Seattle Pacific University’s track and field team competed in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference Outdoor Championships on Friday, May 10, and Saturday, May 11. The Falcons had an incredible finish to their outdoor regular season, including multiple podium placings.
Sophomore Hannah Chang claimed the gold medal in the women’s 100-meter hurdles with a time of 13.88 seconds. This was a new personal record for Chang after her previous finish of 14.30 seconds from the 2024 Central Washington University Wildcat Invitational.
Senior Annika Esvelt claimed gold in the 5000-meter event at 17:06.73 (her personal best is 16:14.31 from the 2022 West Coast Relays) and bronze in the women’s 1500-meter event at 4:41.77 (her personal best is 4:34.73 from the 2024 Ralph Vernacchia Invitational).
Senior Lizzy Daugherty and junior Emily Thomason claimed gold and bronze in the women’s pole vault event. Both Falcons cleared 3.77 meters, but Daugherty won the tie as she had fewer misses in her attempts. Daugherty’s personal best is 3.90 meters from the 2024 Ken Shannon Last Chance Invitational during the 2023-2024 indoor season. Thomason’s personal best is 3.83 meters from the 2024 GNAC Indoor Championships.
On the men’s side, freshman Mason Hreck and graduate student David Njeri claimed bronze medals in their respective events. Hreck won bronze in the men’s pole vault at 4.73 meters, a new personal record and career-best from his previous 4.72 meters at the University of Washington Indoor Preview on Jan. 13. Njeri won bronze in the men’s triple jump with 14.18 meters (his personal best is 15.19 meters from the 2022 West Coast Relays).
Outside of podium achievements, three Falcons reached new personal bests. In the 400-meter dash, senior Charisma Smith broke her first less-than-a-minute college run with a time of 59.74 seconds (her previous best was 1:00.25 from the 2021 GNAC Outdoor Championships).
Sophomore Matisse Mulch finished in the women’s 10000-meter event with a personal record of 37:58.94 (her previous best was 38:22.99 from the 2023 Ed Boitano Invitational). Freshman Mikel Saxon cleared 4.13 meters in the men’s pole vault (his previous best is 4.00 meters from the 2023 Spokane Invitational).
In the overall team standings, SPU’s women’s team finished fifth with 71 points, and the men’s team finished ninth with 15 points.
The National Collegiate Athletics Association’s Outdoor Championships will be in Emporia, Kansas, at Emporia State University’s Welch Stadium from Thursday, May 23, to Saturday, May 25. Qualifiers and entries for the NCAA Outdoor Championships from SPU will be announced on Tuesday, May 14.
SPU women’s rowing will compete in the Rowing GNAC Championships on Saturday, May 18, on Lake Natoma in Gold River, California.
