The Falcons Online -- Seattle Pacific University Athletics

Falcon Women to Run With Big Teams
Pixler Wins, Meis Shines at Emerald City; Sundodger Saturday
September 13, 2007

Trail mix

Seattle Pacific’s last entry in the upper division of Sundodger was 1999, and the highest finish in that race was seventh in ‘97. The best placement by an SPU individual was Karen Dickson (third) in ‘04...The men were 10th at Sundodger last year and the best finish by a male was Tim LeCount (8th) in ‘03...Pixler was selected as the Great Northwest Athletic Conference runner of the week...SPU will be facing two of the other top four teams in the region Sept. 22 in Boise, with Chico State and UC San Diego both expected to preview the regional course...Jane Larson (So., Fall City, Wa./Cedar Park Christian), last year’s No. 2 scorer, was held out of the Emerald City Open with a sore knee. Larson’s expected to run this week...The Falcons had two pairs of twins in action last week: Karin and Kaitlin Rohde, plus Jeff and Evan Dull. Kyla Rohde (Fr., Bellingham, Wa./Mount Baker) became the third sister on the squad this season...Among the GNAC members in Saturday’s open division will be Western Washington, Saint Martin’s, Northwest Nazarene, Alaska Anchorage and Central Washington.

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Tough crowd. Next to the national meet, the Sundodger Invitational could be the biggest and toughest meet the Seattle Pacific University cross country teams will face this fall. That’s particularly true for the fifth-ranked Falcon women who will race with the Division I teams Saturday morning at West Seattle’s Lincoln Park. The SPU men will run 8000 meters beginning at 9:40 a.m., followed by the women’s 6k at 10:25. Next week teams and individuals will be split between Boise’s Bob Firman Races and the Bellevue Invitational.

Moving up. A year ago, the Falcon women were second to Canada’s Simon Fraser in the open division. That feat will be difficult, if not impossible to replicate. Seattle Pacific’s Doris Heritage requested a place on the start line alongside the big schools, such as Washington State, UC Davis, Santa Clara and host Washington. Some 700 harriers are expected to take part in the four races.

Quick Pixler. Jessica Pixler (So., Sammamish, Wa./Eastlake) won’t have the chance to defend her Sundodger open division title as she steps up in class, along with her teammates. Pixler is coming off a dominant performance at the Emerald City Invitational, winning by 77 seconds in 22:28.14. Her ‘06 time at Sundodger (21:35) came without much of a threat from behind and was accomplished while she was still primarily a soccer player. Still, it would have put her among the top 25 in the upper division. Last week’s win was Pixler’s fifth in six career starts.

Strong showing. Seattle Pacific ran smooth in it’s opener at Woodland Park, with the Falcons and Pixler easily defending their Emerald City titles. With its top seven all among the meet’s first 10 finishers, SPU scored 22 points. Suzie Strickler (Jr., Richland, Wa.) was third in 23:50 and taking spots 5-8 were Karin Rohde (Sr., Bellingham, Wa./Mt. Baker), Kate Harline (So., Orem, Ut.), Kaitlin Rohde (Sr., Bellingham, Wa./Mt. Baker) and Megan Wrightman (Sr., Bend, Or.).

No hanging Chad. The Falcons have themselves a rising star in Chad Meis (So., Renton, Wa./Seattle Christian). The No. 4 scorer last season, Meis look much stronger in his debut, placing third in the Emerald City with a time (27:30) nearly 30 seconds better than ‘06. Brian Cronrath (Sr., Battle Ground, Wa.), who has elected to redshirt and compete again in an SPU singlet next spring and autumn, won in 27:17. Host Seattle University (27 points) won the team crown, ahead of the Falcons’ 51 and Western Washington’s 55. The other scorers were Scott Seamster (Sr., Seattle, Wa./Blanchet) in 12th, Jeff Dull (Fr., Shoreline, Wa./King’s) in 15th, Jordan Lance (Fr., Bothell, Wa./Jackson) 21st and Evan Dull (Fr., Shoreline, Wa./King’s) 22nd.

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.

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