Regional preview. Seattle Pacific University and dozens of other cross country teams from throughout the Northwest will converge on Bellingham's Lake Padden Park Saturday (Sept. 29) for the Western Washington Invitational. The field will include six other Great Northwest Athletic Conference teams while the course is identical to that of the NCAA Div. II West Regional Nov. 3.

Stretching out. This will be the Falcons' first race at the championship distance of 6000 meters for women and 10,000 for men. To date, the distances have been 5 and 8k, respectively. The SPU women are among three nationally-ranked GNAC teams to be competing this week. Western Washington was No. 10, Central Washington 15th and Seattle Pacific 21st in the Sept. 17 poll. Central is the defending conference and regional champion while UC Davis appears to be the early favorite to win the West in 2001. The Aggies are currently No. 2 in the nation but, along with the other California schools, have opted to race at Stanford this weekend.

Could be close. Western Washington and SPU have gone back and forth in the first three meets, with the Viking women finishing ahead in two of the races. Last weekend at the Sundodger Open both teams ran their top individuals and Western finished just six points in front of the Falcons. With some key people still on the rebound from offseason injuries and only beginning to round into shape, Doris Heritage's team should get stronger as the season progresses.

At Witt's end. Among those who are on the mend is Jamie Witt (So., Folsom, Ca.). In fact Witt, who missed most of the spring season with a back injury, is running as good as ever. She was the team's top scorer and sixth overall at Sundodger, looking comfortable in completing the 5k course in 18 minutes, 10 seconds. It was Witt's best finish in a non-dual since the 2000 Sundodger when she was third, and she was second among all GNAC women. The team finished fourth behind Northwest College, Willamette and Western.

Castle could contend. Last week both the men's and women's teams got a glimpse of several other strong GNAC teams and individuals. And based on the Sundodger results, Nathanael Castle (Jr., Gooding, Id.) will be a top contender at next month's GNAC championships. Castle was the No. 3 GNAC runner and 11th overall in 24:51. In the team standings SPU was 12th.

Where it all began. This week's trail is where Rachel Ross (Sr., Kennewick, Wa.) first served notice that she would become one of the premier runners in the region. At Lake Padden in 1998 Ross, then a freshman, won the first of her two Pacific West Conference titles and took sixth in the region. A year ago she was third at the Western Invitational. She won the Saint Martin's Invitational Sept. 15 for her sixth career victory but could not defend her Sundodger title a week ago, placing 19th in 18:33.

Trail mix. Heritage may elect to rest her harriers rather than run at the Central Washington Invitational Oct. 6. The GNAC Championships are Oct. 13 in Anchorage...Two runners did not race last week. Josie Lavin (Fr., Bremerton, Wa./Bremeton) has a sore Achilles tendon and Tim LeCount (Fr., Battle Ground, Wa.) is still recovering from a knee injury.

Last week's results.

Women's Team Scores
1-Northwest College 70; 2-willamette 128; 3-Western Washington 13; 4-Seattle Pacific 143; 5-simon Fraser 149; 6-Puget Sound 160; 7-Western Oregon 227; 8-Lewis & Clark 228; 9-Central Washington 256; 10-Pacific Lutheran 262; 11- British Columbia 280; 13-Portland 319; 14-Victoria 337; 15-Clackamas CC 369; 16-Mount Hood CC 379; 17-Saint Martin's 562.
Individual Results
1-Dana Boyle, UPS, 17:13; 2-Emile Mondor, SFU, 17:24; 3-Designe McLean, SFU, 17:42; 4-Ashlee Vincent, WWU, 17:56; 5-Arlene Daniel, SFU, 17:58. Also: Jamie Witt, SPU, 18:10; 19-Rachel Ross, SPU, 18:33; 31-Dana Cantrell, SPU, 18:52; 47-Ruth Hawkinson, SPU, 19:13; 71-Kara Richard, SPU, 19:35; 88-Sarah Kraybill, SPU, 20:00; 94-Kirsten Bjork, SPU, 20:03; 99-Candy Owens, SPU, 20:06; 107-Nicole Seana, SPU, 20:12; 115-Leah Paddock, SPU, 20:17; 164-Hailey Armstrong, SPU, 21:22; 184-Acadia Giffey-Brohaugh, SPU, 22:44.

Men's Team Scores
1-Northwest Nazarene 51; 2-British Columbia 97; 3-Simon Fraser 112; 4-Willamette 115; 5-Central Washington 179; 6-Western Washington 189; 7-Kajacks TC 205; 8-Mt. hood CC 209; 9-Lewis & Clark 266; 10-Puget Sound 286; 11-Pacific Lutheran 306; 12-Seattle Pacific 334; 13-Saint Martin's 352; 14-Clackamas CC 353; 15-Western Oregon 494; 16-Victoria 521; 17-Highline CC 607; 18-Evergreen 673.
Individual Results
1-David Milne, UBC, 24:03; 2-Aaron Matthias, NNU, 24:40; 3-Brett Winegar, unat., 24:41; 4-Richard Mosley, SFU, 24:42; 5-Dan McLean, UPS, 24:44. Also: 11-Nathanael Castle, SPU, 24:51; 62-Neal Fryett, SPU, 26:27; 84-Aaron Libadisos, SPU, 26:48; 103-Scott Van Hess, SPU, 27:11; 108-Paul Mach, SPU, 27:15; 124-Clint Bjella, SPU, 27:34; 137-Nick Glancy, SPU, 28:03; 156-Zach Grice, SPU, 28:50; 159-Tim Marston, SPU, 28:57.