Complete women's results (PDF)
        Complete men's results (PDF)
 
SALEM, Ore. – Another year at the Charles Bowles Invitational, another record finish for the Seattle Pacific women's cross country team.
 
Freshman Sarah Macdonald led the Falcons' pack for the first time, Anna Patti and Hannah Calvert joined her in the top 20, and all five scorers finished within 40 seconds of each other on the way to a second-place team finish on Saturday morning at Bush's Pasture Park.
 
Running against nationally ranked Alaska Anchorage, along with three other Great Northwest Athletic Conference opponents, Seattle Pacific finished with 94 points. Only the Seawolves, with 34 points and four finishers in the top 10, were better than SPU.
 
Saturday's performance was by far and away Seattle Pacific's best in four trips to the Bowles. The previous best team finish was fifth last year, and the previous best point total was 175 in 2011.
 
"They all came out with a focused effort. I couldn't be more pleased with the results," program director and head coach Karl Lerum said. "I felt like it was a breakout performance for Sarah and Anna and Hannah."
 
SPU junior Turner Wiley also came up with a big day in the men's race. Wiley was 16^th among the 143 finishers, and the Falcon men were ninth in the team standings with 231 points. That left them in the middle of five GNAC schools. Alaska Anchorage won easily with 30 points, taking three of the top four spots, and four of the top 10. Western Oregon was a distant second with 140.
 
Finishing behind Seattle Pacific were Northwest Nazarene (12^th with 291) and Saint Martin's (14^th with 300). Those are two of the teams the Falcons will have to beat when they race for a top-5 finish and a regional qualifying spot on Oct. 26 in the GNAC Championships at Western Oregon.
 
Macdonald (Tucson, Ariz.) went through the 5-kilometer women's Cardinal race in 18 minutes. 22.01 seconds for a 12^th-place overall finish. She had been SPU's No. 3 runner in her three previous races this fall, most recently on Sept. 14 at the Sundodger Invitational.
 
Right on Macdonald's heels in 13th was sophomore Patti (Renton, Wash. / Lindbergh HS) in 18:24.13. That was more than a full minute faster than she ran in this meet last year, when she was No. 5 for SPU and 69th overall in 19:25.79. Also cracking the top 20 in the field of 190 runners was freshman Hannah Calvert (Enumclaw, Wash. / Enumclaw HS). She was 16th overall in 18:37.60.
 
"They like to run the first mile conservatively, and then move up," Lerum said. "It wasn't the easiest course to move up on – it's only about four feet wide in a lot of places."
 
Staying close to the lead group and rounding out SPU's scoring were junior Jasmine Johnson (Federal Way, Wash. / Federal Way HS) in 24th (18:51.00) and sophomore Lynelle Decker (Vancouver, Wash. / Heritage HS) in 32nd (19:02.18). Both of those also were improved from 2012. Johnson ran 16 seconds faster and Decker had a five-second improvement.
 
That the Falcons all stepped up their performances was significant in the runner-up finish, as senior McKayla Fricker (Canby, Ore.), the team's No. 1 runner in the first three meets, watched this one from the sidelines while giving a minor injury more healing time.
 
"For those (front) three to come out and have that kind of commanding race is real exciting. And they did it without McKayla, who they usually key off of," Lerum said. "Lynelle and Jasmine are getting better every week, and they're going to be significantly better three weeks from now."
 
Wiley (Issaquah, Wash. / Issaquah HS) was back at the Bowles after missing last year's meet with an injury. His time of 25:28.81 in the men's 8K race was markedly better than his freshman year, when he ran 26:06.33 and placed 56th overall.
               
Wiley was well out in front of his teammates, but the next four scorers – sophomore Adam Avischious (Colorado Spring, Colo., 38th), junior Alex Horton (Kent, Wash. / Kentridge HS), 51st), sophomore Brian Comer (Sammamish, Wash. / Eastside Catholic HS, 69th), and junior Trevor Taylor (Port Angeles, Wash. / Port Angeles HS, 74th) were within 45 seconds of each other.
 
"Turner looked great, and I think he has a lot more to give yet. He looked strong at the finish," Lerum said. "The rest of the guys as a whole had a real strong performance as a team. It was their best performance of the year."
 
 
NCAA WOMEN'S CROSS COUNTRY
Charles Bowles Invitational
Saturday, Oct. 5, 2013
5 kilometers at Bush's Pasture Park / Salem, Ore.
 
Cardinal team scores – 1, Alaska Anchorage 34; 2, Seattle Pacific 94; 3, Willamette 119; 4, Portland 125; 5, Western Oregon 130; 6, Whitworth 139; 7, Hawaii Pacific 152; 8, Northwest Nazarene 212; 9, Puget Sound 225; 10, Linfield 285; 11, Whitman 327; 12, Point Loma 339; 13, Colorado College 391; 14, Pacific Lutheran 398; 15, UC Santa Cruz 455; 16, Pacific (Ore.) 460; 17, Saint Martin's 541; 18, Mills 586.
Winner – 1, Michaela Freeby (Willamette) 17:30.15. SPU placers – 12, Sarah Macdonald 18:22.01; 13, Anna Patti 18:24.13; 16, Hannah Calvert 18:37.60; 24, Jasmine Johnson 18:51.00; 32, Lynelle Decker 19:02.18; 44, Claire Rachwitz 19:15.18; 52, Ellen Ruby 19:20.13; 150, Emma Van Nes 21:06.32.
 
 
NCAA MEN'S CROSS COUNTRY
Charles Bowles Invitational
Saturday, Oct. 5, 2013
8 kilometers Bush's Pasture Park / Salem, Ore.
 
Cardinal team scores – 1, Alaska Anchorage 30; 2, Western Oregon 140; 3, Willamette 143; 4, UC Santa Cruz 154; 5, Puget Sound 162; 6, Hawaii Pacific 165; 7, Portland 220; 8, Whitman 226; 9, Seattle Pacific 231; 10, Linfield 269; 11, Colorado College 271; 12, Northwest Nazarene 291; 13, Whitworth 299; 14, Saint Martin's 300; 15, Pacific (Ore.) 353; 16, Pacific Lutheran 388.
 
Winner – 1, Dylan Anthony (UAA) 24:20.34. SPU placers – 16, Turner Wiley 25:28.81; 38, Adam Avischious 26:09.90; 51, Alex Horton 26:27.52; 69, Brian Comer 26:51.25; 74, Trevor Taylor 26:54.90; 105, Colin Wilkins 27:40.15.