The Falcons Online -- Seattle Pacific University Athletics

Central Casting: Harriers Head East This Week
Witt Wins At St. Martin's; LeCount Equals Best Finish
September 17, 2003

Complete Weekly Release PDF Version
2003 Men's Results	2003 Women's Results
2003 Men's Roster	2003 Women's Roster

Trail Mix

Despite the fact that the Saint Martin's meet was run two weeks earlier than a year ago, several harriers improved their respective course times. Josie Lavin (Jr., Bremerton, Wa./Bremerton), who was fifth overall, came in 34 seconds faster and Paul Mach (Sr., Seattle, Wa./King's), the men's No. 2 scorer, ran a superior time by 32 seconds...Demonstrating improvement over the first week were Kirsten Bjork (Sr., Olympia, Wa./Black Hills) and Aaron Libadisos (Jr., Kailua-Kona, Hi./Kealakehe). Bjork ran a better time (21st in 19:52) by 55 seconds over the Emerald City Invitational 5k and Libadisos (24th in 28:20) was clocked 54 seconds faster and 16 seconds better than 2002...At last year's Central Washington race, the SPU women were a distant second to the host Wildcats with Lavin placing fifth. The men sent only three runners to the meet.

Over the mountains. Snow dusted the passes through the Cascades earlier this week but the weather figures to be summer-like Saturday (Sept. 20) in Ellensburg when Seattle Pacific University and several other cross country teams converge on the Central Washington Invitational. SPU will be joined by the likes of Central and Western Washington in a significantly smaller meet compared to next week's Sundodger Classic at Lincoln Park.

The door's open. This week's meet features conditions which are favorable for the women's first team victory of the season and perhaps a repeat win for Jamie Witt (Jr., Folsom, Ca.). Northwest College, which has finished ahead of the Falcons in the first two meets, is not running at Ellensburg. The women will again run 5000 meters while the men go 4 miles.

And through the woods. Witt is coming off the first cross country victory of her career last week at Saint Martin's and she did so in dramatic fashion. Going into the final 800 meters and a stand of trees, Witt was running third. Yet when she emerged on the other side, Witt was in first to stay. She finished just ahead of Northwest's Kristina Proticova in 18 minutes, 1 second. The Eagles' Danyel Longmire, a winner by 27 seconds over Witt the previous week, took third in 18:05. Witt was selected as the runner of the week in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference.

And through the woods. Coach Doris Heritage got plenty of good news in the second outing. Beyond Witt, there was Tim LeCount (So., Battle Ground, Wa.) taking fourth among the men, the women placing second overall and general improvement across the board from the first meet. LeCount's placement matched his best ever; he had also run fourth at Saint Martin's as a freshman. Finishing in 26:35, he also closed the gap by 20 seconds on winner Phil Olsen of Northwest. The Falcon men were fifth overall.

Saint Martins Open results
Women's Team Scores - 1. Northwest 25, 2. Seattle Pacific 64, 3. Seattle U. 81, 4. Western Washington 96, 5. Central Washington 110, 6. Saint Martin's 176, 7. Evergreen 207.
Top 10 - 1. Jamie Witt SPU 18:01.01, 2. Kristina Proticova NWC 18:01.78, 3. Danyel Longmier NWC 18:05.74, 4. Tiffany Stillwater NWC 18:23.59, 5. Laura Trevellyan 18:24.37, 6. Celia Maclean NWC 18:34.58, 7. Josie Lavin SPU 18:43.88, 8. Alana Garcia SU 18:48.42, 9. Kristie Rice SU 18:49.65, 10. Jenny Jensen NWC 18:53.20.

Men's Team Scores - 1. Western Washington 56, 2. Saint Martin's 68, 3. Seattle U. 77, 4. Highline CC 82, 5. Seattle Pacific 96, 6. Central Washington 111.
Top 10 - 1. Phil Olson NWC 25:22, 2. Nathan Carlson SMC 25:57, 3. Clayton Hemlock HCC 26:28, 4. Tim LeCount SPU 26:35, 5. Andy Prentice SMC 26:47, 6. Tris Obluck 26:53, 7. Michael Hughes SU 26:53, 8. Steve DeKoker WWU 27:04, 9. T. J. Garlatz WWU 27:04, 10. Brian Brancheau WWU 27:04.

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.