Falcon Harriers Cannot Advance Out of West Regional
November 8, 2003

CHINO, Calif. (Nov. 8) -- Seattle Pacific University's cross country season came to an end Saturday as the Falcon women finished fifth and no men's or women runners finished among the top five at the NCAA West Regional at Prado Park.

Needing to place among the top three teams, SPU (209 points) took fifth behind favored Chico State (38), UC San Diego (124), Cal State Stanislaus (176) and Alaska Anchorage (177). The Falcons had entered the race ranked 23rd among women's teams and had beaten Anchorage at the Great Northwest Athletic Conference Championships two weeks earlier.

Jamie Witt (Jr., Folsom, Ca.) paced Seattle Pacific, finishing a regional career-best 12th. Her time of 22 minutes, 51.8 seconds was 69 seconds off her best 6000-meter race of the season. Chelsea Smith of BYU Hawaii won in 20:54.4. Josie Lavin (Jr., Bremerton, Wa.), who had won the GNAC title, took 21st in 23:19.3.

The top three women's teams and top five individuals automatically qualify for the NCAA Division II Championships Nov. 22 in Raleigh, N.C.

Coach Doris Heritage, who along with the rest of the team was rousted from her hotel room later Friday night because of a fire in a nearby sauna, said her runners were flat.

"If we had run as well as we did at conference, we would be going to nationals," said Heritage "The evacuation was not an excuse but it didn't help."

Tim LeCount (So., Battle Ground, Wa.), the Falcons' lone male entry, finished 17th in 32:02.5. It was his best 10,000-meter time of the year.

Hawaii Pacific's William Ngetich finished first in 31:40.5.

"Tim ran hard but wasn't feeling well," Heritage said. "Our gals will come back from this next year. It's sad but there's plenty of hope."

Six of the seven SPU women are expected back next fall.

Chico State placed five runners among the top 10 individuals in both races. It was the Wildcats second straight men's title.

Women's team scores: 1-Chico State 38, 2-UC San Diego 124, 3-Cal State Stanislaus 176, 4-Alaska Anchorage 177, 5-Seattle Pacific 209, 6-Central Washington 219, 7-Western Washington 242, 8-Cal State Dominguez Hills 275, 9-Hawaii Pacific 278, 10-Seattle U. 292, 11-Sonoma State 321, 12-Cal Poly Pomona 326, 13-Western Oregon 358, 14-Cal State San Bernardino 403, 15-Hawaii Hilo 405, 16-Humboldt State 412, 17-Cal State Bakersfield 431, 18-BYU Hawaii 441, 19-Cal State L.A. 478, 20-Northwest Nazarene 510, 21-Saint Martin's 525, 22-Chaminade 546, 23-Montana State-Billings 549, 24-San Francisco State 609.
Women's individuals (6K): 1-Chelsea Smith, BYU Hawaii, 20:54.3; 2-Nina Christensen, Hawaii Pacific, 21:49.9; 3-Sarah Bouchard, Cal State L.A., 22:00.8; 4-Missy Lendl, Chico State, 22:16.9; 5-Laura Trevellyan, Western Washington, 22:22.0; 6-Tina Firouz, UC San Diego, 22:25.5; 7-Margaret Pridgen, Chico State, 22:30.9; 8-Kelly Ortlieb, Chico State, 22:34.0; 9-Sarah Montez, Chico State, 22:48.8; 10- Katie Lee, Chico State, 22:50.1.
SPU finishers: 12-Jamie Witt, 22:51.8; 21-Josie Lavin, 23:19.3; 55-Karen Dickson, 24:21.4; 60-Abby Groth, 24:32.6; 61-Summer Huntington, 24:33.3; 65-Kirsten Bjork, 24;35.0; 81-Ruth Harbaugh, 24:58.0

Men's team scores: 1-Chico State 28, 2-UC San Diego 79, 3-Cal Poly Pomona 91, 4-Western Washington 105, 5-Alaska Anchorage 147, 6-Humboldt State 182, 7-Western Oregon 214, 7-Hawaii Pacific 214, 9. Brigham Young-Hawaii 262, 9-Saint Martin's 262, 11-Seattle U. 269, 12-Central Washington 283, 13-Northwest Nazarene 302, 14-Hawaii Hilo 376, 15-Chaminade 425, 16-San Francisco State 453, 17-Montana State-Billings 513.
Men's individuals (10K): 1-William Ngetich, Hawaii Pacific, 31:40.5; 2-Tyler Graff, Chico State, 31:48.8; 3-Daniel Rojas, Cal Poly Pomona, 31:56.6; 4-Mark Batres, Cal Poly Pomona, 32:07.1; 5-Patrick Boivin, Chico State, 32:17.6; 6-Charlie Serrano, Chico State, 32:35.4; 7-Joel Martinez, Chico State, 32:37.1; 8-Christopher Layman, Chico State, 32:37.5; 9-Robert Eap, UC San Diego, 32:38.2; 10-Douglas Hamilton, Humboldt State, 32:42.6.
SPU finishers: 17-Tim LeCount, 33:02.5.