Jonny Anderson (Left to right) Junior Danielle Ayers-Stamper, junior Linda Blake and sophomore Anna Soule run the 200-meter dash in the Dempsey Indoor at University of Washington.

The SPU track and field team took advantage of the Great Northwest Athletic Conference (GNAC) Last Chance Indoor meet on Saturday to have a total of eight women in five events qualify for the NCAA Indoor Championships.

The meet was held at Dempsey Indoor at the University of Washington, and the Falcon women capitalized on the opportunity to compete in Boston on March 11-12.

"We were only planning on Danyelle (Ayers-Stamper) and Karen (Dickson) going," said junior Amy Harris.

Ayers-Stamper, a junior, qualified in the long jump, high jump, and the 60-meter dash. Dickson, a sophomore, qualified in the 5,000 and the distance medley.

Harris and fellow junior Allie Hedges were both tied for 13th in the pole vault going into the meet, although they were only 3/4 of an inch behind the 12th spot, which was the cutoff to qualify for nationals. However, Harris said that this year 14 pole vaulters are being invited to compete, so both Hedges and Harris will be going.

"There was more pressure" at the meet, Harris said, because it was the last chance to qualify. When both Harris and Hedges failed to improve their vaults on Saturday, "We were bummed after the meet," Harris said. It wasn't until later that they found out they would still be able to go to Boston to compete. "I'm excited to experience the atmosphere," Harris said. "I'm not feeling undeserving; I'm expecting to do well."

The women's distance medley relay team also qualified for nationals when they won their race and set a school-record time. The SPU quintet was comprised of junior Josie Lavin, sophomore Kinyatta Leonhardt, freshman Bridgette Sexton and Dickson.

"We'd never practiced (together) before," Sexton said. "We ran phenomenally." The decision for SPU to compete in the medley relay was a last minute decision, and Sexton didn't even know what leg of the race she was running until the day of the race.

"The distance medley is the perfect way to unite a team," Sexton said. The race brought together Sexton, who is a heptathelete, with Dickson, a long distance runner, and Leonhardt, a sprinter. Sexton, however, will not be participating in the national competition because she is Seventh-day Adventist and doesn't compete between Friday and Saturday evenings.

"I've had to give up a lot of stuff," Sexton said of respecting the Sabbath. "It's also been a huge blessing ... usually people respect it."

Fellow freshman Karin Rohde will be taking Sexton's place in the race at nationals, but Sexton is confident that she'll do fine. "It's a lot of pressure," Sexton said, but "she knows how to run."

Other SPU athletes were also successful at Saturday's meet. Sophomore Kristin Janney placed first in the 60 dash, while for the men, freshman Ryan Jewell also won the 60 dash. Junior Chris Randolph won the long jump, and the men also won their distance medley.

The Falcon women's distance medley team shared GNAC women's indoor track and field athletes of the week after they posted their national provisional qualifying time. They are ranked ninth in the NCAA Division II, and are going to Boston because the nationals are allowing the top ten teams this year as opposed to the top eight teams as they have in years past. When the women compete on the national stage, they will be switching up their running order due to the absence of Sexton. Despite the changes, Sexton says that, for the athletes, "it is a really cool opportunity to have."

Depending on their specialty, the track and field athletes often spend up to four hours a day, six days a week, practicing and training for competition.

Going to nationals is an exciting opportunity that they have worked hard for and they are excited to see how they match up against the best in the nation.