SEATTLE (Oct. 26) -- Nathanael Castle and Tim LeCount gave Seattle Pacific University its best ever showing at a league cross country meet, taking fifth and eighth place, respectively at the Great Northwest Athletic Conference championships Saturday at Lincoln Park.

By taking fifth, Castle (Sr., Gooding, Id.) equaled his and the Falcons' best finish by a male. LeCount earned GNAC freshman of the year and Nicole Seana (Jr., Carnation, Wa./Kamiakin), taking ninth among the women, continued her comeback with her first all-conference honor since 1999.

Western Washington swept the top individual honors. As expected , the Vikings' Paul Kezes coasted to victory in the men's race and Ashlee Vincent repeated as women's champion. Kezes was timed in 24 minutes, 20 seocnds for 8,000 meters and finished 20 seconds ahead of runner-up Pete Clusener of Humboldt State. Vincent cruised to first in 21:44 over the 6k trail--an 11-second margin over second-place Katie Gosnell of Humboldt State.

Humboldt State, with 49 points claimed the women's team title for the second year in a row. Central Washington (78) was second and SPU (124) took fifth place over Alaska Anchorage by virtue of a tiebreaker.

Alaska Anchorage edged Humboldt 70-72 for the men's crown. The Falcons (163) were seventh.

Castle remained with the lead pack for the first 3000 meters but then Kezes began to draw away. His time of 25:04 was 20 seconds over his race on the same course at the sept. 21 Sundodger Invitational. LeCount reeled in several harriers over the final 1000 meters and was timed in 25:15--a 36-second improvement over the Sundodger. It marked the first time Seattle Pacific has had two all-conference runners.

Seana, who was the Pacific West Conference newcomer of the year as a freshman, has been slowed if not stopped by injuries the past two seasons. Her time of 22:36 was 89 seconds faster than her previous 6k outing two weeks ago in Bellingham.

The NCAA West Regional is Nov. 9 in Fresno. There, Castle will be bidding for a return trip to the NCAA Division II Championships.

Women's team scores: 1-Humboldt State 49, 2-Central Washington 78, 3-Western Washington 92, 4-Alaska Fairbanks 114, 5-Seattle Pacific 124, 6-Alaska Anchorage 124, 7-Western Oregon 154, 8-Seattle University 192, 9-Northwest Nazarene 268
Top 10 (all-conference): 1-Vincent, WWU, 21:44; 2-Gosnell, HSU, 21:55; 3-Maier, CWU, 23:08; 4-Aas, UAF, 22:16; 5-Edwards, UAA, 22:23; 6-Bergman, HSU, 22:28; 7-Cronin, HSU, 22:31; 8-Salmon, WOU, 22:34; 9-Seana, SPU, 22:36; 10-Picinich, CWU, 22:39.
SPU finishers: 9-Seana, 22:36; 25-Gorth, 23:32; 26-Kraybill, 23:34; 31-Lavin, 23:40; 34-Hawkinson, 23:51; 37-Owens, 23:55; 45-Harbaugh, 24:1053-Hoglund, 24:37; 59-Bjork, 25:03; 63-Stevens, 25:24.

Men's team scores: 1-Alaska Anchorage 70, 2-Humboldt State 72, 3-Western Oregon 86, 4-Western Washington 102, 5-Northwest Nazarene 119, 6-Seattle University 148, 7-Central Washington 151, 8-Seattle Pacific 163, 9-Saint Martin's 258, 10-Alaska Fairbanks 262.
Top 10 (all-conference): 1-Kezes, WWU, 24:20; 2-Clusener, HSU, 24:40; 3-Rivers, UAA, 24:53; 4-White, HSU, 24:57; 5-Castle, SPU, 25:04; 6-Dwello, NNU, 25:05; 7-Schwoerer, UAA, 25:08; 8-LeCount, SPU, 25:15; 9-Strabel, UAA, 25:19; 10-Hamilton, HSU, 25:23.
SPU finishers: 5-Castle, 25:04; 8-LeCount, 25:15; 41-Mach, 26:28; 52-Nash, 26:50; 63-Van Hess, 27:17; 67-Libadisos, 27:35; 72-Marston, 28:07; 79-Bjella, 29:22; Reeves, 31:51.