THE SCHEDULE:
                            Seattle Pacific at Charles Bowles Invitational
                            Men's 8K, 9:30 a.m.     Women's  5K, 10:20 a.m.
                            Bush's Pasture Park & McCulloch Stadium / Salem, Ore.
                            No live Webcast or live results

 
        Weekly release, with complete season charts (PDF)

SEATTLE – After a one-year absence, the Seattle Pacific cross country teams are heading back to Salem.
 
Both Falcon teams will be on the starting line Saturday morning for the 41^st annual Charles Bowles Willamette Invitational. The men have the first call, beginning their 8-kilometer race at 9:30 a.m. in Bush's Pasture Park. The women's 5K follows at 10:20 a.m.
 
Unlike the Sundodger Invitational two weeks ago, all NCAA teams, regardless of division or caliber of program, will compete in the same race. In addition, while the men's race is the usual 8 kilometers, the women's race is a 5K, rather than the customary 6K collegiate distance. (The Falcon women also went 5K in the Alaska Invite sort-course race on Sept. 5).
                                       
SPU's men ran in the Bowles for six straight years beginning in 2008, and the women four straight years starting in 2010.
 
But the meet was not on Seattle Pacific's 2014 docket because it would have made for a third consecutive Saturday of racing following Sundodger and a week-long road trip to California for the Stanford Invitational. This year, it fit right in since the Falcons had an open week after Sundodger.

HEADING SOUTH? HERE'S HOW TO FIND IT
For those making the trip down Interstate 5 for the meet, click on this link for driving directions (as if leaving from SPU) to Bush's Pasture Park, where the race begins. Willamette does have a home football game on Saturday, but not until 4:00 p.m., so parking also should be available near McCulloch Stadium, where the races finish on the track.

PERFECT DAY FOR A RUN
According to the weekend forecast, conditions should be ideal for runners and spectators. Temperatures will be coming off of Friday night lows in the mid 40s, and will be heading toward 74 on Saturday. A few clouds might be floating around, but no rain is in the forecast all week, so everyone's feet should be able to stay dry.
 
LOOK WHO'S IN THE NATIONAL PICTURE
For the second week in a row, the Seattle Pacific women are among nation's top 25 NCAA Division II teams in the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association rankings.
 
The Falcons, who broke in last week at No. 18, are sitting at No. 19 on the list that was released Wednesday morning. They remain at No. 5 in the West Region rankings.
 
SPU is one of six West Region teams in the top 25 this week. Chico State is tied for No. 4, Alaska Anchorage is No. 7, Western Washington is No. 11, Cal Baptist is No. 12, and UC San Diego is No. 24. At least one of those ultimately won't make it to nationals, as the West has just five team qualifiers this season.
 
Hillsdale of Michigan is No. 1, with perennial power Adams State of Colorado at No. 2.
 
Over the years, the SPU women have been regular top-25 residents at some point during the season. Last year, they started out at No. 13 in the preseason rankings, but had fallen out by the first regular-season list, and did not return.

 



SO WHAT'S THE STORY THIS WEEK?
-- Senior Anna Patti is going for her fourth win in as many meets.
-- Sophomore Ben Halladay is seeking to be SPU's first male at the wire for the fourth meet in a row.
-- The Falcon women are going after another high team place, having won the long-course and short-course titles at the Alaska Invitational on Sept. 3 and 5 in Fairbanks, then taking fourth among 23 teams at Sundodger on Sept. 19.
-- The Bowles traditionally has drawn D2 programs from up and down the West Coast, as well as most of the schools from around the Pacific Northwest. This year's field isn't quite as loaded as in the past. Teams from outside of the GNAC include Humboldt State from the California Collegiate Athletic Association, and Point Loma from the Pacific West Conference. Other GNAC entrants are Concordia and Western Oregon.
-- SPU's women finished a school-best second in Salem in 2013. The score of 94 points also was a best-ever Falcons mark for the Bowles.
-- Of the maroon-clad women racing here on Saturday, four of them – Sarah Macdonald (12th), Anna Patti (13th), Hannah Calvert (16th) and Lynelle Decker (32nd) were in the 2013 race. Patti and Decker also ran as freshmen in 2012.
-- Heidi Laabs-Johnson owns the school-record time for the Bowles course, finishing in 18 minutes, 20.19 seconds in 2011. That gave her 10th place, the highest-ever SPU individual finish here.
-- The best Bowles finish for the SPU men was fourth in 2013 with 203 points. But the best point total was 160 in 2011, which was good for sixth place.
-- Nathanael Castle owns the best time and best placing for the SPU men. He was seventh in 24:35 in 2002.
-- Chad Meis is the only other Falcon to break 25 minutes on the course, clocking 24:54.89 for 22nd in 2009;
-- The only other top-10 finisher for the men was Brian Cronrath (ninth in 2008).
 
SCOUTING THE CHARLES BOWLES INVITATIONAL
The SPU women delivered the kind of performances in September that they were looking for: two dominant races in Alaska, followed up by a strong performance at Sundodger two weeks later.
 
Now, it's October, and this week's meet will be key in determining how the Falcons begin focusing on preparation for the postseason.
 
Things certainly are secure up front with senior Anna Patti (Renton, Wash. / Lindbergh HS). After having the races pretty much to herself in Fairbanks, she got a challenge at Sundodger, and responded accordingly, surging from behind in the final 600 meters to win. She is expecting to be among the leaders again on Saturday.

 

As big as her Sundodger victory was, the performance of the Seattle Pacific pack was just as encouraging. True, Patti finished 80 seconds ahead of that pack. But led by junior Sarah Macdonald (Tucson, Ariz.). the next four Falcon scorers were within 30 seconds and 29 places of each other in the crowded field of 221 runners.
 
The entire group from Nos. 2-6 was separated by just 51 seconds.
 
Macdonald already is off to the best start of her SPU career, having been a solid No. 2 behind Patti in all three races. Her Sundodger time of 22 minutes, 31.13 seconds was a whopping drop of 58 seconds from the previous year. Part of Macdonald's job is to work with the teammates behind her to keep them as close together (and as far forward) as possible, then make strategic moves at the appropriate time – and  she has been doing that.
 
Sophomore Chynna Phan (Bellingham, Wash. / Mt. Baker HS) showed that she is going to be a factor, finishing No. 3 for the team at Sundodger.
 
While SPU certainly will be aware of the handful of West Region teams in attendance, another team will merit some attention is host Willamette. The Bearcats are No. 2 in the West Region and No. 17 nationally in this week's USTFCCCA Division III rankings.
 
Seattle Pacific's men will be looking to step things up on Saturday after finishing third in both races at Fairbanks, and 18th at Sundodger.

 

Led by sophomore Ben Halladay, the Falcons did get the better of two GNAC counterparts at Sundodger, as Central Washington was 19th and Saint Martin's was 20th. They finished well within reach of Concordia, as the conference newcomer from Portland wound up with 435 points, slightly ahead of SPU's 448. The Cavaliers are expected to be on the starting line Saturday morning.
 
Halladay (Mukilteo, Wash. / Kamiak HS) has been out front in all three races. The lead on his teammates was 24 seconds at Sundodger. The entire scoring pack is setting its sights on a tighter finish, as the spread from Nos. 1-5 in Lincoln Park two weeks ago was 1 minute, 27 seconds.





MOST RECENT SPU TOP 7 – WOMEN
Sept. 19, 2015 at Sundodger Invitational
6 kilometers at Lincoln Park / Seattle, Wash.
                                                                        
Seattle Pacific 4th / 23 teams, 175 points
Runner                            SPU place               Overall                        Time
Anna Patti                             1                                 1                           21:11.82
Sarah Macdonald                2                              34                          22:31.13
Chynna Phan                       3                              41                          22:38.65
Hannah Calvert                   4                              48                          22:44.92
Jessica Rawlins                   5                              63                          23:01.37
Lynelle Decker                     6                              83                          23:19.66
Mary Charleson                   7                              86                          23:22.27
 
 
MOST RECENT SPU TOP 7 – MEN
Sept. 19, 2015 at Sundodger Invitational
8 kilometers at Lincoln Park / Seattle, Wash.
                                               
Seattle Pacific 18^th / 24 teams, 448 points
Runner                            SPU place               Overall                        Time
Ben Halladay                       1                              76                          26:12.25
Brian Comer                         2                              98                          26:36.70
Adam Avischious                 3                              115                         26:54.05
Joseph Walker                     4                              159                         27:30.47
David McLeod                      5                              164                         27:39.48
Clark Sterling                       6                              205                         28:28.75
Jacob Busald                       7                              233                         29:43.26
 

ANOTHER GNAC AWARD FOR PATTI
Anna Patti was named the GNAC Athlete of the Week on Sept. 21 for the second time this season.

 

Patti received the award after winning the Open Division at Sundodger in 21 minutes, 11.82 seconds, coming from behind to do it. In the 22 years that SPU has been running at that meet – generally regarded as the most prestigious in the Northwest – she was the third Falcon champion, following in the footsteps of Rachel Ross (2000) and Jessica Pixler (2006).
 
With Patti setting the pace, Seattle Pacific finished fourth as a team.
 
Patti also won the conference award on Sept. 8 after winning both the long-course and short-course races at the Alaska Invitational on Sept. 3 and 5.
 
GOING DOWN IS THE WAY TO GO
Normally, trending downward isn't a good thing. But it is a good thing on the stopwatch, and in that case, many of SPU's runners are trending in the right direction.
 
A total of five Falcon women posted Sundodger time drops from their 2014 runs on the Lincoln Park layout. Start with winner Anna Patti, whose 21:11.82 was nearly two minutes faster than the 23:04 she ran in 2014. Sarah Macdonald, second for SPU and 34th overall, also improved big time, clocking 22:31 after a 23:29 the previoius year.
 

Others following suit were senior Hannah Calvert (22:44 this year; 23:39 in 2014), Lynelle Decker (23:19 this year; 23:26 in 2014), and Mary Charleson (23:22 vs. 24:19 last year).

 
A pair of the men got into the act, as well. Sophomore Ben Halladay, the first Falcon to finish, did so in 26:12. He ran 26:29 in 2014. Senior Brian Comer hit the wire in 26:36; he went 26:53 in 2014.
 
WELCOME TO THE SCORING PACK
During this past summer's Falcon Running Camp and through the early weeks of practice leading up to September's meets, assistant coaches Audra Smith and Chris Reed were continuously impressed with the improvement they were seeing from Chynna Phan.

 

At Sundodger on Sept. 19, she proved them right. The sophomore finished No. 3 for the team and 41st overall, and it marked the first time she factored into the team scoring for SPU.
 
Phan ran in four races last fall, including the GNAC Championships. On the track, she is primarily an 800-meter specialist, running that race four times indoors and four more outdoors. She also did a few outdoor 1500s.
 
At Mt. Baker High School in Bellingham, about two hours north of Seattle, Phan's only cross country season was as a senior in 2013. She made the most of it, finishing sixth in the district meet and 25th in the Class 1A (small school) state meet.
 
SOMETHING OLD, SOMETHING NEW FOR POSTSEASON
The GNAC Championship meet, which has been run at Ash Creek Preserve on the Western Oregon campus the past three seasons, will take place in Bellingham  the next three years.
                                                                                   
However, Ash Creek still will be on the Falcons' radar, as it will be the site of the NCAA West Regionals on Saturday, Nov. 7.
 
The Division II nationals return to Joplin, Mo., on Nov. 21. Two current members of the SPU women's team – Lynelle Decker and Anna Patti – ran there as freshmen in 2012.

AROUND THE GNAC
Click on this link for results, news, and notes from around the Great Northwest Athletic Conference.
 
UP NEXT
This is likely to be the final regular-season meet for Seattle Pacific. The original schedule included the Western Washington Invitational next week in Bellingham, and the Emerald City Invitational on Oct. 17 at Seattle's Woodland Park. But the SPU coaching staff has indicated that those meets will be scratched.
 
So the next time the Falcons step onto a course will be Saturday, Oct. 24 at the GNAC Championships in Bellingham's East Lake Padden Park. The 6K women's race begins at 10:00 a.m., with the 8K men's run following at 11:00.