Close to home. They still don white singlets and maroon shorts emblazoned with Seattle Pacific University, yet these are vastly different cross country teams than those of a year ago. The Falcons will try to identify their new leaders of the pack beginning Saturday morning (Sept. 10), when the season gets underway with the Emerald City Open at Seattle’s Lower Woodland Park. It’s the first of eight regular season meets, and all will take place in the Puget Sound area.

A starter course. Emerald City is the annual appetizer to the main course, which is the bigger, more competitive Sundodger Invitational Sept. 17 at Lincoln Park. Nearly half of the Great Northwest Athletic Conference teams–including Central Washington, Seattle University and Western Washington–are expected to race the women’s 5,000 and men’s 8,000-meter courses at Lower Woodland. With classes not due to commence for another two weeks, Coach Doris Heritage is unlikely to have her full compliment of runners.

Looking out. The first half of the autumn schedule is all about building a base, while the second half features generally longer distances and championship competition. The GNAC Championships are Oct. 22 in Bellingham and both the NCAA Division II West Regional and national meet will be hosted by Cal Poly Pomona, Nov. 5 and 19, respectively.

Frontrunners sought. After a banner season in which the Falcons claimed the GNAC men’s team, men’s individual and women’s individual titles, Heritage is as anxious as anyone to see if such feats can be repeated, although by a different cast. Graduation claimed Tim LeCount, the men’s top scorer, and All-American Karen Dickson is sitting out the fall campaign. In all, the men lost two of their top five scorers. The women, who have everyone except Dickson back, are seeking their eighth conference championship and first since 2003. They last qualified for the NCAA Championships in 1999.

Primary candidates. Among those bidding to fill LeCount’s shoes are Bjorn Bostrom (Jr., LaConner, Wa./Bellingham), Carlo Lozano (So., Seattle, Wa./Blanchet) and Doug Gibson (Jr., Yakima, Wa./Riverside Christian). Bostrom was all-conference and the No. 2 scorer last season. Gibson was the GNAC newcomer of the year and Lozano transferred from Arizona State. Among the other returnees is Brian Cronrath (So.,Battle Ground, Wa.), the No. 4 scorer.

Return of the champ. On the distaff side, Josie Lavin (Sr., Bremerton, Wa./Bremerton) is back after missing last season. Lavin was the GNAC champion in 2003. Karin Rhode (So., Bellingham, Wa./Mount Baker), the conference freshman of the year, and Becky Knox (Sr., Denver, Co./Denver Christian) were the Nos. 2 and 3 scorers. Among those expected to make sizable contributions are newcomers Meredith Crane (Jr., Yakima, Wa./Davis), a transfer from Texas A&M; Teona Perkins (Jr., Kennewick, Wa./Kennewick), a transfer from Northwest College; Mary Moriarty (Fr., Seattle, Wa./Ballard) and Corina James (Fr., Madera, Ca./Madera).

Coaching staff. Coach Doris Heritage (28th year) has guided the SPU women to 10 top-10 national finishes and conference titles in six of the last 10 years. The men won the ‘04 crown. 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. Twenty 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 seven-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 is Lane Seeley, 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.