Complete results (PDF)
        Falcons pile up PRs in Portland meet

EUGENE, Ore. – She broke through a time barrier that had been in front of her for way too long. Cracked the conference all-time top-10. Earned an automatic ticket to the NCAA Championships.
 
So how happy was McKayla Fricker?
 
Try fist-pump-across-the-finish-line happy.
 
Just one week after having decidedly mixed feelings about her 800-meter performance at the NCAA indoor finals in North Carolina, the Seattle Pacific senior was decidedly thrilled about what she did on Saturday afternoon in Oregon.
 
Under sunny skies with just the slightest of breezes, Fricker powered through her two laps around the oval at Historic Hayward Field in 2 minutes, 8 seconds flat at the Oregon Preview. That gave her second place in the race at the country's best-known track venue, beat her personal 'holy grail' of 2:09, and put her atop the D2 national list.
 




"I did 2:08 and it felt easy – that's pretty exciting," said Fricker, who ended the day by teaming with Kishia Mitchell, Tasia Baldwin, and BryAnne Wochnick to win the 4x400 relay. "It was definitely hard to get that motivation just coming off last weekend that was so mentally and physically draining.
 
"But I got to the starting line and said, 'I have to seize this opportunity. I can't waste it.'"
 
Seize it, she did. Sitting in fourth place after a 65-second first lap, Fricker (Canby, Ore.) moved up to third going around the near curve, widened her gap on the rest of the field heading up the backstretch, then surged up to second starting down the final 100 meters.
 
At the wire, only Shannon Leinert of the Oregon Track Club was ahead of Fricker, stopping the watch in 2:05.92. Fricker – thanks to a negative-split of 63 seconds on the final lap – was the first collegiate finisher, leaving behind her, among others, four consecutive runners from host and national Division I power Oregon.
 
"I went out at pace, and the girls went around me, and I could feel it slow down," said Fricker, who later came from behind with about the same distance on the anchor leg left to give Seattle Pacific the 4x400 victory. "I thought, 'Uh-oh – I'm boxed in. Great – here we go again.'
                                                                                           
"But it opened up just enough for me to get behind the leaders," she added. "I should have gone faster earlier and started my kick earlier to get that girl in first. But I know I can do that next time."
 
At the indoor nationals in Winston-Salem, N.C., last weekend, Fricker set her sights on winning the title, but had to settle for second in 2:09.25 – a best-ever time and place for her at NCAAs, but still short of her expectations.
 
She actually considered taking this weekend off, but decided to go for it at the urging of SPU head coach Karl Lerum.
 
"We sort of did expect it – she was a bit overdue to put up a fast time like that, based on her races and the training she has been doing," Lerum said. "But it's still exciting when the time actually goes up there. And I think another chunk can come off of that very soon."
 
Now, Fricker has her NCAA outdoor ticket punched – the only automatic qualifier so far – not to mention punching a hole through that 2:09 barrier.
 
Hence, the fist pump.
 
"I've just been really sick of 2:09. (Her previous best was 2:09.42.) I really wanted to break it at indoor nationals last weekend, and I didn't. That really built up the frustration," Fricker said. "I was just ready to get past that."
 
As of late Saturday afternoon, her 2:08.00 – which beat the automatic qual standard of 2:09.00 by a full second – was well on top of the national list. Among those Fricker is ahead of: Shawnee Carnett of Concord (W.V.), who beat her in last week's indoor 800 title race. Carnett ran 2:09.85 at the Wake Forest Open on Friday.
 
Numerous other meets were still in progress around the country on the first full weekend of outdoor action following the conclusion of the indoor season.
 
Saturday's time took Fricker from not even being in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference all-time top 10 to No. 6 on that list.
 
SPU's 4x400 group won in 3:54.16. The 4x100 team of Wochnick, Mitchell, Kyra Brannan, and Baldwin knocked a tenth off of their previous season best, clocking 47.33. That still leaves them on the cusp of the NCAA provisional time of 47.11.
 
The Falcons will be home next weekend in the Club Northwest Spring Break Open at West Seattle Stadium. The first event is at 9:00 a.m.
 
 
NCAA WOMEN'S TRACK & FIELD
Oregon Preview
Saturday, March 22, 2014
Historic Hayward Field / Eugene, Ore.
 
Team scores – Not kept.
 
100 – 1, Genna Settle (Portland St.) 12.00. No SPU competitors.
200 – 1, Christian Brennan (Oregon) 23.61. SPU placer – 10, Kyra Brannan 25.69.
400 – 1, Christian Brennan (Oregon) 54.43. SPU placers – 7, Kishia Mitchell 58.04; 8, BryAnne Wochnick 58.51.
800 – 1, Shannon Leinert (Oregon Track Club) 2:05.92. SPU placer – 2, McKayla Fricker 2:08.00.
1500 – 1, Anne Kesselring (Ore. Track Club) 4:18.99. SPU placer – 12, Lynelle Decker 4:36.08.
3000 – 1, Bridget Frankek (Nike OTC Elite) 9:27.36. SPU placer – 24, Anna Patti 10:17.08.
4x100 relay – 1, Oregon 'A' 44.10. SPU placer – 4, Seattle Pacific (Wochnick, Mitchell, Kyra Brannan, Tasia Baldwin) 47.33.
4x400 relay – 1, Seattle Pacific (Mitchell, Baldwin, Wochnick, Fricker) 3:54.16.
100 hurdles – 1, Jazmin Ratcliff (Portland St.) 14.14. SPU placer – 11, Cheryl Hong 15.72.
400 hurdles – 1, Kylie Ross (Utah State) 1:01.39. No SPU competitors.
2000 steeplechase – 1, Aisha Praught (Nike OTC Elite) 6:26.72. No SPU competitors.
High jump – 1, Lauren Crockett (Oregon) 6-0 ½ / 1.84m. SPU placer – T8, Ali Sowers 5-1 ¾ / 1.57m.
Pole vault – 1, Sammie Clark (Oregon) 13-7 / 4.14m. SPU competitor – Madi Webster no height.
Long jump – 1, Jordan Searle (Unattached) 18-7 ¾ / 5.68m. No SPU competitors.
Triple jump – 1, Alanna Coker (Unattached) 38-11 ½ / 11.87m. No SPU competitors.
Shot put – 1, Brittany Mann (Oregon) 53-4 ½ / 16.27m. No SPU competitors.
Discus – 1, Laura Bobek (Oregon) 160-00 / 48.78m. No SPU comepetitors.
Hammer – 1, Britney Henry (Giselle / NAI) 220-7 / 67.24m. No SPU competitors.
Javelin – 1, Katie Reichert (WWU) 162-1 / 49.40m. No SPU competitors.