Happy trails. Although there will be no Seattle Pacific University runner at the NCAA Cross Country Championships for only the second time in nine years, the 2002 season ended on an upbeat note, with signs that the Falcons could reemerge as a regional force in the sport next fall. Until then, most of the harriers will first move indoors to track & field in the New Year, beginning with the first meet, Jan. 20. Outdoor meets commence in March.

Torch is passed. The NCAA West Regional may have served as both a beginning and an end for SPU. Tim LeCount (Fr., Battle Ground, Wa.) reaffirmed that he will serve as the men's team torchbearer for the next few years, taking eighth in the race to equal the best-ever regional finish by a Seattle Pacific male. Nathanael Castle (Sr., Gooding, Id.), who had taken eighth the previous year and become the first national qualifier, placed a most respectable 16th. For LeCount, the performance capped a remarkable run at the end of the season. He had finished eighth at the great Northwest Athletic Conference Championships, he was second among all freshmen in the West and his regional time of 33 minutes, 33 seconds was 28 seconds faster than his only other 10-kilometer race.

Regional wrap. LeCount just missed in his bid to qualify for the NCAA Championships. The top two individuals from non-qualifying teams-or any individual placing among the top five-earn berths.

"I'm very pleased with these two guys," said SPU Coach Doris Heritage. "Tim was especially awesome, being the second freshman among all the runners. He just continued to overtake runners all along."

Western Washington's Paul Kezes, the GNAC champion, won the men's individual title. Kezes was timed in 31:58-12 seconds in front of Chico State's Chris Eggers. Joining Kezes as the other individual qualifiers were Mark Batres of Cal Poly Pomona (third in 32:25) and Pete Clusener of Humboldt State (fourth in 32:29). Chico State won the men's team title with 43 points, snapping a four-year championship run by UC Davis, which was second (86). Alaska Anchorage of the GNAC placed third (105). The top three teams go to nationals. UC Davis successfully defended its women's title, its fifth in six years, winning by five points, 86 to 91, over Chico State. UC San Diego was third (126). Seattle Pacific did not send a team nor any individual women.

NCAA West Regional results.

Coaching staff. Coach Doris Heritage (25th year) has guided the SPU women to 10 top-10 national finishes and conference titles in six of the last nine years. In 1996 the Falcons won the West Region and her teams finished as high as second in the AIAW (1979, '80) and third in the NCAA (1983, '86) championships. Nineteen harriers have been All-America, including two national champions. The world's premier distance runner of the Sixties, she won five consecutive world cross country titles from 1967-71, and was a member of the 1968 and '72 U.S. Olympic teams. Heritage has coached the U.S. world cross country championship team, served as an assistant at many international meets, including the 1988 Olympics, and is a six-time women's conference coach of the year at SPU. In July of 2002 she was inducted into the National Distance Running Hall of Fame. Heritage was already a member of the U.S. Track & Field and U.S. Track Coaches halls of fame. Assisting Heritage as coaches this season will be Erika (Botha) Daligcon and Lane Seeley. Daligcon ran for the Falcons from 1995-96 and wed former soccer All-America Nate Daligcon earlier this year. Seeley is a physics professor at Seattle Pacific and previously was an assistant to the Blanchet High School program.

Missing links. For the latest and best information on Seattle Pacific University athletics, stay where you're at -- on The Falcons Online. For updated standings and statistics, see the Great Northwest Athletic Conference web site.