Destination: Slippery Rock. An injury-marred regular season for the women's cross country team will all be forgotten Saturday (Nov. 3) when Seattle Pacific University, now at full-strength, sends its runners in search of national berths at the NCAA West Regional in Bellingham. The top Division II programs from seven states will be vying for places in the NCAA Championships, to be held Nov. 17 in Slippery Rock, Pa. The regional schedule begins at 10:30 with the women's 6000-meter run, followed by the men's 10k race.

Formula for success. To earn an invitation to the national championships, the Falcons must finish among the top four teams, a feat accomplished by the women's team each of the last seven years. A year ago, however, the West received only three berths and Seattle Pacific was fourth, missing the cutoff by nine points. It was the first time since 1993 that SPU missed the trip to nationals. UC Davis, ranked No. 2 nationally, has won four of the past six regionals. The only teams to interrupt the Aggies' string were SPU in 1996 and Central Washington last year. In addition to the teams, the race's top two individuals from non-qualifying teams will also move on to nationals.

They've got their health. Since the first races in early September, Coach Doris Heritage has kept in mind that the most important race would be the regional. Such thinking assuaged the disappointing regular season results, when Heritage was either without her full compliment of women harriers or some were in the process of recovering from injuries or illness. Thankfully, the Falcons are now as healthy as they've been all season. Rachel Ross (Sr., Kennewick, Wa.), who missed three of the six regular season meets because of injuries, was back and the team's top scorer, taking 11th at the Oct. 20 Northwest College Invitational. Ross, a two-time conference champion and All-America in 1998, finished fourth in the 2000 regional and sixth as a freshman at Lake Padden, the same park being used for this year's regional.

Familiar trail. Most of the SPU runners previewed the regional course Sept. 29 during the Western Washington Invitational. Nathanael Castle (Jr., Gooding, Id.) achieved his second-best finish of the autumn, taking second place. Castle's 10k time­his only race at that distance this season­was 32 minutes, 56 seconds. He was the team's top scorer in each meet and never finished below 11th. Castle was fifth at the Great Northwest Athletic Conference Championships. While Ross missed the Western preview meet, Jamie Witt (So., Folsom, Ca.) took full advantage. Witt finished sixth in 22:48­her best 6k time since Sept. 23, 2000. She was the team's top scorer in three of the last four meets and was 12th at the Northwest College race.

Entries nearly set. Heritage has determined six of the seven women who will run at the regional. Joining Witt and Ross will be Dana Cantrell (Sr., Bellingham, Wa./Sehome), Ruth Hawkinson (Jr., Roy, Wa./Yelm), Kirsten Bjork (So., Olympia, Wa./Black Hills) and Sarah Kraybill (Jr., Seattle, Wa./Ballard). The last spot will be filled by either Nicole Seana (So., Carnation, Wa./Kamiakin), Kara Richard (Fr., Elma, NY/Iroquois Central) or Candy Owens (So., Ridgefield, Ct./Ridgefield). The men's team is set, with the seven entries being Castle, Neal Fryett (Sr., Pullman, Wa./Logos), Zach Grice (Jr., Renton, Wa./Liberty), Tim Marston (So., Pullman, Wa./Logos), Nick Glancy (Sr., Redmond, Wa./Redmond), Aaron Libadisos (Fr., Kailua-Kona, Hi./Kealakehe) and Scott Van Hess (Jr., Salem, Or./McKay).

Trail mix. Charlotte Jensen (1990) was the last Seattle Pacific woman to win a regional race..Ross, Seana and Hawkinson were members of the SPU team which took sixth nationally in 1999...The last time the men's squad qualified for nationals was 1961 and the last individual to make it was Albert Reimer in 1980. There have been a couple top-25 finishes at the regional since then. Steve Grant was 22nd in 1989 and Matt Cooper was 23rd in 1996.

Last week's results:

Women's Team Scores: 1-Northwest College 30; 2-Western Washington 89; 3-Seattle Pacific 90; 5-Lewis-Clark State 97; 5-Central Washington 127; 6-Southern Oregon 139; 7-Seattle U. 170; 8-Eastern Oregon 192; 9-Saint Martins 2781.
Individuals: 1-Sarah Forrey, unat., 17:51; 2-Amy Forrey, unat., 17:56; 3-Crystal Evans, NWC, 17:58; 4-Kim Stone, NWC, 18:00; 5-Kelly Fullerton, SU, 18:06. Also: 11-Rachel Ross, 18:25; 12-Jamie Witt, 18:25; 19-Dana Cantrell, 18:46; 32-Candy Owens, 19:05; 34-Kirsten Bjork, 19:12; 36-Josie Lavin, 19:16; 48-Sarah Kraybill, 19:32; 52-Nicole Seana, 19:39; 66-Kara Richard, 19:56; 113-Acadia Giffey-Brohaugh, 22:26.

Men's Team Scores : 1-Eastern Oregon 26; 2-Central Washington 53; 2-Western Washington 81; 4-Seattle U. 130; 5-Lewis-Clark State 153; 6-Saint Martin's 158; 7-Seattle Pacific 162; 8-Southern Oregon 185; 9-Cascade College 291; 10-Evergreen 319.
Individuals: 1-Chris Clancy, WPC, 24:27; 2-Phil Olson, NWC, 24:49; 3-Tom Gaschk, CWU, 24:49; 4-Eric Griffiths, EOU, 24:50; 5-Tim Riley, EOU, 24:51. Also: 7-Nathanael Castle, 25:03; 36-Neal Fryett, 26:24; 40-Zach Grice, 26:29; 54-Scott Van Hess, 27:01; 58-Paul Mach, 27:16; 60-Aaron Libadisos, 27:19; 101-Clint Bjella, 28:58; DNF-Nick Glancy.