Karl Lerum
Head Coach

Doris Heritage
Ass't. Coach

Duncan Atwood
Ass't. Coach

Cyrena Denniston
Ass't. Coach

Chris Randolph
Ass't. Coach

Karl Lerum, Head Coach

It would be difficult to top the accomplishments of Karl Lerum’s athletes in his first season as Seattle Pacific University’s head coach of track and field.

Lerum, who succeeded Jack Hoyt, saw his women’s team sweep both the Great Northwest Athletic Conference indoor and outdoor team titles while Chris Randolph was the NCAA decathlon champion. Lerum was voted by his peers as the GNAC outdoor coach of the year.

Just the fifth coach in the SPU program’s 56-year existence, Lerum brought with him a breadth of experience in the sport, having been an All-American in the decathlon as well as an assistant coach at two institutions.

This is the first head coaching position for Lerum after four seasons as an assistant, including two at Trinity College, a competitive NCAA Division III program Hartford, from 2000-02. He served under Hoyt at SPU during the 2000 season and again in 2003.

Lerum was a four-time All-American from 1995-98 at Pacific Lutheran. He finished second in the NAIA decathlon in 1997 and ’98 and third in ’96.

The PLU record-holder in the 400 meters, Lerum also ranks No. 2 in the decathlon and among the top 10 in the 110 hurdles, long jump, 100 and javelin. He still holds the Lutes football career records for receptions and receiving yardage.

During his gridiron, Lerum played on the NAIA national runners-up under Frosty Westering in 1994, was a member of the San Francisco 49ers in the 1998 and ‘99 preseasons, and also NFL Europe’s Amsterdam Admirals. From 2003-04 he was head coach of Norway’s Oslo Vikings football program.

“Seattle Pacific is poised for some great things this coming season,” said Lerum. “I’m inheriting a program which is at a high point. I consider it quite an honor and yet quite a responsibility.”

“Jack, Doris (Heritage, the head coach of cross country and assistant track coach) and Dr. (Ken) Foreman have built this amazing national program, filled with student-athletes committed to pursuing excellence,” said Lerum, “and I’m honored to be chosen to help lead this program forward. The freshmen I worked with (in 2002) are now seniors. It’s exciting to see what progress they have made and I want to help them finish off next season on a high note.”

A native of Tacoma and graduate of Franklin Pierce High School, Lerum earned his bachelor’s degree in history from PLU in ‘98 and a master’s in history from Trinity in 2002. He and his wife Yvonne live on Queen Anne Hill, near the SPU campus.

Doris Heritage, Assistant Coach

It should come as no surprise that the greatest distance runners of the Sixties and Seventies has spawned one of the premier collegiate running programs in NCAA Division II history. Both in America and around the globe, the name of Doris Brown Heritage is synonymous with the best in women’s distance running.

Over the last 38 years, she has been a pioneer for the sport, a competitor without peer and, later, coach to some of the greatest collegians on record. So it’s not surprising that Heritage is a member of both an athlete's and coach's hall of fame. Further, she is considered one of the Northwest's greatest personalities of the 20th Century by both Sports Illustrated and The Seattle Times. In 1999, Heritage became just the second female inducted to the United States Track Coaches Hall of Fame. Earlier, in 1990, the five-time world champion and two-time Olympian was inducted into U.S. Track & Field Hall of Fame for her success in running.

Now in her 39th year on the SPU coaching staff and her 28th as head coach of cross country, Heritage has always been on the leading edge of her profession. During the 1960s and ’70s, she set the standard for women’s distance standouts of today. As her competitive career drew to a close, she became increasingly involved in coaching. Although Heritage has received several national and international appointments, her greatest commitment has always been her SPU programs, and that commitment is evident in the Falcons’ achievements during her tenure.

Ten of her cross country teams have placed in the top 10 at national meets and Seattle Pacific has won the conference women’s championships seven of the last 12 years, and the men’s team won the Great Northwest Athletic Conference title in 2004. In 1996, SPU was the West Region women’s champion. Twenty harriers have earned All-America status, including two national champions. Heritage has been voted by her peers the conference coach of the year seven times. And that’s just in the fall.

In track and field, her middle-distance and distance runners have helped form the foundation of the nationally prominent Falcon track team, which she serves as assistant coach. Under her tutelage, seven women have won AIAW and NCAA titles from 800-10,000 meters. In all, SPU men and women runners have scored at nationals 38 times in the last 28 years.

Without a doubt the world’s premier distance runner during the ’60s, Heritage first honed her skills as a member of the Falcon Track Club, the forerunner to today’s women’s varsity. Under the direction of Ken Foreman, the then-Doris Brown set two American records before graduating from SPU in 1964. Eventually she owned every national and world record from 440 yards up to the mile. And the longer the distance, the more dominant she became. Unfortunately during her reign there were few women’s races over 5,000 meters. Nevertheless, Heritage did shine in the international spotlight.

She was named to the U.S. Olympic team in 1968 and 1972, taking fifth in the 800m at Mexico City. A last-minute injury prevented her from running the 1500m in Munich. She won the silver medal (800m) at Pan American Games in 1967 and 1971. From 1967-71, Heritage won an unprecedented five consecutive world cross country championships, and raced on nine U.S. world teams in all. During her prime she won 14 national titles, and set a world record in the 440, 800, mile and 3000m. Still running in front of the pack, she won the U.S. Masters cross country title in 1989.

Heritage has remained a fixture on the world’s stage since her racing days. She was an assistant coach on staffs selected for various major competitions, including the 1984 and ’88 Olympic Games, the ’87 and ’90 World Championships. She remains a frontrunner, having become the first female to be elected to the prestigious IAAF Cross Country and Road Race Committee in 1988. More recently, she has served as head coach of the U.S. Ekiden Cup contingent in Japan, the U.S. world championships cross country team and the USA-Great Britain dual meet in 1993. In 1996 Heritage was the chief of mission for the U.S. cross country team at the world championships in South Africa.

Heritage is a native of Gig Harbor, Washington. She obtained her bachelor’s degree in physical education from SPU in 1964, and received her master’s in education in 1971. She has been an assistant professor at her alma mater since that time. Doris and husband Ralph Heritage reside in West Seattle.