Athletics The Scholar-Athlete

Conference Crown for Indoor Track, Basketball Teams Have Titles in View

Winter Sports Update

By Mark Moschetti | Photo by Mike Siegel

Senior guard Suzanna Ohlsen is a top-10 all-time scorer for the Falcon women’s basketball team, and, as a biochemistry major with a 4.0 gradepoint average, was just named the Academic All-America Player of the Year for NCAA Division II women's basketball.

One conference postseason championship in the books. A chance for two more still to come for Seattle Pacific winter sports teams.

With school record-setting performances from two newcomers, the Falcons won the Great Northwest Athletic Conference women’s indoor track and field title for the 10th time, outscoring two-time defending champ Alaska Anchorage on February 20 and 21 in Nampa, Idaho, 146–134.

Leading the way was Jahzelle Ambus, a junior who transferred to SPU this year. Ambus won the 400-meter dash in 56.18 seconds, breaking the year-old SPU record of 57.00. In the 200, freshmanBecca Houk was second across the finish line, but got there in 24.89 seconds. That erased a 19-year-old Falcon standard of 24.99, set in 1996 by Shavonne Colebrooke. Other winners for SPU were Anna Patti in the 5,000 meters, Naphtali Ward in the high jump, and the 4x400 relay.

Freshman Mario Lopez beat his own school record in the men’s 400, finishing fifth in 49.27.

Both Falcon basketball teams began March preparing for the GNAC Tournament in Billings, Montana. The nationally ranked women were in the hunt for their first NCAA West Regionals since 2011. Their regular-season highlights included two-game series sweeps of arch-rival Western Washington, and defending GNAC champion Montana State Billings.

The men likewise were focusing on another NCAA berth. They have made it for 10 years in a row, the longest current streak among Division II schools. Seattle Pacific’s key victories this winter include one on New Year’s night in Brougham Pavilion against Western Oregon, which went on to win the regular-season GNAC title.

Falcon gymnasts continued their high-scoring ways, with several meets in the 190-point range once again. On January 24 in Colorado Springs, SPU won a dual meet against Mountain Pacific Sports Federation rival Air Force with 192.650. Seattle Pacific is taking aim at its 33rd trip to nationals in the last 34 years. That meet is April 10–12 in Philadelphia.