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Harriers To Get A Look At GNAC Course
Pixler Wins Sundodger; SPU Women Now 10th in Nation
September 20, 2006

Trail mix

Coach Doris Heritage may not have Pixler’s services again until the conference meet, due to travel and scheduling conflicts with soccer. She is training with both teams this week...Among the other GNAC teams taking the opportunity to preview the conference course are Alaska Anchorage, Western Oregon and Western Washington...Seattle Pacific was second to Victoria among women’s teams in Lacey last season and last claimed the team title in 2002. The men were also runners-up a year ago, matching their best finish...Pixler’s time at the Sundodger was just 14 seconds off the pace of the Falcons’ Meredith Crane last year on the same course. Crane took seventh in the invitational race and eventually was second in the conference and fifth in the regional. Last year’s women’s open was a 5k run...Bostrom’s clocking was 11 seconds ahead of his finish last year, and Eddie Strickler (Sr., Richland, Wa.) was 15 seconds faster...In addition to Gibson’s injury, the men were without last year’s team MVP, Carlo Lozano (Jr., Seattle, Wa./Blanchet). Brian Cronrath (Jr., Battle Ground, Wa.), the No. 3 runner in ‘05, raced for the first time last week, taking fourth (26:42) on the team. James Rosser (Sr., Seattle, Wa./Highline), 79th in 26:42, and Chad Meis (Fr., Renton, Wa./Seattle Christian), 102nd in 26:52, completed the men’s five scorers...The women got a boost with the arrival of another freshman, Kate Harline (Fr., Orem, Ut.), who was seventh on the squad and 59th overall in 23:33. Megan Wrightman (Jr., Bend, Or./Bend) was sixth and 42nd in 23:08. Five of the top seven last week were either freshmen or sophomores.

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Another look ahead. In cross country, sometimes the difference is who knows the trail best. This Saturday (Sept. 23), Seattle Pacific University’s runners plan to get acquainted with the path to the Great Northwest Athletic Conference championship when they compete at the Saint Martin’s Open. Men will cover 8000 meters and the women 6000, and it will be the same ground used for the GNAC meet Oct. 21 in Lacey. Next on the docket is the annual race with the alumni, Sept. 30 at Green Lake.

Back with a bang. Seattle Pacific is not only back in the NCAA Division II women’s rankings, but ranked in the top 10. A week after being dropped from the top 25, the Falcons returned at No. 10, thanks to an impressive display at last week’s Sundodger Open. With its top harriers all available, SPU finished in front of five other West Region teams and second overall to Canada’s Simon Fraser, 71-59. It’s the highest national ranking in the last six years. Regionally, UC San Diego is No. 1 in the coaches poll, followed by SPU, Chico State and Alaska Anchorage. The men’s team fell to ninth in the West.

Frontrunner once more. Setting the pace virtually wire to wire, Jessica Pixler (Fr., Sammamish, Wa./Eastlake) won for the second time in as many outings at the Sundodger. Pixler, breaking in front during the first mile, ran the 6k in 21 minutes, 35 seconds. Rebecca Johnstone of SFU was runner-up in 21:38. Seattle Pacific’s placement was encouraging, given that Chico State, then the No. 5 team nationally, was third. Pixler, who also is a member of the SPU soccer team, won the Emerald City Invitational in her maiden race. She repeated her honor as GNAC runner of the week. Rounding out the Falcons’ scorers were Mary Moriarty (So., Seattle, Wa./Ballard) in 10th (22:13), Karin Rohde (Jr., Bellingham, Wa./Mt. Baker) (13th/22:24), Jane Larson (Fr., Fall City, Wa./Cedar Park Christian) (16th /22:34) and Suzie Strickler (So., Richland, Wa.) (36th/23:01).

Men stumble. The men were not as fortunate at Lincoln Park. Doug Gibson (Sr., Yakima, Wa.) sustained an ankle injury midway through the race and could not continue. He was among the top 25 harriers at the time. The top scorer over the 8k course was Bjorn Bostrom (Sr., La Conner, Wa./Bellingham) in 48th (26:12). David Kiplagat of Alaska Anchorage was a runaway victor in 24:38. Chico State won the men’s team title, 80-98 over Western Washington. SPU was 10th (296) and fourth among GNAC squads.

Coaching Staff. Coach Doris Heritage (29th year) has guided the SPU women to 10 top-10 national finishes and conference titles in seven of the last 11 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. Former SPU runner Erika Daligcon and physics professor Lane Seeley are the assistant coaches.

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