Trail Mix

The women’s team is ranked fifth in the region with Central Washington third and Seattle U. sixth. Chico State is the West leader in each. Adams State (Co.), Western State (Co.) and Chico are ranked 1-2-3 in each national poll...SPU has won a total of seven women’s conference championships in the last 11 years...The best conference finish for a Falcon male is fifth place. LeCount, the freshman of the year in 2002, was eighth and 18th the past two years...The vastly-improved Dickson was 32nd in the conference a year ago. The women have never finished lower than fifth.

Karen Dickson is the acknowledged favorite for the GNAC Women's Championship, but there is no clear favorite on the men's side.

Trolling for hardware. Once again the Seattle Pacific University cross country teams should figure prominently at the Great Northwest Athletic Conference Championships, which take place Saturday morning (Oct. 23) in McKinleyville, Ca. The Falcons feature the individual favorite for the women’s title, the defending champions in the women’s team category as well as other candidates for all-GNAC honors in both the men’s 8000-meter and women’s 6k races across Beau Pre Golf Course. The Oct. 30 Bellevue Community College Invitational has been added to the schedule for Oct. 30. The NCAA West Regional is Nov. 6 in Bellingham.

For keeps. Seattle Pacific’s women hope to uphold a tradition of bringing home trophies from the conference meet while the men are aiming to crash the party and become a factor both in the team and individual races. Karen Dickson (So., El Dorado Hills, Ca./Oak Ridge) is the acknowledged favorite for the females, having gone unbeaten versus collegians in five races to date. Dickson could become the seventh Falcon to claim a conference title in the last nine years. Redshirt Josie Lavin (Jr., Bremerton, Wa.) was the 2003 champion. SPU faces a taller order in repeating as team titlists. Central Washington is ranked higher in the region and is coming off a 64-71 decision at the Western Washington Invitational Oct. 9. In the running for all-conference (top 10 finishers) are freshman of the year contender Karin Rohde (Fr., Bellingham, Wa./Mount Baker) and Becky Knox (Jr., Denver, Co./Denver Christian).

Male orders. There is no clear favorite in the men’s team chase, and that plays into the hands of Seattle Pacific, which has its strongest team in more than a generation. The Falcons feature a strong frontrunner in Tim LeCount (Jr., Battle Ground, Wa.) and possess ample depth, particularly on an 8k course. They have won four meets this season and are ranked sixth in the West. Saint Martin’s is the top regionally-ranked GNAC team at No. 4, while Western Oregon is fifth, Alaska Anchorage seventh and Western Washington eighth. SPU was eighth in the GNAC last year and has not finished above seventh since 1999, when it was fourth. Western Washington is the defending GNAC champion. LeCount, with four top-five placements, is sure to run among the leaders. Other top-10 candidates are Bjorn Bostrom (So., LaConner, Wa./Bellingham) and Doug Gibson (So., Yakima, Wa./Riverside Christian). Brian Cronrath (Fr., Battle Ground, Wa.) could be in contention for freshman of the year.

Regional preview review. Seattle Pacific won the men’s team title and Dickson won the individual crown comfortably while pacing the Falcon women to second place at the Western Washington Invitational at Lake Padden Park. LeCount was the men’s high scorer, finishing fifth over the 10,000 meters in 33 minutes, 34 seconds. Humboldt State’s Brian Kostock and Jasper Peach were 1-2 in 32:49 and 33:01, respectively. The difference for SPU was its depth, with its next four scorers scattered from places 13-21. With 46 points, it easily defeated host Western Washington (67), ending the Vikings’ two-year reign. Bostrom was the No. 2 scorer, running 13th in 34:22. Dickson led her race from the outset, first fending off Seattle University’s Kelly Fullerton and then pulling away to cross the line in 21:57 despite windy, cold and muddy conditions. Erika Daligcon, SPU assistant coach running for Seattle Running Club, was runner-up in 22:52. Central Washington was able to win despite top-10 finishes by Rohde, seventh in 23:54, and Knox, 10th in 24:04.

Western Washington Invitational results
Men’s team scores: 1-Seattle Pacific 46, 2-Western Washington 67, 3-Humboldt State 72, 4-Northwest Nazarene 84, 5-Central Washington 85.
Individual winner (10k): 1-Brian Kostock, Humboldt State, 32:49.
Other SPU finishers: 5-LeCount, 33:34; 13-Bostrom, 34:22; 15-Cronrath, 34:29; 16-Gibson, 34:32; 21-Mach, 34:41; 31-Strickler, 35:25; 44-Rosser, 36:07; 47-Miller, 36:15; 65-Gavareski, 38:06.
Women’s team scores: 1-Central Washington 64, 2-Seattle Pacific 71, 3-Seattle University 78, 4-Western Washington 98, 5-Alaska Anchorage 99, 6-Humboldt State 131, 7-Northwest Nazarene 150.
Individual winner (6k): 1-Karen Dickson, SPU, 21:57.
Other SPU finishers: 7-Kar. Rohde, 23:54; 10-Knox, 24:04; 32-Jensen, 25:14; 33-Kuhn, 25:14; 34-McCoy, 25:15; 35-Kai. Rohde, 25:19; 57-Edholm, 26:05; 68-Preboski, 26:47; 88-Muench, 28:49

Coaching staff. Coach Doris Heritage (27th 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 January of 2003 she was inducted into the Falcon Legends Hall of Fame Heritage was already a member of the National Distance Running, 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.