Skyview High School graduate Jennifer Pike helped Seattle Pacific University to a sweep of the top four places in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference heptathlon championships held Monday and Tuesday in Nampa, Idaho.
Pike won two of the three events contested Tuesday, placing first in the 800 meters and javelin to finish with 4,535 points. That career-best effort gave her fourth place overall.
SPU junior Ali Worthen of Coos Bay, Ore., won the conference title with 4,904 points. Sophomore Katy Gross of Everett was second at 4,799 and senior Crystal Sims of Portland’s Jefferson High School was third with 4,718.
The 1-2-3-4 was the first such finish in GNAC track and field multi-event history, reports spufalcons.com.
“That was our plan going in, but things had to fall into place,” Falcons head coach Karl Lerum told the website. “They had some real nice (personal record) performances, but like all multis, they had some valleys as well. But they just kept a positive focus for two days. They did a wonderful two days of work.”
All four totals surpassed the 4,400 points needed for a place on the provisional qualifying list for the NCAA Division II championships, set for May 26-28 at Cal State Stanislaus University in Turlock, Calif.
Pike — who placed third at the GNAC meet a year ago — is a first-time provisional qualifier in the heptathlon, and sits at No. 15 on the D-II list after Tuesday’s results.
The NCAA took 16 in the heptathlon last year, so Pike will have to wait it out while the final regular-season meets and conference championship meets take place through the rest of May.
“I know Jennifer Pike is capable of this — and more — if she’s given the opportunity. She has really started to learn how to be a heptathlete,” Lerum told spufalcons.com. “Katy Gross is putting together a very nice heptathlon – and she still has room to grow.”
Pike was in sixth place after Monday’s four events with 2,636 points, 61 out of fourth place. She finished fifth in the 100 hurdles (15.57 seconds), tied for fifth in the high jump (4-11¾) and was sixth in the 200 (26.80) and seventh in the shot put (31-1¼).
Pike won the javelin with a mark of 116-6; and the 800 in 2 minutes, 24.84 seconds. She was also eighth in the long jump at 16-4¾.
Porter D-II qualifier in year’s first 10,000
Western Washington senior distance runner Sarah Porter posted a NCAA Division II automatic national qualifying time in her first 10,000 meters of the season on Sunday at the Payton Jordan Cardinal Track and Field Invitational.
The Hockinson High School graduate placed 11th in her section in the meet at Stanford University. Her time of 33 minutes, 48.12 seconds was just 11.29 seconds off the school and Great Northwest Athletic Conference record of 33:36.83 which she set last year in finishing 15th at the same meet.
Concordia’s Dixson regains CCC honor
Concordia University sophomore thrower Gabi Dixson was named Cascade Collegiate Conference Women’s Field Athlete of the Week for the fifth time in six weeks.
Dixson, who competed for Battle Ground High School, claimed first-, second- and third-place finishs at the Pacific Twilight meet Saturday in Forest Grove, Ore.
She hit career bests in both the hammer (175 feet, 10 inches) and the discus (163-2).
Her hammer mark set meet and stadium records, while her discus mark moved the sophomore into the No. 1 position on the NAIA outdoor performance list. She also leads the NAIA in the shot put, while her career best toss in the hammer on Saturday is No. 5 in the NAIA.
Gonzaga’s Thomas sets 5,000 record
Gonzaga University freshman Emily Thomas broke the Bulldogs’ school record in the 5,000 meters on Friday at the Duane Hartman Invitational at Spokane Falls Community College. The Camas High School graduate won her section of the event in 17 minutes, 15.18 seconds, breaking the mark of 17:18.87 set by Jill Semenza in 2005.
Piette helps WWU eight to crown
Western Washington swept all four grand finals races Sunday at the Western Intercollegiate Rowing Association Championship Regatta held at the Sacramento State Aquatic Center on Lake Natoma in Gold River, Calif.
WWU junior Jean Piette, a Columbia River High School graduate, is the No. 6 seat in the Vikings’ varsity eight. The shell won the 2,000-meter final in 6 minutes, 35.6 seconds, three boat lengths ahead of defending champion Seattle Pacific, and is unbeaten this season against competition outside of NCAA Division I.
The weekend’s results clinched a return to the NCAA Division II championships for the six-time defending champion Vikings.
PLU pitcher Beatty honored by NWC
Pacific Lutheran University sophomore Max Beatty was named Northwest Conference baseball pitcher Student-Athlete of the Week of April 10-16.
The Fort Vancouver High School graduate threw a complete-game five-hitter in an April 16 win over Puget Sound. He did not allow more than one hit in an inning, and only two Logger base runners got as far as second base, with none reaching third.
It was Beatty’s second NWC weekly honor of the season.
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