BELLINGHAM (Nov. 3) -- Nathanael Castle of Seattle Pacific University earned an individual berth to the NCAA Division II Cross Country Championship by taking eighth place in the West Regional at Lake Padden Park Saturday.

Castle (Jr., Gooding, Id.) became the first SPU male national qualifier since 1980. The NCAA Championships are Nov. 17 in Slippery Rock, Pa.

The injury-plagued Falcon women's team finished eighth overall and the men were 10th. Only the top four teams and two individuals from non-qualifying teams advanced. UC Davis, Humboldt State, Chico State and Sonoma State were the women's team qualifiers while the advancing men's teams are UC Davis, Chico State, Alaska Anchorage and UC San Diego.

Hawaii Pacific's Nina Christensen, a sophomore from Denmark, won her second regional women's title, and the Sea Warriors' Christian Madsen, a junior, took the men's crown. Christensen, who did not compete last year after taking the regional title in 1999, completed the 6-kilometer course in 21:37, 20 seconds ahead of teammate Lisa Blomme. Madsen toured the 10k distance in 32:07, edging Alaska Anchorage freshman Tobias Schwoerer by three seconds.

Castle, said Heritage, "ran a smart, tough race." He improved his mid-season time over the same course by over 27 seconds despite muddy conditions and finished in 32:28.

Jamie Witt (So., Folsom, Ca.) struggling with a sore back, was the top scorer for the women, taking 26th in 23:20.

Rachel Ross (Sr., Kennewick, Wa.), a two-time conference champion and All-America in 1998, did not race. Coach Doris Heritage said Ross continued to experience pain in her knee and hamstring, injuries which sidelined her in two earlier meets. Consequently, it was the lowest finish by an SPU women's team since 1993.

The Falcons had finished among the top four each of the last seven years, qualifying for nationals six times. Albert Reimer was the last SPU national qualifier for the men.

Men's Team Results
1-UC Davis 27, 2-Chico State 89, 3-Alaska Anchorage 106, 4-UC San Diego 124, 5-Western Washington 144, 6-Central Washington 154, 7-Cal Poly Pomona 169, 8-Humboldt State 236, 9-Hawaii Pacific 249, 10-Seattle Pacific 324, 11-Cal State L.A. 340, 11-Saint Martin's 340, 13-Western Oregon 342, 14-BYU Hawaii 388, 15-Hawaii Hilo 408, 16-Chaminade 438, 17-San Francisco State 459, 18-Montana State-Billings 537.

Men's Individual Results
1-Christian Madsen, HPU, 32:07; 2-Tobias Schwoerer, UAA, 32:10; 3-Ryan Miller UC Davis, 32:13; 4-Steve Laurie, UC Davis, 32:18; 5-Nate Bristow UC Davis, 32:19; 6-John Kuehn, UC Davis, 32:20; 7-David Braund, Chico State, 32:22; 8-Nathanael Castle, SPU, 32:28; 9-Jeff Wilson UC Davis, 32:35; 10-Zach Boteilho, WWU, 32:42; 11-Tyler Graff, Chico State, 32:43; 12-Tom Gaschk, CWU, 32:52; 13-Eric Strabel, UAA, 32:56; 14-Louie White HSU, 32:57; 15-Matthew Rainwater, Cal Poly Pomona, 33:00. Also: 71-Neal Fryett, SPU, 35:11; 78-Scott Van Hess, SPU, 35:39; 85-Nick Glancy, SPU, 36:01; 90-Tim Marston, SPU, 36:29; 92-Aaron Libadisos, SPU, 36:35; 98-Zach Grice, SPU, 37:33.

Women's Team Results:
1-UC Davis 44, 2-Humboldt State 133, 3-Chico State 139, 4-Sonoma State 154, 5-Western Washington 177, 6-Cal State Stanislaus 220, 7-Alaska Anchorage 224, 8-Seattle Pacific 243, 9-Central Washington 250, 10-Hawaii Pacific 252, 11-Cal State Dominguez Hills 263, 12-UC San Diego 283, 13-Western Oregon 295, 14-Cal Poly Pomona 332, 15-BYU Hawaii 381, 16-Cal State L.A. 466, 17-Cal State San Bernardino 469, 18-San Francisco State 482, 19-Saint Martin's 503, 20-Montana State Billings 507, 21-Chaminade 575.

Women's Individual Results (6K):
1-Nina Christensen, HPU, 21:37; 2-Lisa Blomme, HPU, 21:57; 3-Heather Gibson, UC Davis 21:58; 4-Jessica Neu, UC Davis 22:01, 5-Sayuri Kusutani, HPU, 22:02; 6-Kathleen Lenno, Sonoma State, 22:06; 7-Ashlee Vincent, WWU, 22:28; 8-Jenny Hunt, Sonoma State, 22:36; 9-Christina Liorente, UC Davis, 22:40; 10-Kylee Wells, WOU, 22:44; 11-Cambria D'Amico, Cal State Dominguez Hills, 22:47; 12-MaeAnna Glenn, UC Davis, 22:48; 13-Abby Bielenberg, CWU, 22:50; 14-Dolores Bergmann, HSU, 22:51; 15-Jasmine Gren, Chico State, 22:53. Also: 26- Jamie Witt, SPU, 23:20; 45-Ruth Hawkinson, SPU, 23:54; 47-Kirsten Bjork, SPU, 23:55; 62-Dana Cantrell, SPU, 24:15; 63-Nicole Seana, SPU, 24:16; 85-Sarah Kraybill, SPU, 24:52; 99-Kara Richards, SPU, 25:17.