SEATTLE (Sept. 21) -- Seattle Pacific University's Nathanael Castle was one of five Division II runners to make a significant impact on the Sundodger Inivtational cross country meet Saturday at Lincoln Park.

Castle (Sr., Gooding, Id.) finished 15th in the predominantly-Division I invitational section while Western Washington's Paul Kezes won the race in a near-record time of 23 minutes, 42 seconds. Castle, picking up five places over the second half of the 8000 meters, was timed in 24:44--7 seconds better than his Sundodger time last season. He was the only Falcon in that race; his teammates competed in the open division.

Two other D-II harriers, South Dakota State's Matt Pearson and Kevin Doe, took seventh and 18th, respectively.

In the open men's division, SPU placed 12th and fifth out of seven Great Northwest Athletic Conference teams. Tim Le Count (Fr., Battle Ground, Wa.) was the team's top scorer, finishing 32nd in 25:51.

Ruth Harbaugh (Fr., Gig Harbor, Wa./Gig Harbor), taking 43rd, paced the women's squad, which was 11th in the open division and third among GNAC teams. Harbaugh was clocked in 18:57 over the 5k course. Emilie Mondor of Simon Fraser took first in 16:05.

The Falcons will return to Lincoln Park Oct. 26 for the GNAC Championships. Next Saturday they race at the Saint Martin's Invitational in Lacey.

Sundodger Invitational (8k)
Winner: Paul Kezes, WWU, 23:42.
SPU Finishers: 15-Nathanael Castle, 24:44.

Men's Sundodger Open (8k)
Winner: Ahrlin Bauman, Team Athletics NW, 24:27.
Team scores: 1-Willamette 27, 2-CC of Spokane 121, 3-Northwest Nazarene 144, 4-Victoria 167, 5-Western Oregon 175, 6-Puget Sound 189, 7- British Columbia 235, 8-Central Washington 281, 9-Seattle U. 320, 10- Whitworth 333, 11-Warner Pacific 337, 12-Seattle Pacific 339, 13-Pacific Lutheran 349, 14-Lewis-Clark State 350, 15-Simon Fraser 374, 16-Mount Hood CC 376, 17- Clackamas CC 397, 18-Western Washington 489, 19-Lewis & Clark 505, 20-Saint Martin's 530, 21-Highline CC 553, 22-Whitman 591, 23-Clark CC 599, 24- Evergreen 617, 25-Flathead Valley 818.
SPU Finishers: 32-Tim LeCount, 25:51; 64-Ryan Nash, 26:27; 92-Paul Mach, 26:56; 103-Scott Van Hess, 27:04; 140-Aaron Libadisos, 27:32; 214-Clint Bjella, 29:29

Women's Sundodger Open (8k)
Winner: Ahrlin Bauman, Team Athletics NW, 24:27.
Team scores: 1-Northwest College 49, 2-Hershey Harriers Canada 130, 3-Simon Fraser 135, 4-Western Washington 144, 5-Central Washington 168, 6-Lewis-Clark State 180, 7-Victoria 195, 8-Whitworth 202, 9-Puget Sound 221, 10-Portland 226, 11-Seattle Pacific 296, 12-Clark College 306, 13-Western Oregon 312, 14-British Columbia 355, 15-Pacific Lutheran 361, 16-Lewis & Clark 410, 17-Whitman 489, 18-St. Maritn's 495, 19-Seattle U. 518, 20-Evergreen 562.
SPU Finishers: 43-Ruth Harbaugh18:57, 53-Josie Lavin, 19:11, 65-Ruth Hawkinson, 19:21, 90-Sarah Kraybill, 19:37, 105-Nicole Seana, 19:43, 111-Abby Groth, 19:56; 119-Becky Knox, 20:01, 126-Janelle Stevens, 20:08, 127-Melissa Hogland 20:09.