SALEM, Ore. (Oct. 5) -- Nathanael Castle of Seattle Pacific University cruised to seventh place out of a field of 366 runners at the Willamette Invitational cross country race Saturday at Bush's Pasture Park.

Castle (Sr., Gooding, Id.), returning from a week off, ran with the lead pack throughout the 8000-meter race, which was won by Chris Clancy of Warner Pacific in 24 minutes, 17 seconds.

Castle was timed in 24:35, his best time of the season by nine seconds and it was his best placement since being runner-up at the Emerald City Invitational Sept. 7. He was second among Great Northwest Athletic Conference finishers to Humboldt State's Peter Clausner, who was third in 24:29. Eight GNAC

Chico State, with two harriers among the top six and all five scorers finishing among the top 14, easily won the team title with 47 points, followed by Eastern Oregon (95) and host Willamette (97). Seattle Pacific was a distant 17th (480). Time LeCount (Fr., Battle Ground, Wa.) was the Falcons' No. 2 scorer, taking 30th in 25:21--his best time by 30 seconds--but the rest of the team finished far back in the field.

At the dual with Western Washington in Maple Falls, the SPU women were edged by the Vikings, 26-29. The men did not field a complete team of five scorers.

Western Washington's Kurt Hartmaier and Laura Trevellyan won the men's and women's collegiate sections at Silver Lake Park. Trevellyan completed the 2.9-mile course in 18:24 while Hartmaier completed the same course in 15:15.

For the second week in a row, Nicole Seana (Jr., Carnation, Wa./Kamiakin) was the Falcons' top scorer for the women, taking third in 18:44. Josie Lavin (So., Bremerton, Wa.) was fourth in 18:49 and Sarah Kraybill (Jr., Seattle, Wa./Ballard) was fifth in 18:58.

Next Saturday SPU competes at the Western Washington Invitational in Bellingham.

Willamette Invitational
Men's Team Scores: 1-Chico State 47, 2-Eastern Oregon 95, 3-Willamette 97, 4-Humboldt State 224, 5-Spokane CC 236, 6-Victoria 253, 7-Azusa Pacific 284, 8-Northwest Nazarene 310, 9-Western Oregon 315, 10-Warner Pacific 344, 11-Puget Sound 347, 12-British Columbia 368, 13-Utah Valley State 378, 14-Central Washington 392, 15-Mt. Hood CC 402, 16-Seattle University 430, 17-Seattle Pacific 480, 18-Southern Oregon 496, 19-UC San Diego 508, 20-Concordia, Ca. 531; 20 others.
Men's Winner: Chris Clancy, WPC, 24:17.
SPU Finishers: 7-Castle, 24:35; 30-LeCount, 25:21; 138-Van Hess, 26:44; 164-Mach, 27:04; 204-Libadisos, 27:25.

Western Washington Dual
Men's Team Results: 1-Western Washington 15, 2-Seattle Pacific incomplete
Men's Winner: Kurt Hartmaier, WWU, 15:15
Women's Team Results: 1-Western Washington 26, 2-Seattle Pacific 29.
Women's Winner: Laura Trevellyan, WWU, 18:24