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PORTLAND, Ore. – Running in her hometown. Running on a world-class fast track. Running toward the end of her college career.
 
Everything was there for the taking on Friday night. And Jalen Tims stepped up and took it.
 
Twice.
 
The Seattle Pacific senior won her heat of the 400 meters, then came back a little more than an hour later and won her heat of the 200 – both in personal-best times – at the Tracktown USA High Performance meet.
                                                                                                                                                                       
Tims finished her 400 in 57.68 seconds, and clocked 25.64 in the 200 at the House of Track, a warehouse that has been converted into a temporary indoor facility to break in the brand-new, 200-meter banked oval that will be used in March for both the U.S. and world indoor championship meets across town.





"To come out and really know you're going to run on the best surface possible and just put it all out there and see what I got – it was fun," said Tims, who prepped at Portland's Cleveland High. "After doing (track) for 10 years and coming out here and getting a lot of support from my hometown and fans and friends, it was really cool."
 
Tims' 400 time was sixth overall among the 19 runners, and six-hundredths of a second ahead of the 57.74 posted by Rachel Vinjamuri from NCAA Division I member Portland State. It also was half a second faster than her previous PR of 58.18 set at last year's Great Northwest Athletic Conference Championships.
 
Her 200 mark, giving her eighth overall out of 18 competitors, beat her old PR of 25.89, set just last Friday night at the UW Invitational in Seattle.
 
But Tims is confident she can do better than that. She is about half a second away from the NCAA Division II provisional qualifying time of 57.11.
 
"Today, I'm pretty happy with the results," she said. "In a few weeks, I'm going to expect a lot faster. I want to be at 56 (in the 400) and breaking 25 in the 200 hopefully by the end of indoors. My goal is to run a fast leg on the 4-by-400 relay and get to nationals. Doing it with my team, that's really important."
 
Seattle Pacific assistant coach Audra Smith also believes Tims can pick up the pace even more.
 
"It has been really fun watching her this year just continuing to get better," Smith said. "She's committed to everything – the classroom, the track, taking care of business and managing injuries and those things that have held her back in the past."
 
"She just owned it tonight," Smith added. "It was her home crowd, lots of people supporting her. She had something to prove, and she definitely did it."
 
Fellow senior – and fellow Portland native – Jahzelle Ambus also raced to a heat victory in the 400. Ambus clocked 56.92 seconds, giving her fourth overall out of 19.  Ambus then went 25.27 in the 200 for seventh out of 18.





LOPEZ, RAMSEY SET PRs IN MEN'S SPRINTS
Mario Lopez wasn't all that happy with his performance in the 400 meters. But the Falcons sophomore more than made up for it near the end of the night with an indoor-best race in the 200.
 
Lopez (Chino, Calif.) came around the final curve and powered toward the finish line to stop the watch in 22.66 seconds. His old best at that distance was 22.78 last February at the UW Indoor Open.
 
"The 200 felt really good," Lopez said. "I needed to come back after not doing so well at the UW (22.94 last Saturday). "I had Lane 6, and that's not that great a lane. But I gave it my all and closed hard. I just wanted to get under 23, into the mid 22s."
 
Earlier, Lopez went 50.66 in the 400.
 
"I slowed down, and my body wasn't ready to give it that little push at the end," he said. "I'm looking forward to doing better."
 
Justin Ramsey came up with a second consecutive PR in the 400, finishing in 51.22. That beat the 51.42 he logged on Jan. 16.
 
Personal-bests or not, Smith was pleased with what she saw across the board from all nine Falcons who ran on Friday.

 

"They did what they were supposed to do," she said. "They executed well, they ran great races, and we had a handful of heat wins. Going into conference, they're going to be super-composed, and their confidence will just be so much higher being able to do it on the oval."
 
The Falcons are off for the rest of this weekend, and return to action in two meets next week: the Husky Classic on Friday and Saturday, and the UW Indoor Open on Valentine's Day Sunday, all at Dempsey Indoor.
 
TRACK TALES: A pair of former Seattle Pacific stars raced on Friday. McKayla Fricker was third in the 800 in 2:04.60. Fricker won the 2014 NCAA outdoor championship in that race. She now competes for HPW / Brooks. Jane Larson (now Ricardi), placed seventh in the 1,500 in 4:26.19. Ricardi, a member of three straight NCAA trophy-winning cross country teams and a track All-American, runs for Club Northwest.
 
 
NCAA INDOOR TRACK & FIELD
Tracktown USA High Performance meet
Friday, February 5, 2016
House of Track / Portland, Ore.
 
WOMEN'S RESULTS
(SPU events only)
200 – 1, Genna Settle (Portland State) 24.72. SPU placers – 7, Jahzelle Ambus 25.27; 8, Jalen Tims 25.64; 9, Kyra Brannan 25.76; 10, Becca Houk 25.89; 13, Cheryl Hong 26.51.
400 – 1, Kendall Baisden (Adidas) 54.10. SPU placers – 4, Jahzelle Ambus 56.92; 6, Jalen Tims 57.68; 10, Cheryl Hong 59.08; 16, Keana Fine 1:00.85; 18, Emma Lambert 1:00.92.
 
MEN'S RESULTS
(SPU events only)
200 – 1, Quadelle Satterwhite (UW) 21.59. SPU placer – 7, Mario Lopez 22.66.
400 – 1, James Harris (Unattached) 47.29. SPU placers – 12, Mario Lopez 50.66; 13, Justin Ramsey 51.22.