THE SCHEDULE: Seattle Pacific at Alaska Cross Country Invitational
Thursday and Saturday, Sept. 5 and 7, 2013
West Ridge Ski Trails at UAF / Fairbanks, Alaska
Thursday: Women (6K) 6:30 p.m.; men (8K), 7:15 p.m. PDT
Saturday: Men (4K) 11 a.m.; women (4K) 11:30 a.m. PDT
No live results or live Webcast
Weekly release (PDF)
2013 GNAC preview (PDF)
SEATTLE – So what's new?
For the Seattle Pacific cross country teams, a lot.
Whether it's designing the workouts or running the race, new people will be leading the way for Seattle Pacific on this week's season-opening cross country trip to Alaska.
The Falcons, as they have done for the past three years, will step to the starting line on the West Ridge Ski Trails near the campus of Alaska Fairbanks for the Alaska Cross Country Invitational. The long-course race (8 kilometers for men, 6 for women) is set for Thursday evening, and the short-course race (4K for both genders) is Saturday morning.
This year's meet will be a three-teamer again, with Montana State Billings making the trip north to join the Falcons and host the Nanooks.
SPU will have a distinctively different look. Former head coach Erika Daligcon stepped down last spring to devote more time to her growing family. Head track and field coach Karl Lerum and new assistant Audra Smith will direct the program this fall.
Katie Thralls, who led the Falcon women in last year's long course race in Alaska, has graduated, and short-course pacesetter Robyn Zeidler is no longer running. Also gone via graduation are the two men who led SPU at Fairbanks in 2012: Jordan Wolfe on the long-course side, and AJ Baker in the short-course race.
But Seattle Pacific still has four returners from their 2012 women's top 7, and three on the men's side around whom to build. Both teams will be seeking to stretch their seasons all the way to Spokane, site of this year's NCAA West Regionals and Division II nationals.
CALLING THE SHOTS IN 2013
When Erika Daligcon left the Falcons last spring following the birth of her second child, head track and field coach Karl Lerum became the director of the entire SPU running program, including cross country. Joining him this fall to help with cross is Audra Smith.
Smith, 29, has been the strength and conditioning coach at Washington for the past four years. She served for one season as an assistant track and field coach, focusing on the multi events, but also working with the Husky distance runners.
In college, Smith was a successful multi-eventer herself, taking second in the 2007 Big Sky Conference meet while competing for Idaho State, and helping the Bengals win the team championship. She has become a long-distance runner, having completed three marathons.
A native of Pima, Ariz., Smith earned her master's degree in health education. She was named to the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) All-Academic team following her senior season.
Click on this link to see a video interview with Smith.
SO WHAT'S THE STORY THIS WEEK?
-- The Falcon women won both meets last year, and by considerable margins. They finished with 26 points in the long-course race (Fairbanks was second with 37), and 21 in the short-course (Black Hills State was next with 46).
-- Two of last year's five runners – junior Jasmine Johnson (Federal Way, Wash. / Federal Way HS) and sophomore Lynelle Decker (Vancouver, Wash. / Mountain View HS) – are making the trip again.
-- The SPU men finished second as a team in both 2012 races, totaling 42 points in long-course and 41 in short-course. Black Hills State won both with 26 and 36 points, respectively.
-- The only returning male from last year's five-member that raced in Fairbanks is sophomore Colin Wilkins (Shoreline, Wash. / Shorewood HS).
-- SPU won both men's team titles in 2011.
-- The Falcons have never had an individual winner, but have had five runner-up finishes in six races on the West Ridge Ski Trails. Among those is junior Alex Horton (Kent, Wash. / Kentridge HS), who placed second in the 2011 short-course race as a freshman.
-- Seattle Pacific, Alaska Fairbanks, and Montana State Billings also were the three schools in the 2011 meet. While the Falcons won both men's team titles that year, Fairbanks took both women's races.
SCOUTING THE ALASKA FAIRBANKS XC INVITATIONAL
Knowing they'll ultimately need a top-5 team finish at conference in order to assure themselves a trip to regionals, the Falcons will be able to get at least a partial early-season feel of how they might stack up. The women beat both Fairbanks and Billings in taking third at GNAC a year ago, while the fifth-place men finished behind MSUB (the Yellowjackets were third), but were well ahead of Fairbanks (the Nanooks placed eighth).
Among the five women traveling to Fairbanks, three are well acquainted with top-caliber collegiate competition. Senior McKayla Fricker (Canby, Ore.), junior Jasmine Johnson, and sophomore Lynelle Decker all competed at NCAAs in cross country, indoor track, and outdoor track last school year.
Also heading north are sophomore Anna Patti (Renton, Wash. / Lindbergh HS), who made SPU's top seven on a regular basis as a freshman in 2012. Freshman Sarah Macdonald (Tucson, Ariz.) brings a sterling set of high school credentials, including an Arizona state cross country title, and multiple state track crowns.
For the Seattle Pacific men, this trip will be a chance to show what kind of potential they have for 2013. They'll have a lot to live up to, as last year's team had school-record best finishes at Sundodger and the Charles Bowles Invitationl, and made it three straight trips to regionals.
Junior Turner Wiley (Issaquah, Wash. / Issaquah HS) missed the entire 2012 regular season with an injury before returning for GNACs and regionals. He's back at 100 percent and ready to challenge for the role of SPU's front runner. Joining him in Alaska will be another contender for the No. 1 spot, junior Ryan Alcantara (Medford, Ore.). Junior Alex Horton ran well in Fairbanks as a freshman, but missed last year's trip with an injury.
LAST YEAR AT THE ALASKA NANOOK INVITATIONAL
At West Ridge Ski Trails
Women's long course (6 kilometers)
Thursday, Aug. 30, 2012
Team scores – 1, Seattle Pacific 26; 2, Alaska Fairbanks 37; 3, Black Hills State 60.
Winner – Robyn Zeidler (SPU) 22:56.9. Other SPU placers – 2, Katie Thralls 23:16.9; 3, Katie Morris 23:21.4; 9, Jasmine Johnson 24:58.5; 10, Lynelle Decker 25:17.9; 13, Josie Becker 25:56.2.
Women's short course (4 kilometers)
Saturday, Sept. 1, 2012
Team scores – 1, Seattle Pacific 21; 2, Black Hills State 46; 3, Alaska Fairbanks 61.
Winner – Erin Curran (BH) 15:11.7. SPU placers – 2, Robyn Zeidler 15:18.8; 3, Katie Thralls 15:29.1; 4, Katie Morris 15:32.4; 5, Jasmine Johnson 16:09.1; 7, Lynelle Decker 16:26.1; 10, Josie Becker 16:46.0.
Men's long course (8 kilometers)
Thursday, Aug. 30, 2012
Team scores – 1, Black Hills State 26; 2, Seattle Pacific 42; 3, Alaska Fairbanks 66.
Winner – 1, Mitch Kraft (BH) 26:11.5. SPU placers – 2, Jordan Wolfe 26:34.4; 3, AJ Baker 26:48.0; 5, Seth Pierson 27:15.2; 13, Tavish Taylor 27:49.8; 20, Colin Wilkins 30:11.4.
Men's short course (4 kilometers)
Team scores – 1, Black Hills State 36; 2, Seattle Pacific 41; 3, Alaska Fairbanks 52.
Winner – Mitch Kraft (BH) 12:44.3. SPU placers – 2, AJ Baker 12:50.3; 4, Tavish Taylor 13:00.7; 7, Jordan Wolfe 13:07.6; 9, Seth Pierson 13:11.3; 22, Colin Wilkins 14:22.3.
POLLING PLACE
The Falcon women are picked for a third-place finish in the GNAC, and the men are tabbed for sixth in a preseason poll of conference coaches. Alaska Anchorage is the unanimous favorite on the men's side among the 10 coaches, and near-unanimous on the women's side. The Seawolves received nine of the 10 first-place women's votes, with the other one going to Simon Fraser.
In the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) regional preseason poll, Seattle Pacific's women are No. 7 in the West Region. Perennial power Chico State is No. 1. Ranked ahead of the Falcons from the GNAC are No. 2 Anchorage, No. 3 Simon Fraser, and No. 6 Western Washington.
The men are not ranked regionally, and neither team is among the top 25 in the USTFCCCA national preseason poll.
1-2-3 FOR NATIONALS
For three Falcons, competing at NCAAs must seem as if it's a natural part of every season. That's because during the 2012-13 school year, it was a part of every season for McKayla Fricker, Jasmine Johnson, and Lynelle Decker.
All there SPU athletes were part of the cross country team that went to the NCAA Division II meet in Joplin, Mo., last November. Fricker, now a senior, was the second runner across the line for the Falcons, 88th overall. Decker, now a sophomore, was fourth for SPU and 122nd overall; and Johnson, ready for her junior season, was No. 5 and 129th overall.
In March, Fricker and Johnson were part of the Seattle Pacific 4x400 relay team that came from 14th seed all the way up to an All-American sixth place at the NCAA indoor track championships. Decker qualified for the 800 meters. Then in the spring, Fricker and Johnson became All-Americans again, time by finishing seventh in the outdoor 4x400. Decker raced in the 1,500.
ALCANTARA AIMS TO PICK UP WHERE HE LEFT OFF
Ryan Alcantara had a speedy conclusion to his track season last spring, and will aim to maintain that fast pace as he returns to the cross country trails this fall.
A junior from Medford, Ore., Alcantara was in SPU's top 7 in last year's Sundodger, Charles Bowles Invitational, GNAC, and NCAA West Regional meets. He ran just three races during the winter indoor season. Then in the spring, he found a niche in the outdoor 800, dropping his time from 2:01.19 in the opening meet on March 2 all the way down to 1:54.60 at the conference championships on May 10.
In fact, Alcantara's time was the eighth-fastest in the prelims, which theoretically should have put him into the final. But the rules call for taking the top two finishers from each of the three preliminary heats, regardless of time, plus the next two fastest times. Alcantara was fifth in his heat, and was 17 hundredths shy of the second wild card spot.
NEW KIDS ON THE COURSE
The Falcons have nine new women – eight of them freshmen – and one new man on the roster to start the 2013 campaign.
Among that group is freshman Sarah Macdonald (Tucson, Ariz.). As a junior at Pusch Ridge Christian in 2011, she won the Division IV Arizona state high school championship. She also won three straight sectional titles. As a junior on the track in 2012, Macdonald snared a distance triple at state, winning the 800, 1,600 and 3,200.
Jayna Edmonds (Bellingham, Wash. / Meridian HS) ran in the Class 1A Washington state high school meet all four years, cracking the top 20 (18th overall) as a freshman in 2009. Likewise, freshman Cara Smurdon (Sherwood, Ore.) was a four-year participant in the Oregon Class 5A state meet. Hannah Calvert (Enumclaw, Wash. / Enumclaw HS) raced on a pair of state-qualifying teams, running No. 2 for the Hornets and 47th overall last year as a senior. Ellen Ruby (Missoula, Mont.) was 18th in last year's Class AA Montana state meet.
Adrienne Elliott (La Mesa, Calif.) ran in four straight section finals, and Claire Rachwitz (Colorado Springs, Colo.) competed in four consecutive regional meets. Emma Van Nes (Modesto, Calif.) was a three-time all-league runner at Modesto High School.
The one non-freshmen among the new women is sophomore Kiley Zeitler, who joins cross country after playing soccer for the Falcons last fall.
Stephen Coombs (Everett, Wash. / Everett HS) is a junior who is back in competitive running for the first time since high school. He was part of the Seagull teams that won back-to-back league and district titles (2009 and 2010) and placed eighth in the Class 3A state meet both seasons.
JUMPING RIGHT INTO IT
Of the aforementioned newbies, only Sarah Macdonald will make her collegiate debut in Fairbanks this week. That's the fewest the Falcons have had since they began attending the meet three years ago.
In 2010, Alaska was where Alli Cutting and Robyn Zeidler ran their first college races. In 2011, Heidi Laabs-Johnson ran cross country there for the first time, although she had competed on the track the previous spring for the Falcons. Last year, Katie Morris and Lynelle Decker debuted in Fairbanks. Katie Thralls had her first cross country race after turning out for track in the spring of '12.
For the men, Alex Horton and Jordan Wolfe got their first taste of college running in 2011, and last year, that was true for Colin Wilkins in Fairbanks.
WHILE WE'RE TALKING FIRSTS …
They already know what college racing is all about. But this will be the first time racing in Alaska for sophomores Anna Patti, Adam Avischious (Colorado Springs, Colo.), Ryan Alcantara, Trevor Taylor (Port Angeles, Wash. / Port Angeles HS) and Turner Wiley.
BIG MEETS CLOSE TO HOME
In 2012, the Falcons had some long rides to their biggest meets of the year – Hawaii for regionals, and Missouri for nationals.
This year, they'll have added incentive to qualify for those two season-enders, because neither of them will be very far away.
Spokane once again will be the host for the NCAA West Regionals and D-2 nationals. The meets will be run at Plantes Ferry Sports Complex, as they were in 2011. Regionals are set for Saturday, Nov. 9, with nationals two Saturdays later on Nov. 23.
BUT QUALIFYING IS EASIER SAID THAN DONE
For the Falcons, the number that matters most as far as the postseason goes is five. In order to advance to regionals, Seattle Pacific will need to finish among the top five teams at GNAC. Officially, regionals do not have a qualifying requirement, but each school is allowed by the NCAA to set its own standards. At SPU, that means top five.
The West Region has five qualifying berths to nationals. Each of the eight regions around the country gets three automatic spots, for a total of 24. Then, eight additional berths are allocated based on how many teams from that region placed in the top eight at the previous year's nationals. For the West, that means two additional men's teams and two more women's teams for five national qualifiers in each gender.
Along with that, the top three individual finishers at regionals who are not a member of a qualifying team are given entry to nationals.
UP NEXT
It's September, and that means Sundodger time. The 21st annual meet, hosted by the University of Washington one of the most popular in the entire West, is set for Saturday, Sept. 14, at Lincoln Park in West Seattle. The 6,000-meter women's open race takes off from the line at 9 a.m., followed by the 8K men's open at 9:40 a.m. Races continue throughout the day, and will include elite college teams and runners, along with high school competitors.
