First of two? If all goes well, Seattle Pacific University cross country team members could be rerunning their footsteps in a couple weeks. The Falcons are sending 13 men and women to the NCAA West Regional meet in Chino, Ca., Saturday (Nov. 5) with the sole objective of finding a way to earn a trip back to the same location for the NCAA Championships. Races will cover 6000 meters for women and 10k for men at Prado Park. The top three teams and best two individuals from non-qualifying teams will earn invitations to the Nov. 19 national meet.

With a little luck. Sometimes it takes more than talent to succeed; it also takes luck. By Saturday morning, coach Doris Heritage will know whether luck is on her side. Heritage has several harriers who are regaining strength and stamina after illnesses last month. If healthy, the 18th-ranked SPU women are among the favorites to claim one of the three NCAA qualifying slots. They have not made it to nationals since 1999. After earning their first national meet invitation in 43 years in 2005, the men appear to be longshots to duplicate that effort.

The racing form. Based on the regional ratings, UC San Diego and Chico State are the favorites for the women’s regional crown, with SPU and host Cal Poly Pomona next in line. The Falcons, who won the Great Northwest Athletic Conference, have won an NCAA regional only once before, in 1996. They have qualified for nationals 12 times, but missed the cut by just four points last season, taking fourth. In the men’s race, Chico State is favored to win its fourth straight regional. GNAC champion Alaska Anchorage is No. 2 in the West rankings and Seattle Pacific is seventh. In 2004, SPU was third in the regional and 19th in the nation.

Let’s be merry. Among those on the mend are Meredith Crane (Jr., Yakima, Wa./Davis) and Mary Moriarty (Fr., Seattle, Wa./Ballard), the Falcons’ top two scorers. Although ailing, Crane managed to summon a second-place effort at the GNAC meet Oct. 22 while Moriarty was seventh and the freshman of the year. Crane qualified for the Div. I national meet as a freshman at Texas A&M. She has won three of her five meets this fall. Moriarty has three top-10 finishes. Seattle Pacific’s Karen Dickson was the regional runner-up in ‘05. The last time Heritage had a regional champion was Charlotte Jensen in 1990. The highest national finish for an SPU male at regionals was eighth, by Tim LeCount (2002) and Nathanael Castle (2001).

Travel party. Five members of last year’s national-qualifying men’s team will try to repeat history. Bjorn Bostrom (Jr., La Conner, Wa./Bellingham), Brian Cronrath (So., Battle Ground, Wa.), Doug Gibson (Jr., Yakima, Wa./Riverside Christian), James Rosser (Jr., Seattle, Wa./Highline) and Eddie Strickler (Jr., Richland, Wa.) are joined by Carlo Lozano (So., Seattle, Wa./Blanchet), the team’s top scorer. The seven women are relatively young, with three freshmen and a sophomore included. Karin Rohde (So., Bellingham, Wa./Mount Baker) was 14th in the West in her first year. The frosh are Moriarty, Suzie Strickler (Fr., Richland, Wa.) and Kim Beaman (Fr., Emily, Mn./Crosley Ironton). Josie Lavin (Sr., Bremerton, Wa./Bremerton), who was 21st in ‘03, and Becky Knox (Sr., Denver, Co./Denver Christian) are the veterans.

BCC Invitational results.

• Women’s Team Results: 1-Seattle Running 15, 2-Seattle Pacific 43, 3-Central Washington 74.
  Winner: Jan Tonkin, SRC, 18:06.
  SPU Finishers (5k): 10-Benanaya, 19:54; 12-Jensen, 19:58; 15-T. Perkins, 20:24; 17-Peterson, 20:34; 18-James, 20:41; 34-Lopez, 21:30; 36-Hart, 21:32; 37-Darnell, 21:34.
• Men’s Team Results: Not available.
  Winner: Sam Scotchmer, unat., 25:33.
  SPU Finishers (8k): 27-Zetterberg, 27:16; 34-Miller, 27:36; 39-Phillips, 27:52; 45-Gavareski, 28:25; 52-Duke, 29:23; 58-Ayers, 30:27.

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.