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JOPLIN, Mo. – Katie Thralls had never run in front of – or with – as many people as she did on Saturday morning.

Turns out that's exactly what the Seattle Pacific senior needed.

Thralls capped her first and only cross country season by running to a team-leading 44th-place finish, and junior McKayla Fricker was at the front end of a tightly-bunched pack as the Falcons placed 17th among the 32 schools at the NCAA Division II national cross country championships.

Thralls (Livermore, Calif.) finished the 6-kilometer course at Missouri Southern State University in 21 minutes, 28.2 seconds. That made her the SPU's lead runner for the second straight postseason meet. She was 11th at the West Regionals two weeks ago in Hawail.

The Falcons totaled with 393 points. Grand Valley State of Michigan reclaimed the crown from Augustana (S.D.) by a mere three points, 101-104. Adams State of Colorado, a 15-time D-2 champion, was a close third with 109. West Region members Chico State (200) and Alaska Anchorage (202) were fifth and sixth, respectively.





Among the teams Seattle Pacific beat on Saturday was West qualifier Cal State Stanislaus. The Warriors were 20th with 490 points. At regionals two weeks ago, Stanislaus edged the Falcons by three points for fourth place.


Thralls most definitely was not getting lost in the crowd – and it was a crowd. The field totaled 249 runners, and fans were lined up along most parts of the course that had been the site of two previous NCAA national meets.

“The energy of the fans and the number of people and a ton of racers – the whole atmosphere was very energetic, and I think I fed off of it,” Thralls said. “I was starting to get really nervous – totally antsy. But then I reminded myself that I didn't have to do anything different – just treat it like another race.”

She did, going out in her typically aggressive style and trying to clear as much traffic as possible. Thralls and freshman Katie Morris (Spokane, Wash. / Shadle Park HS), who finished No. 3 for Seattle Pacific and 96th overall on Saturday, teamed up to gain some better position, and Thralls then set out to see how close she could come to an All-American top-40 finish.

“Finding Katie right at the beginning was really helpful, and we were able to work together for the first two miles,” Thralls said. “That was really important to have a familiar runner in the midst of the crazy energy.

“I was still trying to push for that top 40. I knew that was All-American, and when I started hearing places, I kept hearing 42, 43 – I was always around 43,” Thralls said. “That inspired me to keep running strong. I missed it, but overall, I was excited about the finish. That was my strongest finish of the season.”

Fricker (Canby, Ore.) continued her solid postseason effort by running No. 2 for the team and taking 88th overall in 22:05.6. Fricker did not run during the regular season while dealing with a minor injury, but was No. 3 for the Falcons and among the top 30 overall at the Great Northwest Athletic Conference championships, then was No. 3 again and in the top 40 at regionals.

On Saturday, the defending GNAC 800-meter indoor and outdoor champion surged past approximately 20 runners in the final kilometer.

“It's the 800 focus of being quicker than other people,” Fricker said. “I felt good during the whole race. After the three-mile mark, I started picking it up, and I had it in my mind that I was going to pick off as many people as possible.

Like Thralls, Fricker couldn't help but notice the atmosphere.

“It felt all along that first stretch that there were tons of fans yelling and cheering, so it was a lot of work to stay calm and focused,” she said. “Once it started spreading out, Lynelle Decker and I worked together for over half of the race, and that was helpful to get around other people.”

Fricker was at the front of an SPU pack that all finished within 35 seconds of each other. She was followed by freshman Morris (95th in 22:15.1), freshman Decker (Vancouver, Wash. / Mountain View HS; 122nd in 22:34.6); sophomore Jasmine Johnson (Federal Way, Wash. / Federal Way HS; 129th in 22:37.9); freshman Anna Patti (Renton, Wash. / Lindbergh HS, 132nd in 22:38.7), and sophomore Robyn Zeidler (Plymouth, Minn., 135th in 22:40.5).

Alicia Nelson of Adams State, last year's runner-up, surged past Alaska Anchorage's Susan Tanui in the latter stages of the race to win in 20:03.3. Tanui was second in 20:12.6.

Micah Chelimo of Alaska Anchorage won the men's championship, leading the Seawolves to a third-place team finish.


NCAA WOMEN'S CROSS COUNTRY
NCAA Division II Championships
Saturday, November 17, 2012
6 kilometers at Missouri Southern State University / Joplin, Mo.

Team scores – 1, Grand Valley State 101; 2, Augustana (S.D.) 104; 3, Adams State 109; 4, Western State 273; 5, Chico State 200; 6, Alaska Anchorage 202; 7, Shippensburg 287; 8, Colorado Mines 292; 9, Winona State 304; 10, UC Coloardo Springs 326; 11, West Texas A&M 332; 12, Saginaw Valley State 346; 13 University of Mary 370; 14, Edinboro 376; 15, Humboldt State 379; 16, Southern Indiana 39; 17, Seattle Pacific 393; 18, Indiana (Pa.) 415; 19, Bellarmine 417; 20, Cal State Stanialaus 490; 21, Missouri Southern State 490 (Stanislaus gets 20th on 6th-runner tiebreaker); 22, Ferris State 534; 23, Stonehill 544; 24, Pittsburg State 544 (Stonehill gets 23rd on 6th-runner tiebreaker); 25, Tampa 559; 26, Adelphis 741; 27, Columbus State 779; 28, Clayton State 800; 29 Nova Southeastern 829; 30, Saint Rose 895; 31, West Florida 905; 32, UNC-Pembroke 981.

Top 10 – 1, Alicia Nelson (Adams) 20:03.3; 2, Susan Tanui (UAA) 20:12.6; 3, Kate Spratford (Ship) 20:22.4; 4, Jessica Janecke (Grand Valley) 20:23.2; 5, Sophie McNeely (Western St.) 20:25.0; 6, Allyson Winchester (Grand Valley) 20:29.0; 7, Melissa Agnew (Mary) 20:29.9; 8, Runa Falch (Augustana) 20:39.6; 9, Julie Pack (Western St.) 20:47.9; 10, Kristin Brondho (Augustana) 20:53.2.

SPU placers – 44, Katie Thralls 21:28.2; 88, McKayla Fricker 22:05.6; 96, Katie Morris 22:15.6; 122, Lynelle Decker 22:34.6; 129, Jasmine Johnson 22:37.9; 132, Anna Patti 22:38.7; 135, Robyn Zeidler 22:40.5.