Meet records were beaten and titles were defended as the Falcons took on the Great Northwest Athletic Conference Championships.
The men’s and women’s Seattle Pacific University track and field teams traveled to Bellingham, Washington, for the GNAC Championship.
The Falcons put up season-best performances, leading the women’s team to finish tied for fourth place and the men’s team finishing in seventh place.
Track events:
Graduate runner Annika Esvelt won the women’s 5,000-meter GNAC Championships in 16:32.51, breaking the previous meet record of 16:35.10 set in 2019 by University of Alaska Anchorage’s Caroline Kurgat. Esvelt also placed third in the 1500 meters with a personal best time of 4:33.24, beating her previous best of 4:33.92 recorded on April 26.
This was Esvelt’s second straight outdoor 5,000-meter title, winning the event at the 2024 GNACs, and her third outdoor crown overall, placing third at the 2023 GNACs.
Junior Hannah Chang defended her title in the women’s 100-meter hurdles, running it in 13.85 seconds. She beat Alaska Anchorage’s Liv Heite, who finished in 13.91. Chang’s time of 13.76 in the preliminary was a personal best, beating her previous best of 13.93 on April 25.
Freshman Justin Brooks set a new SPU record in the men’s 400 meters, finishing in fourth with a time of 47.84, breaking his previous record of 47.86 on April 12.
Freshman Andrew Bell finished third in the men’s 110-meter hurdles, breaking the school record and finishing in 14.48 seconds. He had previously run 14.45, but the wind factor was recorded at 2.1 meters per second, discounting it from the official record. Record times are only deemed valid if assisting winds do not exceed 2.0 meters per second.
Junior Maya Ewing placed second in the women’s 5,000 meters with a personal best time of 16:55.22, beating her previous best of 17:02.09 on March 22. She also took second in the 3000-meter steeplechase with a time of 10:34.06.
Senior Johanna Brown finished sixth and set a personal-best 400-meter time of 57.22 seconds, beating her previous best of 57.31 on April 20, 2024. She later anchored the women’s 4-by-400-meter relay team to a third-place finish in 3:53.57, joined by Hannah Chang, Sophie Hanay and Jada Sarrys.
Freshman Robert Joshua placed sixth in the men’s 200-meter dash, finishing in 21.85 seconds, and eighth in the 100-meter finals, finishing in 10.71 seconds.
Field events:
Freshman Kaitlyn Askay finished third in the women’s pole vault, clearing 3.49 meters.
Mikel Saxon and Mason Hrceck finished sixth and seventh in men’s pole vault, both clearing 4.35 meters.
Upcoming:
The NCAA Division II Track & Field Championships are from Thursday, May 22, to Saturday, May 24, in Pueblo, Colorado.
Thus far, Esvelt and Ewing are the only confirmed athletes with punched tickets to nationals.
Esvelt will compete in the women’s 10,000- and 5,000-meter events as the No.5 and No.3 seed. Ewing is the No. 12 seed in the 3,000-meter steeplechase.
