THE SCHEDULE                 Seattle Pacific at CWU Winter Invite
                                                Saturday, Feb. 20, 2021
                                                Men's 8K, 11:30 a.m.     Women's 6K, 12:20 p.m.
                                                Tomlinson Stadium & Athletic Fields / Ellensburg, Wash.
                                                No live Webcast or live results
 

        VIDEO:  Elius  Graff and Libby  Michael

SEATTLE – For the first time in 50 weeks, the Seattle Pacific Falcons will get to run a race.
 
This one will be on a cross country course, as SPU sends seven men and seven women east to Ellensburg on Saturday for the Central Washington Winter Invite.
 
The men will compete first, beginning their 8-kilometer event at 11:30 a.m. The women's 6K follows at 12:20 p.m.
 
Falcon runners have not competed since last March 7 at the Ed Boitano / Puget Sound Invitational season-opening outdoor track and field meet in Tacoma. The rest of the season was canceled because of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.
 
Subsequently, the fall sports, including cross country, were canceled (volleyball and soccer are set to compete this spring), and winter indoor track also was canceled.
 
WINTER INVITE WILL FEEL LIKE WINTER
Just a week after snow blanketed the entire state, weather conditions have returned mostly to normal. Saturday's forecast for Ellensburg calls for skies to be mostly cloudy with the possibility of the sun peeking out. Racetime temperatures are expected to be in the mid to upper 30s on the way to a high in the low 40s.
 
No precipitation – wet or white – is expected.
 
KEEPING TRACK OF RESULTS
No fans will be allowed at the meet. Results will be posted on www.wildcatsports.com and on www.spufalcons.com as soon as they are made available.
 
SCOUTING THE CWU WINTER INVITE
A trio of veterans with national experience are looking to set the pace for the Falcon women.
 
At the front of the pack is All-American senior Dania Holmberg. She capped her 2019 junior season with a 21^st-place finish at the NCAA Division II nationals in Sacramento. In the two postseason meets prior to that, Holmberg was fourth at the Great Northwest Athletic Conference Championships and second at NCAA West Regionals. She was set to run in the 3000 and 5000 meters at the 2020 NCAA indoor track meet in Birmingham before it became one of the first events canceled by the coronavirus.
 
 

Senior Elizabeth Thompson and sophomore Kelsey Washenberger also bring valuable experience. Thompson was a top-5 scorer for Seattle Pacific at GNAC and at NCAAs in 2019. Washenberger, for whom 2019 was her first college cross country season, cracked the top 20 at GNAC, finishing 19^th overall and No. 4 for the team. She also was a scorer at West Regionals.
 
Freshman Libby Michael finally gets to run a cross country meet for SPU. She missed the 2019 season because of an injury. She did get to compete in two indoor track meets and the lone outdoor track meet in 2020. Her last cross country race was at the 2018 Nike Northwest Nationals during her senior year at Deer Park (Washington) High School.
 
A trio of freshman – Belle Brandenfels, Annika Esvelt, and Ellie Rising – will get their first taste of college competition. Brandenfels ran to a best-ever 17^th-place finish at the Class 3A (medium-large school) Washington state meet as a senior in 2019. Esvelt led West Valley-Spokane High School to three Class 2A (medium-small school) state trophies, including the championship as a junior in 2018. Rising won back-to-back district titles and was ninth at the Class 1A (small school) Washington state meet as a senior in 2019.
 
The Falcon men will have four veterans and three newcomers on the course. Senior Elius Graff led the way for SPU in two of the five meets in 2019, capped by his first top-10 finish at the Great Northwest Athletic Conference meet, where he placed eighth. Colin Boutin, another senior, was the frontrunner for Seattle Pacific at the 2019 Western Washington Classic.
 
 

Brayden Schultz, a junior, and Jared Putney, a sophomore, will bring their experience to the meet. Both ran and scored in all five meets in 2019. Putney was the team's No. 3 scorer at the GNAC and NCAA West Regional races. Schutz was the No. 5 Falcon across the finish line in both of those meets
 
J.R. Hentges and Jon Owen are in their first seasons of cross country for Seattle Pacific, although both competed in track in 2020. Hentges ran four meets, all indoors. Owen ran four indoor meets and one outdoor, winning his heat of the 1500 at the Boitano / UPS Invite.
 
Freshman Austin Weese will make his SPU debut. As a senior at Camas High School in 2019, he was the No. 5 scorer on a team that captured the Washington Class 4A (large school) state championship.

ASSOCIATE HEAD COACH CHRIS REED SAYS …
(On the reaction to finding out about the meet)
"I seem to remember them being pretty excited, but there are also some nerves, too. For most of them, it has been a long time since they competed against another team. I think in particular, we've got a lot of younger folks who haven't had a chance to race college cross country yet. For them, it's some nerves, as well. But excitement was the most common emotion that day."
 
 

(On getting to compete)
"I'm so excited for these student-athletes. For them to get to this point, it's a testament to their perseverance. It has been so long, and there have been a lot of moments where I'm sure there has been some doubt, some isolation, some loneliness, some difficult moments for each of them in their own way. For them to be able to toe the line with their teammates, it just shows how much they care about this sport and how much they care about each other. They get to reap the rewards for all that work they've been doing in the shadows."
 
(On the team's approach to the meet)
"It has been what it always is: We need to go in with the attitude of being competitive and being the best we can on that day. We talk about that whether it's the NCAA Championships or an early-season icebreaker. It doesn't really matter – if you bring a sense of competitiveness and make every competitive opportunity matter, you're going to have a greater chance of success."
 
(On the importance of the meet)
"On paper, it isn't a big meet at all. But it's a big meet for us because it's an opportunity to sharpen that competitive tool that we haven't had a chance to work with much in the last 12 months. In many ways, it gives us a little bit of a head start on our ability to compete in track."
 
THEY CAN COME BACK NEXT YEAR
Because the 2020 fall season was canceled and no postseason meets will take place, all competitors on Saturday will be able to retain this year of eligibility. That means current freshmen, sophomores, and juniors will return at that same eligibility level in the fall of 2021, and all current seniors will be allowed to compete in fall 2021 if they choose to do so and maintain certain academic requirements.
 
That same allowance has been granted by the NCAA to all 2020 fall sports athletes and to all 2021 winter sports athletes.
 
UP NEXT
This is the only cross country meet on the calendar. The Falcons will continue to focus their attention to the upcoming outdoor track season. The schedule has not yet been finalized, and will be posted on www.spufalcons.com as soon as it complete.