SPU Men, Women's Dickson Qualify for NCAA National Cross Country Meet
November 6, 2004

BELLINGHAM, Wash. (Nov. 6) ­ Seattle Pacific University's men's cross country team earned its first trip to a national championship meet in 43 years while the Falcons' Karen Dickson finished a strong second in the women's race at the NCAA Division II West Regional meet Saturday at Lake Padden Park.

An improbable season for the SPU men continued to unfold as they finished third. Chico State, with its five scores all among the top 10 individuals, won with 30 points, followed by Cal Poly Pomona with 73. Seattle Pacific, which last qualified for a NAIA national championship in 1961, scored 143 and UC San Diego had 154. SPU won its first conference title two weeks earlier.

Dickson (So., El Dorado Hills, Ca.) absorbed her first defeat this fall by a collegian, but it took defending NCAA champion Chelsea Smith of BYU Hawaii to do it. Smith a junior from Spokane's Mead High, won the 6-kilometer race in 21 minutes, 43 seconds.

Dickson, the Great Northwest Athletic Conference winner, was next in 22:07. She becomes the SPU women's first national qualifier since 1999, and it was the school's best regional finish by an individual since Charlotte Jensen won in 1990.

"Karen stayed with (Smith) for the first half, and now she knows what she's capable of at the next level," said SPU coach Doris Heritage.

Smith held a 10-meter lead but then pulled away from Dickson in the final 600 meters.

In the women's team standings, Seattle Pacific just missed a trip to nationals. Alaska Anchorage, which had been third in the GNAC, pushed its fifth scorer across the finish 10 seconds ahead of the Falcons' fourth and scored 168 points to place third. SPU was fourth with 172. The top three teams and first five individuals from non-qualifying teams qualify for nationals.

For the men, Tim LeCount (Jr., Battle Ground, Wa.), the GNAC winner, ran 16th (33:46) on a course which was 2 kilometers longer than the conference meet. Mark Batres of Cal Poly Pomona edged teammate Daniel Rojas by 2 seconds in 32:09.

"All of our men ran great on a very, very wet course," said Heritage. "For still being a bit sick, Tim did well. And as a team, this is quite an accomplishment."

The Falcons gave LeCount solid support. Bjorn Bostrom (So., La Conner, Wa./Bellingham) was 22nd (34:13), Brian Cronrath (Fr., Battle Ground, Wa.) 24th (34:18), Paul Mach (Sr., Seattle, Wa./King's) 38th in 34:41 and Doug Gibson (So., Yakima, Wa./Riverside Christian) 44th in 34:53.

After Dickson, the women's scorers were Karin Rohde (Fr., Bellingham, Wa./Mount Baker) in 14th (23:49), Becky Knox (Jr., Denver, Co.) 27th (24:19), Tracy Kuhn (Jr., Port Angeles, Wa.) 64th (25:26) and Nikki Jensen (So., Portland, Or.) 71st (25:35).

The NCAA Championships are Nov. 20 in Evansville, In.

Women's team scores: 1-Chico State 49, 2-UC San Diego 96, 3-Alaska Anchorage 168, 4-Seattle Pacific 172, 5-Central Washington 178, 6-Cal Poly Pomona 179, 7-Seattle University 225, 8-Western Washington 231, 9-BYU Hawaii 234, 10-Cal State Stanislaus 256 (9 others).
Women's Individuals (6k): 1-Chelsea Smith, BYH, 21:43; 2-Karen Dickson, SPU, 22:07; 3-Laura Trevellyan, WWU, 23:04; 4-Tanya Zeferjahn, CSSB, 23:08; 5-Kelly Fullerton, SU, 23:11; 6-Jennnifer James, CSC, 23:23; 7-Sarah Montez, CSC, 23:29; 8-Ciara Harvey, CSC, 23:30; 9-Mandy Kaempf, UAA, 23:31; 10-Ryan Mayfield, CSUB, 23:39.
Other SPU finishers: 14-Karin Rohde, 23:49; 27-Becky Knox, 24:19; 64-Tracy Kuhn, 25:26; 71-Nikki Jensen, 25:35; 79-Kaitlin Rohde, 25:45; 86-Brandi McCoy, 25:54.

Men's team scores: 1-Chiso State 30, 2-Cal Poly Pomona 73, 3-Seattle Pacific 143, 4-UC San Diego 154, 5-Alaska Anchorage 180, 6-Western Oregon 197, 6-Western Washington 197, 8-Humboldt State 200, 9-Central Washington 229, 10-Northwest Nazarene 231 (7 others).
Men's individuals: 1- Mark Batres, CPP, 32:09; 2-Daniel Rojas, CPP, 32:11; 3-Steven Springhorn, CSC, 32:23; 4-Scott Bauhs, CSC, 32:42; 5-Jasper Peach, HSU, 32:47; 6-Patrick Boivin, CSC, 32:55; 7-Brian Kostock, HSU, 33:07; 8-Chris Layman, CSC, 33:24; 9-Kyle Ivie, CSC, 33:26; 10-Antonio Miramontes, CSC, 33:30.
SPU finishers: 16-Tim LeCount, 33:46; 22-Bjorn Bostrom, 34:13; 24-Brian Cronrath, 34:18; 38-Paul Mach, 34:41; 44-Doug Gibson, 34:53; 50-Eddie Strickler, 34:59; 70-James Rosser, 35:39.