Back in their backyard. In their final outing prior to next month's NCAA West Regional, the Seattle Pacific University cross country teams will be running around their virtual backyard Saturday (Oct. 20) at the Northwest College Invitational. Six fellow Great Northwest Athletic Conference teams and several other local small colleges are expected to take part in the women's 5000-meter and men's 8k races in Issaquah. Afterward the Falcons will take a week off from racing as they prepare for the national-qualifying meet in Bellingham Nov. 3. The SPU women have gone to nationals six of the last seven years.

Another race, another objective. Coach Doris Heritage will use this final regular season meet for situational tactics, a training exercise and to help determine her entries for the regional. She expects to have all of her harriers available, including Rachel Ross (Sr., Kennewick, Wa.), who has missed the last three weeks because of injuries. Although Seattle Pacific fell out of the national rankings this week, it is still among the top contenders for one of the West's three national-qualifying berths.

GNAC recap. The Falcons fared nearly as well as could have been expected at last week's conference meet. Nathanael Castle (Jr., Gooding, Id.) ran with the lead pack and became only the fifth all-conference team member from SPU and equaled the best-ever finish, taking fifth place at the GNAC Championships in Anchorage. His 8000-meter time was 26 minutes, 38 seconds in subfreezing temperatures. Jamie Witt (So., Folsom, Ca.) was again the standard-bearer for the women, claiming sixth place on the 6k trail in 24:26. Depleted by injuries and further weakened by illness, the women's team sank to fourth place­it's lowest finish in nine years. The men were seventh, the same as a year ago. Northwest Nazarene was a runaway winner in the men's standings and the Crusaders' Francis Kimeli took the individual title in 26:12. Humboldt State was a surprise women's champion, edging Western Washington 59-68. The Vikings' Ashlee Vincent cruised to a 19-second victory in 23:46 and became the first non-SPU harrier to win since 1995.

Ross looks toward regional. Ross, a two-time conference champion and All-America in 1998, has missed the last two meets with a strained hamstring but has always intended to be back for the regional. Witt and Dana Cantrell (Sr., Bellingham, Wa./Sehome), the team's No. 3 scorer this fall, are also probable this week despite lingering colds. Josie Lavin (Fr., Bremerton, Wa./Bremerton), the team's top recruit, has run in only two meets due to a sore Achilles and will miss the remainder of the season.

Trail mix. Heritage said the cold, dry conditions in Alaska sapped the strength of several individuals, including Castle, Witt and Cantrell, who were recovering from colds and flu. Castle had been 15th in the 1999 conference race and Witt just missed the all-conference cutoff a year ago, taking 12th...Heritage credited Ruth Hawkinson (Jr., Roy, Wa./Yelm), Kirsten Bjork (So., Olympia, Wa./Black Hills), Neal Fryett (Sr., Pullman, Wa./Logos), Zach Grice (Jr., Renton, Wa./Liberty) and Tim Marston (So., Pullman, Wa./Logos) with particularly strong performances. Hawkinson and Bjork were 21st and 28th, respectively.

Last week's results:

Women's Team Scores: 1-Humboldt State 58; 2-Western Washington 69; 3-Alaska Anchorage 84; 4-Seattle Pacific 118; 5-Central Washington 125; 6-Western Oregon 161; 7-Northwest Nazarene 179; 8-Seattle University 186; 9-Alaska Fairbanks 189; 10-Saint Martins 290.
Women's Individual Results: 1-Ashlee Vincent, WWU, 23:46.00; 2-Dolores Bergmann, HSU, 24:05.70; 3-Kelly Fullerton, SU, 24:06.30; 4-Kylee Wells, WOU, 24:12.50; 5-Stephanie Stine, CWU, 24:19.30; 6-Jamie Witt, SPU, 24:26.50; 7-Kati Gosnell, HSU, 24:27.60; 8-Stacey Edwards, UAA, 24:30.50; 9-Kiersten Lippmann, UAA, 24:31.90; 10. Pearl, Lisa, WWU, 24:38.90. Also: 21-Ruth Hawkinson, SPU, 25:09.60; 28-Kirsten Bjork, SPU, 25:40.70; 31-Dana Cantrell, SPU, 25:48.40; 32-Kara Richard, SPU, 25:49.90; 37-Sarah Kraybill, SPU, 26:14.00; 48-Nicole Seana, SPU, 26:39.00.

Men's Team Scores: 1-Northwest Nazarene 32; 2-Western Washington 76; 3-Central Washington 86; 4-Alaska Anchorage 87; 5-Humboldt State 143; 6-Seattle University 181; 7-Seattle Pacific 183; 8-Western Oregon 218; 9-Saint Martins 227; 10-Alaska Fairbanks 270.
Men's Individual Results: 1-Francis Kimeli, NNU, 26:12.20; 2-Martin Ranney, WWU, 26:27.80; 3-Aaron Matthias, NNU, 26:31.50; 4-Tom Gaschk, CWU, 26:35.00; 5-Nathanael Castle, SPU, 26:38.30; 6-Zack Boteilho, WWU, 26:44.70; 7-Juraj Trubiroha, NNU, 26:46.20; 8-Louie White, HSU, 26:52.80; 9-Zach Dwello, NNU, 26:54.70; 10-Eric Strabel, UAA, 27:00.30. Also: 38-Neal Fryett, SPU, 28:21.80; 43-Zach Grice, SPU, 28:27.30; 44-Nick Glancy, SPU, 28:32.00; 57-Tim Marston, SPU, 29:16.30; 58-Aaron Libadisos, SPU, 29:16.30; 68-Scott Van Hess, SPU, 30:15.90.