Saturday, May 15, 2021

MONMOUTH, Ore. – Seattle Pacific knew that it would have a strong second day.

The Falcons’ strong day manifested itself in nine event victories and a large number of team points in the 100 meters and 1,500 meters behind two titles by seniors Dania Holmberg and Renick Meyer to successfully defend its title at the GNAC Women’s Outdoor Track and Field Championships on Saturday at McArthur Field.

Seattle Pacific scored 208 points to win the program’s third consecutive championship and it’s fifth over the last seven years. The Falcons trailed Western Washington by 32 points entering the second day and surged to beat the Vikings by 40 points. Western Washington was second with 168 points and Central Washington placed third with 132.5 points.

Holmberg was selected as the Women’s Track Athlete of the Meet after winning both the 1,500 meters and 5,000 meters on Saturday. She opened the day by posting a 10-second victory in the 1,500 meters with an NCAA Championships provisional qualifying time of 4 minutes, 27.31 seconds. The win led a performance that saw SPU take five of the top eight places, scoring 29 points. Holmberg closed out the day with a 25-second win in the 5,00 meters with a time of 17:43.57.

Meyer was named the Women’s Field Athlete of the Meet after she won last week’s heptathlon with a score of 4,903 points and won Friday’s long jump with a mark of 19 feet, 7.5 inches that was one centimeter off the meet record. The long jump performance was also recognized as the Women’s Performance of the Meet.

But Meyer was just as strong on the track as she was in the field, winning the 100-meter hurdles in an NCAA Championships provisional qualifying time of 13.97 seconds. She also took third in the 100 meters in 12.06 seconds and ran legs on both winning 4x100 and 4x400-meter relay teams.

The 100 meters was an impressive show with the Falcons sweeping the top-four places. Sophomore Jenna Bouyer won in a time of 11.93 seconds. Senior Grace Bley was second in 12.00 seconds while both Meyer and senior Julia Stepper clocked in at 12.06 seconds. The quartet combined to win the 4x100-meter relay in 46.68 seconds while Bouyer, Meyer and Bley combined with freshman Ellie Rising to win the 4x400-meter relay in 3:52.23.

Bley collected her third consecutive championship in the 200 meters in 24.52 seconds while Rising posted a four-second victory in the 800 meters in 2:12.16.

Senior Scout Cai succeeded to repeat as the pole vault champion with her clearance of 12 feet, 3.5 inches. The GNAC record-holder in the event, Cai and Northwest Nazarene freshman Kinsey Langin both cleared 12-3.5 with Cai winning based on her clearance on the first at the previous height.

The Vikings had a pair of event winners. Senior Karlie Hurley collected the gold medal in the triple jump with her mark of 38 feet, 7 inches. Senior Natalie Vetto improved her NCAA Championships provisional qualifying mark in the javelin with her winning throw of 146 feet, 8 inches.

Central Washington also had a pair of event winners. Sophomore McCall DeChenne ran a lifetime best in the 400-meter hurdles to win with a time of 1:01.95. Senior Meghan Smallbeck won the hammer with her throw of 175 feet, 8 inches.

Alaska Anchorage picked up the other victory on Saturday with junior Tylantiss Atlas winning the 400 meters with an NCAA Championships provisional qualifying time of 55.44 seconds.