After clinching first place in the GNAC Indoor Championships, Seattle Pacific University's women's track team hasn't slowed its performance, proving they can qualify strongly in both realms.
Two weeks into the outdoors season, SPU has several qualifications for the post-season Great Northwest Athletic Conference (GNAC) Championship, and more than a handful of tickets to the NCAA Division II nationals.
Seniors Jessica Pixler and Jane Larson have automatic qualifications from the Stanford Track and Field Invitational, in the 5,000-meters and 1,500-meters, respectively. Pixler gained her national slot by finishing the 5K in 15 minutes, 44.07 seconds, the fifth fastest recorded time in the world so far this outdoor season.
Though the team's recorded three losses this year, coming in second twice and once in seventh, head coach Karl Lerum said the women have a strong senior class this year.
"It's the way we've been the last few years," Lerum said. "We haven't been taking huge groups to nationals but the kids we've been bringing have been really outstanding."
The team placed seventh at the national championships, but with a small number of competitors that ranking still says a lot. For individual competitions, SPU walked away as national champions in the medley relay team race. Pixler won the mile race for the fourth consecutive year, followed by Larson who took third.
While the team's been relatively dominate at the conference level, Lerum said the ongoing goal is to get more teammates qualified on the national level and to win individual national titles.
"We're excited for what they've done, and also excited with what we see happening in the next month," Lerum said. "It's not so much a team goal as much as working with individuals and what they're trying to achieve."
On the men's side, senior Chad Meis earned an automatic qualification to the GNAC Championships in the 1,500-meters race, with 4:00.43. Meis won the race, along with the 800-meters at the JD Shotwell Invitational last weekend. Finishing second in the hurdle races, going 15.99 in the 100 highs and 57.13 in the 400 intermediates, freshman Ryan Endresen earned a provisional qualifying slot for the GNAC Championships.
Players can earn qualifying marks throughout the entire season, and if automatic qualifiers don't fill all the slots, provisional qualifying times join the post-season competition. Lerum said the split tends to about 50 percent.
"I'm pleased with what we're doing. Each kid has something they're hoping to improve or develop," Lerum said. "Overall, I feel like we're headed in the right direction."
The men and women compete at Spokane Falls Community College this Saturday in the War III meet. GNAC Championships start in mid-May, followed by the NCAA Division II National Championships at the end of May.[[In-content Ad]]
