May 8, 2009
SEATTLE -- Turning out for track at Seattle Pacific was in the back of Kelsey Burns' mind.
But it was way in the back.
A quick note from Falcons coach Karl Lerum shifted Burns' springtime mindset to fast forward -- or in her case, far forward.
During Friday night's annual Ken Foreman-Ken Shannon meet at Husky Stadium, Burns (Seattle/Kennedy HS) went farther forward in the long jump than she ever had gone in her life -- 18 feet, 9 inches -- to earn second place in the meet, and, more important, put herself onto the list of provisional qualifiers for the NCAA Division II championships.
“I got this e-mail from Karl at the beginning of the year, and he said, 'What do you think about track when basketball is over?'” said Burns, who has made her name on the hardwood for the Falcons the past two years, helping the team make the West Regional championship game twice.
“I'd thought a little bit about it before, but not really a lot,” Burns added. “That kind of opened the door.”
Whether it opens the door to San Angelo, Texas, for the D-2 nationals on May 21-23 remains to be seen, since the selections for the meet have yet to be made. At the very least, Burns now as her foot in that door -- and so do two more of her teammates.
Sophomore Jennifer Pike and freshman Natty Plunkett also came up with career-best and NCAA provisional qualifying performances on Friday.
Pike (Vancouver, Wash./Skyview HS) made it onto the list in the 400-meter hurdles, going the distance in 1 minute, 2.76 seconds that took third place in the meet. Plunkett (Bellevue, Wash./Newport HS) beat the standard in the 5,000 meters with a run of 17:30.90, winding up second.
Seattle Pacific had three individual winners in the meet whose name is shared by two local track coaching legends who also made a national impact during their tenures: SPU's Foreman and the UW's Shannon.
Junior Chad Meis (Renton, Wash./Seattle Christian HS) won the 3,000-meter steeplechase in 9:30.26, with freshman teammate Daniel Friesen (Lake Oswego, Ore.) close behind in second with a personal-best 9:31.48.
Junior Justin Felt (Eugene, Ore.) won the long jump with an outdoor career-best 23-1¼. It was his fourth long jump victory of the season. Falcon senior Jessica Hinton took the women's 400 meters in 57.54 seconds.
THE TAPE WAS HER OPPONENT
The only person to beat Burns in the long jump on Friday was Canadian Olympic athlete Rukayatu Abdulai, who went 20 feet, 7 inches.
But Burns was out to beat the measuring tape. The NCAA provisional qual mark is 18-5¼. Her previous college best was 18-3¼, which she hit on April 18 in the Pacific Lutheran University Invitational. Burns' lifetime best was 18-6, which was far enough to win the Class 3A state high school title at Kennedy in 2005.
That mark got left in the sand on the second of her three preliminary jumps.
“It didn't feel like anything special. But when I looked back, it was like, 'Oh, that could be good.'”
Burns didn't come out for track until after SPU concluded its basketball season in the NCAA West Regional final on March 16. Friday's meet was just her fourth of the season.
“I was pretty rusty. I hadn't done anything (for track) since high school,” Burns said. “My goal was to tie or break my high school mark (of 18-6). I just wanted to come out and see where I was.”
Pike nearly had her provisional qualifying time in the 400 hurdles on April 4, when she ran 1:03.05 in the JD Shotwell Invitational at the University of Puget Sound.
But the provisional standard is 1:03.00, and she hadn't come any closer since then than 1:03.52.
Until Friday, when her 1:02.76 went into the books -- and onto the NCAA provisional list.
“I usually don't get nervous before races until I get right onto the track,” Pike said. “But today, I started thinking about it at 11:30.”
Like the rest of the Falcons, Pike was pumped to race last Friday and Saturday at the Great Northwest Athletic Conference championships in Monmouth, Ore. But the meet was canceled late last Thursday night because of a probable swine flu case on the campus of meet host Western Oregon University.
So Friday's Foreman-Shannon meet became Pike's last chance to get the provisional qual time.
“I was expecting to have two good chances to PR (at the GNAC meet) -- two races in good weather against fast people. So that was disappointing,” Pike said of last week's cancellation. But on the plus side, she added, “I was definitely glad to have two weeks of rest (from SPU's previous meet).”
Plunkett, who was the GNAC Freshman of the Year in women's cross country last fall, not only beat her previous best time in the 5,000. She shattered it. Plunkett's time of 17:30.90 was nearly 16 seconds faster than the 17:46.69 she posted on March 27 in the San Francisco State Distance Carnival. The time she had to beat on Friday for NCAA provisional qualifying was 17:35.00.
NCAA Women's Track
Ken Foreman-Ken Shannon Invitational
Friday, May 8, 2009
Husky Stadium/Seattle, Wash.
100 -- 1, Jane Channell (Simon Fraser) 12.48.
200 -- 1, Breanne Carter (Simon Fraser) 25.58. SPU placer -- 8, Lisette Peterson 26.98.
400 -- 1, Jessica Hinton (SPU) 57.54. No other SPU placers.
800 -- 1, Lindsey Kirschman (UW) 2:12.85. SPU placer -- 5, Lisa Anderberg 2:15.34.
1500 -- 1, Kendra Schaaf (Unattached) 4:23.55. SPU placers -- 2, Jane Larson 4:30.77; 8, Kate Harline 4:41.27.
5000 -- 1, Sabrina Reeve (British Columbia) 17:25.43. SPU placers -- 2, Natty Plunkett 17:30.90; 8, Katie Hart 19:16.67; 9, Kate Harline 19:31.89; 16, Stephanie Kiracofe 20:43.26; 18, Margaret Hanscomm 21:04.93.
100 hurdles -- 1, Heather Bergland (Idaho) 14.23.
400 hurdles -- 1, Syreeta Martin (UW) 1:01.36. SPU placer -- 3, Jennifer Pike 1:02.76.
3000 steeplechase -- 1, Emily Palibroda (Simon Fraser) 11:17.32. SPU placers -- 5, Kayti Krepel 11:35.69; 6, Mary Williams 11:36.87.
4x100 relay -- 1, Washington 46.36.
4x400 relay -- 1, British Columbia 4:13.56.
High jump -- 1, Clara Cook (W. Washington) 5-7 1/4 (1.71m). SPU placer -- T8, Jaquie Mattson 4-11 (1.50m).
Pole vault -- 1, Lara Jones (UW) 12-2 (3.71m). SPU placers -- T3, Melissa Peaslee and Carrie Allan 11-8 (3.56m); 9, Michaela Caldwell 11-2 1/4 (3.41m).
Long jump -- 1, Rukayata Abdulai (Valley Royals) 20-7 (6.27m). SPU placer -- 2, Kelsey Burns 18-9 (5.71m).
Triple jump -- 1, Taylor Nichols (UW) 39-8 (12.09m).
Shot put -- 1, Taylor Hacker (PLU) 40-0 1/2 (12.20m).
Discus -- 1, Chantel Spies (Kajaks T&F) 151-1 (46.06m).
Hammer -- 1, Hacker (PLU) 174-4 (53.14m).
Javelin -- 1, Liz Gleadle (British Columbia) 170-3 (51.90m). SPU placers -- 2, Jeeni Schantin 156-8 (47.75m); 3, Lauren VerMulm 146-11 (44.78m); 7, Carly Andrews 104-2 (31.74m).
NCAA Men's Track
Ken Foreman-Ken Shannon Invitational
Friday, May 8, 2009
Husky Stadium/Seattle, Wash.
100 -- 1, Adam Newton (Simon Fraser) 10.79.
200 -- 1, Andrew Boss (Simon Fraser) 22.34. SPU placer -- 11, Micah Grounds 23.41.
400 -- 1, Joel Halcro (British Columbia) 48.44.
800 -- 1, Brian Govier (UW) 1:51.22.
1500 -- 1, Eric Garner (Brooks Eastside) 3:46.53. SPU placer -- 16, Nathanael Sleight 4:08.61.
5000 -- 1, Josiah Price (Saint Martin's) 15:00.71. SPU placer -- 20, Daniel Hamilton 16:26.59.
110 hurdles -- 1, Sean Walker (Unattached) 15.70.
400 hurdles -- 1, Philip Noble (Treasure Valley) 53.74.
3000 steeplechase -- 1, Chad Meis (SPU) 9:30.26. Other SPU placer -- 2, Daniel Friesen 9:31.48.
4x100 relay -- 1, British Columbia 41.62.
4x400 relay -- 1, Western Washington 3:30.31.
4x800 relay -- 1, Simon Fraser 7:48.46.
High jump -- 1, Cameron Bailey 6-9 (2.06m).
Pole vault -- 1, Jared O'Connor (UW) 17-6 1/2 (5.35m).
Long jump -- 1, Justin Felt (SPU) 23-1 1/4 (7.04m). No other SPU placers.
Triple jump -- 1, Clayton Johnson (Unattached) 46-3 1/4 (14.10m).
Shot put -- 1, Sam Washington (Saint Martin's) 51-0 (15.54m).
Discus -- 1, Will Conwell (Club Northwest) 181-5 (55-29m).
Hammer -- 1, Conor McNeill (PLU) 162-2 (49.42m).
Javelin -- 1, Curtis Moss (British Columbia) 205-1 (62.51m).
