 this year) and 16 feet, 6½ inches in the long jump (15-7¼).

In the women's 1500, sophomore Matise Mulch came through a personal-best time of 4:44.96 last Saturday in Azusa – and that came about 10 hours after she set a season-best in the 5000.
 
Going for two events are Johanna Brown (200, 400), Paige Kessler (high jump, long jump) and Anika Segall (400, 800).

 

Lizzy Daugherty finished third in the pole vault at the Bryan Clay, going 12-2½. She has been as high as 12-6¼ this spring, which made her an NCAA provisional qualifier. Emily Thomason is back in the venue where she made her first pole vaulting splash as a Falcon last year. In just her second meet since joining the team after competing for two years at Lane Community College in Eugene, she won by going 12-4 and getting onto the NCAA provisional list.
 
SPU will have half a dozen men in the 1500, four of whom had a personal best last week in California, albeit in other events: the 3000 steeplechase for Silas Demmert and Brennan LeBlanc, and the 10,000 for Nathaniel Gale and Isaac Venable. Jonathan Lieb and Ben Sheirbon are also in the 1500. In addition, Lieb is down for the 800.
 
Others doubling up are Ethan Erickson and Kade Franco (both 400 and 800) and Evan Carpenter (200 and 400).
 
Kainoa Lee's outdoor career-best pole vault performance came in Ellensburg at the 2022 GNACs when he cleared 14-10¼. He'll take another go at it on Saturday.





ESVELT'S FLEET FEET AMONG THE ELITE
It won't be official until the middle of May, but Annika Esvelt has run her way into two NCAA races.
 
Esvelt already was among the national leaders in the 5000 meters with her time of 16 minutes 18.94 seconds at the Stanford Invitational on March 29. That is currently No. 11 nationally in Division II.
 
 

Now, she can add the 10,000 meters to that. At the Bryan Clay Invitational last Thursday, Esvelt clocked 33:41.59, which is No. 3 on the national list heading into this week.
 
It's certainly possible others might slip ahead of her between now and when declarations are due on Monday, May 13. But with a "desired minimum" of 20 competitors for individual events at nationals, Esvelt seems safely above the cutoff line. The current No. 20 time in the 5000 is 16:31.08. In 2023, the NCAA accepted the maximum of 24 entries in the 5K, with the last one in at 16:38.89.
 
In the 10K, the current No. 20 time is 35:26.22 – nearly 1 minute, 45 seconds behind Esvelt. Last year, 22 were accepted, and the last one in was 34:59.45.
 
SPEAKING OF NATIONALS …
Esvelt isn't the only Falcon on the NCAA provisional list.
 
-- Lizzy Daugherty tie 25th in women's pole vault, 12-6 ¼.  No. 1: 15-4¼.  No. 20: 12-8¼.
-- David Njeri 25th in men's triple jump, 48-6.  No. 1: 51-9¼.  No. 20: 48-9.
 
The No. 20 time is listed because that is regarded as the "red line." The NCAA has a "desired minimum" of 20 competitors in each national event, but has the option to take as many as 24 in any given event (or events) if space is available. Since there are no guarantees for any additional entries beyond 20,then the No. 20 mark is considered the "red line."
 
Click on this link for a complete look at national provisional qualifiers.

RACING AGAIN IN THE STATES
Former SPU star Vanessa Aniteye, who has been competing in Germany this calendar year, stepped to the starting line in the women's 800 meters last week at the Bryan Clay Invite. The 2023 NCAA indoor champion at that distance, clocked 2:09.45
 
That was easily Aniteye's best time of 2024. She clocked 2:13.41 at the North German Indoor Championships on Feb. 4, and 2:15.63 at the German Indoor Championships on Feb.17.
 
AROUND THE WEST
Now that she has a speedy 10K under her shoes, Annika Esvelt is the West Region leader in both that event and the 5000 meters.
 
Esvelt is one of four athletes to lead the West in more than one event.
 
Among the others is GNAC counterpart Megan Roxby of Simon Fraser. She is atop the West in the 800 (2:08.48) and the 1500 (4:23.23). Roxby ranks No. 5 nationally in the 800 and No. 8 in the 1500.
 
Nicole Warwick of Azusa Pacific has the top mark in three events, two of which also are top in the nation for D2: the long jump (20 feet, 9 inches) and the heptathlon (5,927 points). She also lead the West in the 100 hurdles (13.29, No. 2 nationally).
 
On the men's side, the only multiple leader is Felix Perrier of Azusa Pacific, in the 5000 (12:48.33, No. 7 in D2) and the 3000 steeplechase (8:50.04, No. 5).
 
Esvelt and Roxby are the only GNAC athletes top the West list this week.

Click on this link for a look at West Region leaders. Click on this link to see GNAC leaders.

AROUND THE GNAC
Click on this link for the latest news, notes, results, and season performance lists from around the Great Northwest Athletic Conference.
 
UP NEXT
The Falcons head to Bellingham on Saturday, April 27, for the Ralph Vernacchia Invitational at Civic Stadium. Field events start at 9:00 a.m., and track races begins at 11:30. The last race is set for 5:25 p.m.


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