Seattle Pacific University senior Lynelle Decker ran herself right into the NCAA Division II indoor track and field championships on Saturday, posting an automatic qualifying mark of 2 minutes, 9.38 seconds in the 800 meters at the UW Invitational.
Decker’s time for her nearly three laps around the 307-meter oval at the University of Washington’s Dempsey Indoor facility ranked as the second-fastest in NCAA-II as of Saturday evening.
It beat the automatic qualifying standard of 2:09.81, obliterated her old indoor personal best of 2:11.51, was the seventh-best in Great Northwest Athletic Conference history, and guarantees her a trip to Kansas for nationals on March 11-12.
“To be honest, a lot of the race is a blur,” Decker told spufalcons.com. “I didn’t know any of the other runners, but I knew it was going to be a fast heat. I had asked (SPU assistant coach Chris Reed) about it, so I knew it would be 2:07, 2:08 girls in there. I knew I would have to race it really smart to race it well.”
Decker finished fourth in her heat and 10th overall among 62 competitors. She was the fourth collegian, trailing only three NCAA Division I runners.
Decker was named Great Northwest Athletic Conference Women’s Track Athlete of the Week.
Track and field
UW’s Gilbert runs sub-4-minute mile
University of Washington sophomore Colby Gilbert won the mile run at the UW Invitational Saturday at the Dempsey Indoor facility in Seattle with a sub-4-minute time of 3 minutes, 59.84 seconds.
The Skyview High School graduate, whose previous best was 4:00.62, became the sixth Husky to break four minutes.
“You’ve got to feel great. Not many people have (broken four minutes), so to be one of those people is pretty amazing,” Gilbert told UW athletics website gohuskies.com. “I was nervous because it went out pretty hot and I don’t usually start races that fast, but I just thought, ‘Just got to keep rolling’ and keep powering through.’ ”
Gymnastics
MPSF honors again for Sac State’s McCartney
Sacramento State University senior Kalliah McCartney was named Mountain Pacific Sports Federation Gymnast of the Week for the second time this season.
Vancouver’s McCartney, a graduate of CAM High School in Battle Ground who trained at Multnomah Athletic Club of Portland, finished first in the all-around during a home meet against UC Davis with a season-best 39.300 points. That score is tied for the eighth best in school history.
McCartney scored 9.775 on vault, 9.850 on bars, 9.825 on beam and 9.850 on floor exercise. She is ranked 26th nationally in the all-around with an average of 39.208.
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