THE SCHEDULE                 Seattle Pacific at GNAC Championships
                                                Saturday, Oct. 26, 2019
                                                Women's 6K, 9:00 a.m. PDT    Men's 8K, 10:00 a.m. PDT
                                                Amend Park / Billings, Mont
                                                Live results        Live streaming (finish line / awards)

 
          Weekly release (PDF)
        Championships Central (HTML)

SEATTLE – They might not be coming as the title favorite. But they are coming in as a title contender.
 
For now, the Seattle Pacific women will take that status and run with it.
 
The No. 7-ranked Falcons will join two other national top-25 teams on the starting line Saturday in pursuit of the top spot at the Great Northwest Athletic Conference Cross Country Championships.
 
SPU, No. 14 Western Washington, No. 16 Alaska Anchorage will be among the 11 squads in Amend Park. The 6-kilometer race begins at 9:00 a.m. Pacific time (10:00 a.m. for those making the trip to Montana).
 
The Falcon men are bringing some of their own lofty aspirations to Billings. Their aim is a top-half-of-the-pack finish in the 8K race when the starting gun goes off at 10:00 a.m. Pacific / 11:00 a.m. Mountain.
 
While Amend Park has been the site of three NCAA West Regional meets (2014, 2016, and 2018), this is the first GNAC meet to take place there.
 
Both teams have enjoyed some success this fall. The women and men won their respective team titles at the PLU Invitational on Sept. 21. A week later, the women were eighth among 40 teams in the power-packed Capital Cross Challenge in Sacramento.
 
KEEPING TRACK OF THE ACTION
Saturday's races will have live results. The appropriate link can be found at  the top of this story. The race will not have a live Webcast. But, weather permitting, it will have a live stream at the finish line and at the subsequent award ceremonies. That link also is at the top of this story.
 
NO QUESTION: IT'S GONNA BE COLD
After running through the snow at last year's NCAA West Regionals, conditions this weekend are looking a bit more pleasant. The forecast calls for cloudy skies with the possibility of a snow shower. Temperatures will be coming off Friday night lows in the mid-30s and will be working their way toward 40, but might not feel much warmer than the low to mid 30s.
 
Runners also might feel some biting breezes, with wind gusts between 15 and 20 miles per hour.

HEARTBREAK HILL? ANY HILL? NOT ON THIS COURSE
Runners with footspeed definitely will find Amend Park to their liking, as it essentially is a very flat course.
 
The women will run two full loops to get through 6 kilometers. For the men's 8K, it'll be a the same two loops. But on the first loop, just beyond the mile point, they'll add an extra 2K spur just beyond the mile mark to reach the full 8 kilometers.
 
The park is spectator-friendly. There is a spot near the middle where fans can get a decent look at both hairpin turns and be close to the start and finish lines.

Click on photo at right for a full-color color map of the course.
 
SO WHAT'S THE STORY THIS WEEK?
-- Seattle Pacific's women ran to third place in last year's meet at Ash Creek Preserve in Monmouth, tallying 64 points.
-- Among those who are back for another go are Kate Lilly, Katherine Walter, and Dania Holmberg  who went 12-13-14 in the race, and were Nos. 2-3-4 for SPU.
-- The women have been third in four of the last six years.
-- The last time they finished higher was second in 2009.
-- SPU's men were seventh last fall with 183 points. That was their best finish since placing fifth in 2012.
-- Up front for the Falcons was Elius Graff in 24^th place, a jump of 17 spots from his No. 41 finish as a freshman in 2017.
-- Graff was the first top 25er since Turner Wiley placed 19^th in 2014.
-- All six women running this week and five of the eight men have raced at Amend Park.
-- Lilly has the most experience, as she will make her third trip around the 6K course. As a freshman in 2016, she clocked 24 minutes, 43.16 seconds for 155^th place in the NCAA West Regionals. In last year's Regionals, she came across the finish line in 21:34.11 – a drop of more than three minutes – and was 10^th, earning All-Region recognition.
-- That was the second-fastest Seattle Pacific time on the course. The fastest belongs to Anna Patti, who was seventh in the 2014 West Regionals in 21:31.05.
-- For the five men who ran here in last year's Regional meet, this race will have one very noticeable difference. The Regionals are always 10 kilometers. Saturday's race will be 8K, as is always the case for conference.
-- The Falcon women have won five team titles in the 18-year history of the GNAC meet. Included in that are four in a row from 2005-08. The 2008 championship, won at Apple Ridge Run just outside of Yakima, is the most recent.
-- Of SPU's six individual women's titles, four were won consecutively by Jessica Pixler from 2006-09. The others were won by Josie Lavin in 2003 and Karen Dickson in 2004.
-- Mary Charleson's second-place finish in 2017 at Lake Padden in Bellingham has been the highest for the Falcons since Pixler's last crown.
-- The Seattle Pacific men ran to their only team title in 2004.
-- Tim LeCount won the individual championship that year when meet took place in McKinleyville, California. Since then, the highest finish has been fourth by Brian Cronrath in 2009 at Apple Ridge.
 
SCOUTING THE GNAC WOMEN'S CHAMPIONSHIPS 
Since Seattle Pacific's run of four straight titles from 2005-08, Alaska Anchorage has taken nine of the last 10 GNAC crowns – including the last four in a row. The only school to break up that stretch was Simon Fraser – and that was by a scant one-point margin (62-63, with Western Washington next at 64) in 2014.
 
This season, the three primary contenders – SPU, UAA, and WWU – have shared the same course once, that on Oct. 12 at the Western Washington Classic. While Chico State ran away with the team title, Western was second with 88, Anchorage third with 93, and Seattle Pacific fourth with 111. Remove all except the GNAC schools from the scoring, and it would have been WWU 46, Anchorage 55, Seattle Pacific 65. Northwest Nazarene was close by with 73. Not part of the equation was Simon Fraser, which had some runners there, but raced its regulars at an invitational in Illinois that day.
 
Long story short: Somewhere between 50 and 60 points probably will get the championship job done. That means the Vikings and Seawolves already are in range while the Falcons have a bit of ground to make up. But they are close enough and talented enough to do exactly that.
 
 

It starts at the front, where senior Kate Lilly and junior Dania Holmberg have been running solid all season. Just one week after placing second and fifth, respectively, at the season-opening PLU Invitational, Lilly was 12^th and Holmberg 24^th out of 322 runners – many of them from the eight nationally ranked teams – at the Capital Cross Challenge in Sacramento.
 
Holmberg than ran fifth and Lilly was eighth at the Western Washington Classic on Oct 12 in Bellingham. They were third and fourth among the GNAC runners, trailing only Anchorage's Nancy Jeptoo and Emmanuelah Chelimo, who went 1-2 overall.
 
Chelimo is the defending GNAC and West Regional champion. Jeptoo was fifth at last year's GNACs.

 

The key for the Falcons will be what happens behind Lilly and Holmberg. In the three regular-season meets, the distance between the front runners and the pack was 60 seconds at PLU, 57 seconds at Sacramento, and 49 seconds at Bellingham. Senior Katherine Walter, redshirt freshman Kelsey Washenberger and junior Elizabeth Thompson, all had solid starts in that regular-season finale WWU meet, so they will be looking to keep it going for the entire 6 kilometers on Saturday.
 
Western Washington ran a very solid pack that day. With junior Jane Barr placing ninth overall, all five scorers bunched within 24 seconds and 19 places (9^th to 27^th). While Anchorage had the first two across the line in Jeptoo and Chelimo, it was then 61 seconds and 26 places back to its No. 3. However, each of the top five Seawolves were in front of their respective top-5 counterparts from SPU, so it will be up to those Falcons to reel in one or two of those.
 
Simon Fraser, led by junior Olivia Willett, had its five scorers within a minute at the Lewis University Crossover Classic on Oct. 12 in Romeoville, Ill.
 
SCOUTING THE GNAC MEN'S CHAMPIONSHIPS
Western Washington, Simon Fraser, and Alaska Anchorage are expected to battle it out for the top spot. After that?
 
It could be several teams going for the next couple of spots – and Seattle Pacific figures to be in the mix.
 
There is ample reason why that could be the case. This is a group that has experience, talent, and a quietly confident attitude that it can set a goal and then go out and reach it.
 
SPU has a trio of guys up front, any of whom could be the pacesetter on any given day. In fact, all three of them have taken a turn at leading the Falcons across the finish line.
 
 

Sophomore Colby Otero did it in the season-opening PLU Invitational. He was third overall at that meet in Tacoma.
 

 

A couple weeks later at the John Payne / Curtis Invitational, it was junior Elius Graff's turn to lead the way. Graff, junior Colin Boutin, and redshirt freshman Jared Putney went 19-20-21 overall that day, all within 13 seconds of each other.
 
Boutin was the SPU leader at the Western Washington Classic in Bellingham, placing 30^th overall.
 
 

SPU also has been getting consistent help for a pair of freshman. Putney, who ran track last year but did not do cross country, is one of those, as he has been among the top four in all three meets. The other is true freshman Sheamus Mahoney. He was the No. 5 scorer at all three regular-season meets.
 
How high the Falcons place likely will come down to how well they do against Northwest Nazarene, Western Oregon, and possibly Central Washington. At the WWU Classic, Seattle Pacific was eighth with 188 points. NNU and Western Oregon tied for sixth with 161, and Central was 10^th with 248.
 
Alaska Anchorage has won the meet eight of the past nine years. (Western Oregon claimed the crown in 2017). Wesley Kiuri and Felix Kemboi went 1-2 last year, with Kiuri edging ahead of his teammate right at the finish line. This season, they went 2-4, again with Kiuri in front, at the Capital Cross Challenge in Sacramento on Sept. 28.
 
However, at the WWU Classic on Oct. 12, Western Washington finished 18 points better than Anchorage. Chico State dominated, scoring a mere 24 points, Then, it was the Vikings second with 97, and UAA third with 118. Simon Fraser was in Illinois that day, but is expected to be among the contenders in Billings.
 
MITCHELL LEAVES FALCONS
Kaylee Mitchell, who won this season's first two races for Seattle Pacific, has left the program.
 
The sophomore informed the team and coaching staff of her decision last week.
 
Mitchell was first across the finish line at the season-opening PLU Invitational on Sept. 21, and then ran to a three-second victory at the Capital Cross Challenge in Sacramento on Sept. 28 – the latter in a national-caliber field that included eight top-25 teams and 322 runners.
 
Last year, Mitchell won GNAC Freshman of the Year honors, then went on to earn All-Region and All-American in cross country. On the track, she set the school record in the 3000-meter steeplechase last spring.

 

SAME COACH, DIFFERENT TITLE
Chris Reed, who joined the SPU cross country and track staff in December 2013 as an assistant coach, has been elevated to associate head coach.
 
"Chris has clearly distinguished himself as one of the top distance coaches in our division," said Falcons head coach and program director Karl Lerum. "While most people can read the statistical success that his athletes have had, what I get to witness daily is his devotion to our athletes and our program."
 
The native of Klamath Falls, Ore., and 2011 graduate of Western Oregon, became an assistant coach at his alma mater that same year. He stayed there until coming to SPU.
 
Last year, Reed guided the women's cross country team to 15^th place at the NCAA meet, and the Falcon men placed seventh at GNAC and 14^th at West Regionals, their best performances in both meets since 2012. The women's distance crew went on to make big contributions in helping Seattle Pacific win the GNAC indoor and outdoor track team titles. Indoors, they accounted for 42 of the 154 points. Outdoors, it was 51 of 166.

 COACH CHRIS REED SAYS …
(On the women's meet)
"It's an extremely exciting opportunity for the women. We feel that if we are able to put together the best race we can, we have at least some opportunity to potentially win the meet. It would require us to run our best race of the season for sure, but that's what we hope to do at championships. I'm excited to see the ladies come together and compete and run their hearts out. I think they're absolutely ready to run a great race.
 
 

(On keys to the race)
"The biggest thing is where our ladies are positioned in relation to some of our rivals and where they put themselves – not just early in the race, but where they compete throughout the middle of the race. If we're in good position at the 5K mark, I feel good about our chances. In Bellingham, they put themselves in better position at the start, but we just didn't do a good job of holding those positions in the middle portions of the race. That will be the goal this time, to have a similar type of start that we had in Bellingham, but be more competitive and on point in those middle few kilometers. If we're able to do that, I'll be excited about what comes next."
 
(On the men's meet)
"There will be a team or two up front that will be tough to catch. But then there's a middle pack of teams, among which we are one, where it just depends on how those teams run on that day. We certainly have the ability on the right day to finish much higher than we have. I'm looking forward to seeing how they compete. Our men have a nice opportunity upcoming.
 
(On keys to the race)
"The biggest key is they know that's where they belong. There's no more convincing them of what they're capable of. They believe they belong with that group, and they're running like they believe it. We're not a perfect team by any means, but we have a lot of people who are fit and running strongly and they believe in themselves. I'm excited to see that group come together in that way."
 
POLLING PLACE
The SPU women are No. 7 in the national rankings, as compiled by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association. The Falcons received 148 points in the voting. They were No. 9 in the preseason rankings, moved up to No. 8 after winning the PLU Invitational, then climbed another spot to No. 7 following their solid performance at the Capital Cross Challenge.
 
Adams State, Grand Valley State, and Colorado School of Mines remained in the top three positions. Chico State is at No. 5. The West Region continues to have eight teams among the top 25.
 
Seattle Pacific also remained No. 2 in the West Region rankings, trailing only Chico State.
 
Both polls are from last week. No polls were compiled this week, as the vast majority of teams did not compete last weekend while focusing on preparations for their conference meets around the country.
 
AROUND THE WEST
Saturday will be conference meet day for all three of the West Region circuits.
 
While GNAC runners will gather in Billings, the California Collegiate Athletic Association will have its meet in Arcata, hosted by Humboldt State. The Pacific West Conference meet is in Fullerton, Calif., with Biola as the host school.
 
AROUND THE GNAC
Click on this link for news, notes, and results from around the Great Northwest Athletic Conference.
 
UP NEXT
The Division II NCAA West Regional Championships are set for Saturday, Nov. 9, at Western Oregon University's Ash Creek Preserve in Monmouth. The women's 6-kilometer race is set for 10:00 a.m., with the men's 10K to follow at 11:15. The top three teams in each race will earn automatic qualifying berths for the D2 nationals, scheduled for Saturday, Nov. 23 in Sacramento. Teams that do not finish in the top three will go into the mix for the 10 at-large berths that will be announced on Nov. 11.