Some light stretching. As cross country meets go, this week's Emerald City Invitational is not a so-called biggee for Seattle Pacific University teams, yet it will be the only head-to-head meeting with Washington and provide a baseline from which to launch the rest of the season. Coach Doris Heritage considers this first race somewhat voluntary for her troops, although the vast majority hail from hometowns within a 2-hour drive. The Falcons figure to swell in numbers over the next couple weeks before reaching full-strength for the Sept. 27 Sundodger Open.

A look ahead. This week's Emerald City race distances will be 5000 meters for women and 8k for men. Gradually those numbers will rise this fall as the postseason approaches. Between now and November there are seven meets scattered throughout the Northwest, and the results will determine which runners represent SPU at the NCAA West Regional Nov. 8 in Pomona, Ca. The Great Northwest Athletic Conference Championships are Oct. 25 in Salem, Or., and the NCAA Division II Championships are Nov. 22 in Raleigh, N.C.

Heritage is hopeful. Heritage, now in her 26th year, is hopeful that her women's team can once again become a force at the conference and regional level. After winning six conference crowns and finishing among the top 15 in the nation six times between 1993-99, Seattle Pacific fell to fifth in the GNAC in 2002 and did not send any woman to the national championships for the third year in a row. She has four strong leaders for her pack. Jamie Witt (Jr., Folsom, Ca.), who missed last season due to a back injury, was the top scorer in 2001 and began to find her form late last spring on the track. Josie Lavin (Jr., Bremerton, Wa./Bremerton) was the No. 3 scorer last fall and an NCAA qualifier in the 1500 last spring. Fortifying this group are two second-year freshmen: Brandi McCoy (Fr., Richland, Wa./Richland), the state 4A champion as a junior in 2000, and Karen Dickson (Fr., El Dorado Hills, Ca./Oak Ridge), who has been strong in training.

New standard-bearer. There's a new leader for the men's squad this season, with Tim LeCount (So., Battle Ground, Wa.) assuming the role from Nathanael Castle, now graduated. LeCount enjoyed a superb first season, earning GNAC freshman of the year after taking eighth in the conference as well as the regional. Veteran Paul Mach (Sr., Seattle, Wa./King's) and two freshmen, Bjorn Bostrom (Fr., LaConner, Wa./Bellingham) and Michael Gavreski (Fr., Bellingham, Wa./Bellingham), should be consistent scorers.

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 again this season will be Erika (Botha) Daligcon and Lane Seeley. Daligcon ran for the Falcons from 1995-96. Seeley is a physics professor at Seattle Pacific.

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.