FRESNO, Calif. (Sept. 14) -- Nathanael Castle of Seattle Pacific University, meeting some of his chief conference rivals for the first time, finished 14th at the 38th annual Fresno State Invitational cross country race Saturday.

In what was billed as a preview of the NCAA Division II West Regional in November, Castle (Sr., Gooding, Id.) ran 5 miles in 26 minutes, 34 seconds. The course will be lengthened to 10,000 meters in the regional.

Chico State's Chris Eggers was a runaway winner, finishing in 25:44, 15 seconds ahead of teammate Matt Faulkner. The Wildcats also took the team title.

The top runner from the Great Northwest Athletic Conference was Sean Rivers of Alaska Anchorage. He was fifth in 26:08.

At the Central Washington Invitational in Ellensburg, behind the fifth-place effort of Josie Lavin, the SPU women took second place to Central.

Ex-Wildcat Alicen Maier won the 5000-meter race in 19:38, followed by three CWU harriers. Lavin (So., Bremerton, wa./Bremerton) was next in 20:43 and Ruth Hawkinson (Sr., Roy, Wa./Yelm) placed seventh (20:53) and Sarah Kraybill (Sr., Seattle, Wa./Ballard) ninth in 21:11. In her first race of the season, Nicole Seana (Jr., Carnation, Wa./Kamiakin) took 10th in 21:27.

Central finished with 18 points, SPU 44 and Western Washington 74.

For the men, Ryan Nash (Sr., Spokane, Wa./Mead) was the top scorer, taking eighth in 22:42 on the 4-mile course through Rhinehart Park.

Fresno State Invitational (5 miles)
Winner: Chris Eggers, Chico State, 25:44.
SPU Finishers: 14-Nathanael Castle, 26:34; 51-Tim LeCount,28:06; 67-Scott Van Hess, 29:36; 71-Paul Mach, 29:46.

Central Washington Invitational (4 miles)
Men's Winner: Eric Tollefson, unat., 19:45
SPU Men's Finishers: 8-Ryan Nash, 22:42; 19-Aaron Libadisos, 23:15; 31-Clint Bjella, 25:17.
Women's Winner: Alicen Maier, unat., 19:38
SPU Women's Finishers: 5-Josie Lavin, 20:43; 7-Ruth Hawkinson, 20:53; 9-Sarah Kraybill, 21:11; 10-Nicole Seana, 21:27; 14-Abby Groth, 21:32; 19-Janelle Stevens, 21:44; 23-Becky Knox, 21:48; 24-Erica Owens, 21:49; 32-Ruth Harbaugh, 22:55.
Team scores: 1-Central Washington 18, 2-Seattle Pacific 44, 3-Western Washington 74, 4-St. Martin's 105