THE SCHEDULE                 Seattle Pacific at Central Washington Invitational
                                                Saturday, Sept. 15, 2018
                                                Men's 7K, 4:30 p.m.     Women's 5K, 5:15 p.m..
                                                Rotary Park / Ellensburg, Wash.
                                                No live Webcast or live results
 

        Weekly release, with season preview (PDF)

SEATTLE – Finally.
 
For the first time since they reported for fall practice on Aug. 20,, the Seattle Pacific Falcons get to run with – and against – someone other than themselves.
 
SPU will step to the starting line for the first time in 2018 when they head across the Cascade mountains on Saturday for the Central Washington Invitational.
 
The unusual afternoon meet, set for Rotary Park in Ellensburg, begins with the men's 7-kilometer race at 4:30 p.m., followed by the women's 5K at 5:15 p.m.
 
In previous years, the Falcons often have had a meet around Labor Day weekend. This year's original schedule had them entered in the Sundodger Invitational on Sept. 8 until that meet changed formats and was limited to Division I schools.
 
WHAT A DAY FOR A RACE
Conditions should be almost ideal when the teams answer the starting gun. Saturday's forecast calls for mostly cloudy skies with temperatures in the upper 60s. It could be a bit windy, as is typical for Ellensburg, but nothing that should have an adverse effect on the competitors.
 
WOMEN PICKED 4^TH, MEN 8^TH IN GNAC
The Seattle Pacific women have been picked to finish fourth, and the men were tabbed for an eighth-place finish for this year's GNAC Championships in a preseason poll of the 11 conference coaches.
 
The women received 79 points in the voting. Alaska Anchorage is the favorite, albeit not a unanimous one. The Seawolves collected nine of the 11 first-place votes and 108 points. Close behind is Simon Fraser with 102 points and the other two first-place votes. Western Washington is picked for third with 87.
 
Those four schools finished in exactly that order last fall, Anchorage cruising to the title with just 28 points, while Simon Fraser was a distant second with 65. Western edged SPU for third, 87-93.
 
The Falcon men received 38 points in that poll. Defending champion Western Oregon is the favorite, but the top four teams are separated by just 10 points, and all four received at least one first-place vote. WOU had seven of them, totaling 102 points. Alaska Anchorage picked up two firsts and 94 points. Western Washington and Simon Fraser had one first-place and 92 points apiece.
 
WOU (51), Anchorage (64), Simon (70) and Western (76) were the top four finishers last season. SPU had 224 points for eighth.
 
SCOUTING THE CENTRAL WASHINGTON INVITATIONAL
This three-team meet will feature the Falcons, host Central, and Western Washington. It will be a chance for everyone to get their racing legs under them, as this is the opener for all three schools.
 
For the SPU women, it will be equal parts interesting and fun to see who emerges as the front runner. Veteran junior Kate Lilly really found her stride and her confidence through indoor and outdoor track. Coming off a 10^th-place finish in the 1,500 at NCAA outdoors in May, she is eager to carry that over to the cross country trails.
 
 

This also will be a chance for Seattle Pacific's two talented newcomers to see how they stack up in college competition. Both bring outstanding credentials from their high school days. Kaylee Mitchell was fourth in Oregon's large-school state meet last fall, a significant accomplishment in a state loaded with top-flight distance runners. Krystal Kaufman was just as impressive in the Washington large-school state meet, with a 16^th-place finish.
 
And, since Saturday's race is 5 kilometers instead of the standard 6K, Mitchell and Kaufman will be able to see how some of their best high school times compare. Mitchell ran 18:04 at her state meet; Kaufman ran 18:35 in hers.
 
All of the Falcons, whether experienced or new, will get to match strides with some of the GNAC's top runners. Central Washington's Alexa Shindruk, now a senior, was 11^th at GNAC last fall. Western's Tracy Melville, now beginning her junior year, was 13^th. Shindruk subsequently placed 18^th at NCAA West Regionals, and Melville was 39^th.
 
The men's meet offers a similar storyline for the Falcons: Who will be at the front of the team's pack?
 
One strong possibility is sophomore Elius Graff. He was SPU's No. 2 scorer in three meets last fall. Another one who could be up there is sophomore Shad Galloway. He also had a pair of No. 2 scoring finishes for the Falcons, the second of which was at the West Regionals.
 
 

Or, will it be one of the newbies? Two potential leading candidates from that five-man group are freshmen Colby Otero and Brayden Schultz. For Otero, this will be his first cross country race since winning the Hawaii state championship last fall. Schultz ran in the Washington large-school state meet last fall for the first time, and also has raced twice in the Nike NXR Northwest Regionals.
 
Among their expected competitors on the course is Western Washington senior Jadon Olson, last year's sixth-place finisher at GNAC and
 
SCOUTING THE 2018 FALCONS
The Seattle Pacific Falcons certainly don't have the largest cross country teams in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference – eight women, nine men.
 
But among those 17 runners, there's a good chunk of quality that will be on the trails this fall.
 
 

Leading an experienced women's pack are junior Kate Lilly and sophomore Dania Holmberg. Last fall, while now-graduated Mary Charleson had to delay the start of her season because of an injury, Holmberg stepped to the front, leading the Falcons at Sundodger (23^rd place) and the Charles Bowles Invitational (12^th). She was the No. 2 finisher (behind Charleson) at the Western Washington Classic and the GNAC meet.
 
Lilly was among the five scorers in four meets, including GNAC. But during the subsequent indoor and outdoor track seasons, Lilly really began to deliver some breakout performances. She was part of the All-American fifth-place distance medley relay at indoor nationals, then placed 10^th in the 1,500 meters at the outdoor nationals, earning second-team All-American.
 
Katherine Walter, now a junior, very quietly and steadily has become a bigger factor for the Falcons. She scored in every meet in 2017 and was the second Seattle Pacific runner across the line at the NCAA West Regionals, placing 57^th among 209 finishers.
 
Sophomores Abbie Steinhauer and Elizabeth Thompson are the other two veterans who will be looking to make bigger contributions this season. Steinhauer did run in last fall's GNAC meet, placing 45^th overall.
 
Seattle Pacific's men showed some considerable improvement in 2017, and strongly believe they can show even more in 2018,
 
 

The Falcons have three returners from last year's top 7. Among them is sophomore led by sophomore Elius Graff, who ran No. 2 for the team and was 41^st overall at the GNAC Championships. Fellow sophomores Royce Garcia and Shad Galloway also were top-5 scorers at GNAC (Garcia was the fourth Seattle Pacific finisher; Galloway was No. 5), and all three of them – this time led by Galloway – scored at the NCAA West Regionals.
 
Another sophomore with the potential of playing a bigger role is Colin Boutin, as he was eighth in the GNAC outdoor 10,000 meters last spring.
 
Then there are the newbies – five of them, including 2017 Hawaii state champion Colby Otero. Jared Putney, another freshman ran in three straight Class 4A Washington state meets, and freshman Brayden Schultz made it to 4A state last year. Also coming aboard are redshirt freshman Aiden Pullen and junior Joseph Perkins.
 
 

ASSISTANT COACH CHRIS REED SAYS …
(On what he's hoping to see in the first meet) "The thing we always look for is a sense of competitiveness and putting forth an honest effort. It's still early in the season, and our expectation is that our best meets are several weeks away. But it's good practice to compete honestly and to the best of our ability, even in a season opener."
 

(On finally getting to race after four weeks of training)
"This is the longest we've ever gone before opening our season in relation to when we started practice (Aug. 20 was the first day). They've been diligent, they've been running a lot, and they've been doing a variety of things to improve. But a lot of them really thrive in competition, and they're excited to put that singlet on."
 
(On possible front runners)
"Kaylee Mitchell and Kate Lilly have really led the way as far as workouts go. They both look really fit at the moment, and they both love competition. We have a trio of men – (freshmen) Colby Otero and Brayden Schultz, along with (sophomore) Elius Graff. Those three have been together for a lot of the tempos and training runs."
 
(On the newcomers)
"I was pretty high on a few of the freshmen before they reported (to training), and I'm very pleased with how some of them have begun their careers. Kaylee, Colby, and Brayden have all come in prepared, ready to work hard, ready to improve, and ready to make huge contributions from Day One."
 
GOING FOR THE WIN
In 13 of the past 16 seasons, SPU has had at least one regular-season meet winner. The most recent was Alyssa Foote, who got to the line first in the season-opening dual meet against Northwest University last Sept. 1 at Seattle's Magnuson Park.
 
The most recent Falcon men's winner was Jordan Wolfe at the 2011 Apple Ridge Run Invitational in Yakima.
 
NEW SEASON, NEW MEETS ON THE SCHEDULE
Although a couple familiar favorites remain on Seattle Pacific's schedule this fall, the calendar also includes a couple of new entries
 
One of those is Saturday's Central Washington Invite. The other is a midseason trip to Idaho for the Inland Empire Challenge. While the meet itself isn't new, it is the first time the Falcons will be racing there. It is scheduled for Saturday, Oct. 13, at the Lewis & Clark State College cross country course in Lewiston. The women start at 10:00 a.m., with the men at 10;45.
 
The Western Washington Cross Country Classic in Bellingham is on the schedule once again, but there is a new venue. Instead of Lake Padden Park, it will take place at Sudden Valley Golf Course. It is set for Saturday, Oct. 20. As per usual, the men's race will be 10 kilometers (most regular-season races are 8K), and goes off at 10:00 a.m. The women's 6K follows at 10:45.
 
The Falcons will return to Salem, Oregon, on Saturday, Sept. 29, for the Charles Bowles Invitational. The GNAC Championships are scheduled for Saturday, Nov. 3, at Western Oregon University in Monmouth. The NCAA West Regionals are in Billing, Montana, on Saturday, Nov. 17, and nationals are in Pittsburgh on Saturday, Dec. 1.
 




POSTSEASON PICTURE
The NCAA national meet is growing from 32 to 34 teams this season, with 24 automatic qualifiers and 10 at-large selections per gender.
 
The top three teams in each region automatically will earn tickets to Pittsburgh. Criteria to select the at-large teams will include, among other things, placing at the regional meet, and head-to-head competition against other teams under consideration.
 
No region is guaranteed any qualifiers beyond the automatic top three, and there is no limit to how many teams any one region can send to nationals. Last year, the West got just the three automatic men's teams, but wound up sending six women's teams – the three automatics plus three at-larges.
 
POLLING PLACE
Seattle Pacific's women are ranked No. 9 in the West Region on the preseason list released by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association. The Falcons are one of four teams on the top-10 list for the West.
 
Perennial power Chico State is No. 1, with Alaska Anchorage at No. 2, Simon Fraser at No. 3, and Western Washington at No. 6.
 
Cal Baptist finished atop the regional list last year, and went on to finish fifth at nationals, But the Lancers have since moved up to Division I, now competing in the Western Athletic Conference.
 
AROUND THE GNAC
Click on this link for the latest news, results, and notes from around the Great Northwest Athletic Conference.
 
UP NEXT
The Charles Bowles Invitational, which typically attracts some of the better teams in the West Region, is set for Sept. 29 in Salem. The 8-kilometer men's race starts at 9:30 a.m., with the women's 5K stepping to the starting line at 10:20. The list of GNAC entries includes Central Washington, Concordia and Saint Martin's, while Humboldt State is scheduled to come up from the California Collegiate Athletic Association.