Azusa - Freshman Natalie Friesen saved her best for last. Friesen soared 38-01.25 to win the triple jump on her final attempt today at the Golden State Athletic Conference Track & Field Championship in Azusa.

"I am not sure why that is," said Friesen of winning jump. "I seem too start slow and finish strong. I seem to get better as the competition goes on.

Friesen, a freshman from Reedley (Immanuel HS) was FPU's only champion in the two day event hosted by Azusa Pacific University.

Point Loma Nazarene University won the women's championship with 231 points followed by the hosts with 197. FPU finished third with 142 comfortably ahead of fourth place Concordia (115).

Friday, April 22, 2005 - FPU at the GSAC Championship

Azusa - Freshman Vanessa MacKenzie provided the highlights for the Sunbirds women during the first day of the Golden State Athletic Conference Championship. MacKenzie had the fastest qualifying time in the 800 meters and will complete in Saturday's final. Her time of 2:17.82 shaved more than two seconds off the previous FPU record ( 2:19.90 by Kim Fichtner on 3/30/96). Brittany Phillips ran 2:21.80, to claim the number three spot on FPU's all-time list, but did not advance.

FPU scored 36.33 points on Friday and stood third behind host Azusa Pacific (90) and Point Loma Nazarene (51).

Saturday's action gets underway at 9:00 p.m. with the hammer throw and concludes with the 4x400 meter relay at 4:00 p.m..

Friday, April 22, 2005 - FPU at the GSAC Championship
The 2005 Golden State Athletic Conference Track and Field Championship gets underway this morning at 11:00 a.m. with the pole vault competition. The final event of the first day of competition is the men's 10,000 meter run scheduled to begin at 8:00 p.m.

The championship is hosted by Azusa Pacific University.