Complete Weekly Release PDF Version

All Press Releases

Over the bridge. Short of the NCAA Division II Championships, the Seattle Pacific University cross country teams will stay relatively close to home this fall. In fact, the Falcons’ first race is within three miles of the campus. The season gets underway Saturday morning (Sept. 8) with the Emerald City Open in nearby Woodland Park. It’s a slightly longer trek to the second meet, the Sundodger Invitational, Sept. 15 at West Seattle’s Lincoln Park.

Highly touted. With most of the key harriers returning, the SPU women have been rated No. 5 in the national preseason coaches poll. The Falcons are coming off a sixth-place finish after winning the Great Northwest Athletic Conference and coming within four points of the West Region championship. Cal State L.A. (7th), Chico State (9th) and UC San Diego (14th) also appear in the top 25. The men are 10th in the rankings for the West Region.

Where to go. Later this month Heritage will take her team on its first of three trips east to Idaho. The GNAC and regional meets will be hosted by Northwest Nazarene, and the Sept. 22 Bob Firman Races will offer a course preview of the latter in Boise. The NCAA Championships will be held in Joplin, Mo., Nov. 17.

Ready to go. It’s understandable why the Falcons would be viewed as the the women’s team to beat in the West. Coach Doris Heritage has six of her seven national runners back, plus at least a couple more capable of pushing those people. Having graduated five of their top seven scorers, the men are a bit green.

No more two-timing. She was the top runner in the region and the top freshman in the nation, and that was while spending the majority of her time on the soccer team. This time around, Jessica Pixler (So., Sammamish, Wa./Eastlake) belongs only to the trails. Pixler won her first four races last year before taking 10th at nationals. She went on to win the NCAA indoor mile and outdoor 1500, and take second in the 800. This summer, Pixler won the 1500 gold medal at the Pan American Junior Games in Brazil.

A quality cast. The Falcons’ top five all finished among the top 22 in the ‘06 regional, including Jane Larson (So., Fall City, Wa./Cedar Park Christian) in 14th place. Larson and Karin Rohde (Sr., Bellingham, Wa./Mt. Baker) were also NCAA qualifiers for both indoor and outdoor track nationals. Also back are Suzie Strickler (Jr., Richland, Wa.), Megan Wrightman (Sr., Bend, Or.) and Kate Harline (So., Orem, Ut.).

Front men. Brian Cronrath (Sr., Battle Ground, Wa.) was the men’s top scorer at regionals, and Chad Meis (So., Renton, Wa./Seattle Christian) is a promising runner in his own right. Cronrath was the GNAC runner-up in the 1500 and Meis the No. 4 scorer last autumn.

Coaching Staff. Coach Doris Heritage (30th year) has guided the SPU women to 11 top-10 national finishes and conference titles in eight of the last 12 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-one 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.

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.