THE SCHEDULE                 Seattle Pacific at NCAA Division II Pre-Nationals
                                                Saturday, Oct. 22, 2022
                                                Men's 8K Open, 10:00 a.m.
                                                Men's 8K D2 Invitational, 10:40 a.m.
                                                Women's 6K Open, 11:20 a.m.
                                                Women's 6K D2 Invitational, Noon
                                                Chambers Creek Regional Park / University Place, Wash.
                                                No live Webcast        Live results
 
 
SEATTLE – Through eight different decades of Seattle Pacific cross country – going all the way back to the late 1950s all the way to now in the 2020s – the Falcons have run in their share of big regular-season meets.
 
But none of them compares to the one that they're running in – and hosting – this week.
 
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SPU will welcome 30 teams from all around of the country, and even a couple from the middle of the Pacific Ocean, on Saturday morning at Chambers Creek Regional Park for the NCAA Division II Pre-Nationals.
 
The men's 8-kilometer race takes off from the starting line at 10:40 a.m., and the women's 6K goes at noon
 
A pair of open races also are on the schedule, with the men's 8K at 10:00 a.m. and the women's 6K at 11:20. Those races will be for non-Division II schools, club teams, unattached runners, and extra runners from the D2 teams.

Among the entrants are all 10 schools from the Great Northwest Athletic Conference. So in addition to being a mini preview of nationals, it will be a full-fledged preview of the GNACs, which are two weeks hence.
 
The participants list also has 11 other West Region schools, The California Collegiate Athletic Association. has seven of its 11 schools competing, and the Pacific West Conference has five of its 11.
 
Saturday's competition will take place on the same course as the NCAA Division II Championships. That meet, set for Friday, Dec. 2, is part of the D2 Fall Sports Festival, which Seattle Pacific is hosting. The only difference is that the men's course for nationals will be 10 kilometers instead of 8.
 
KEEPING TRACK OF THE ACTION
The meet will not have a live Webcast. However, live results will be available. The appropriate link is at the top of this story. Results also will be posted at www.tfrrs.org as soon as possible after the race.
 
FINDING YOUR WAY TO THE ACTION
Chambers Creek Regional Park is directly adjacent to Chambers Bay Golf Course, located in University Place, approximately 45 miles southwest of Seattle Pacific. About 35 miles of that trip is a straight shot south down Interstate 5 before veering off toward University Place.
 
Take Exit 125 off southbound I-5 and turn right onto Bridgeport Way toward Lakewood (If coming from elsewhere and heading north on I-5, also take Exit 125, but turn left off the exit onto Bridgeport.)
 
-- Continue on Bridgeport Way SW for 4.27 miles.
-- Turn left onto Chambers Lane W. for 0.23 miles.
-- Continue on Chambers Creek Road W. for 1.17 miles
-- Continue on 64th Stteet W. for 0.18 miles.
-- Take the second exit from the roundabout onto 64th Street W. for 0.19 miles.
-- Continue on Grandview Drive W. for 0.06 miles.
 
For those seeking directions but leaving from another location, the address of the park for filling in the 'Where are you going?' window is 6320 Grandview Drive W., University Place, Wash., 98467.
  
PARKING AT THE PARK
In all cases, follow the white directional signs with red lettering / red arrows to the appropriate parking locations. Click on this link for a parking map.
 
Teams arriving in vans will have their own specific lot. The public will have its own specific lot, and teams arriving in buses will use that same public lot.
 
There is no charge for parking, and no tickets are needed to attend the meet.



LOOPING THE TWO LOOPS
Although golf courses are popular cross country venues, none of the racing at Chambers Creek takes place on the actual Chambers Bay course (site of the 2015 U.S. Open), which is located above the park. The racing route does go around the driving range and other portions of the park.
 
Essentially, the course is two loops that are linked together. The 6-kilometer women's race will feature two complete circuits around those loops They will start up the larger outside loop for a third time, but will quickly curve across to the back side of it, then race toward a final right-hand turn toward the finish line, which is inside the smaller loop.
 
The 8K men's event will start with two shortened trips around the larger outside loop. On the second of those trips, they eventually will turn toward the smaller inside loop and begin what amounts to two full circuits of the course. The second of those two circuits will end with a right-hand turn toward the finish line inside the smaller loop.
 
The layout is very fan-friendly – that is to say, there are no woods that the runners duck into for any stretch of time. Fans who like to jog (or walk fast) to different points on the course will have ample opportunities to do so.
 
For the competitors, the start is wide-open, and there are no monster hills – just enough rollers here and there to remind them that they are on a legitimate cross country course.
 
WET 'N WINDY (AT LEAST A LITTLE BIT)
Even though summer has essentially extended into October, fall weather had to arrive sooner or later – and it seems to have picked this weekend. Saturday's forecast calls for a better-than-average chance of rain plus some wind gusts. Highs will reach only into the low 50s, and might be hovering just at or slightly below 50 at race time. Wind gusts up to 15 miles per hour also are possible.
 
Given the wide-open nature of the course at Chambers Creek, fans are advised to dress accordingly, as there is literally no place to hide from the conditions. With its location next to the water, wind gusts can feel especially sharp.
 
SCOUTING THE NCAA D2 PRE-NATIONALS
With entries having closed on Tuesday night, 30 Division II women's teams and 27 men's teams, including the Falcons, will be on the starting line come Saturday morning.
 
Several of the Falcons already have raced here, competing in last year's Chambers Creek College Open. One of those is Annika Esvelt, who won that race (which was 5 kilometers instead of 6). Esvelt is coming off her first meet of the year, finishing ninth at the Charles Bowles Invitational in Salem, Oregon, on Oct. 1. Esvelt was ninth at last year's GNAC Championships, and up to as many as six of the runners who finished ahead of her in that meet could be sharing the course with her in this one.

 

  Nicki Yorges and Charisma Smith are the other SPU woman have experience at Chambers, Yorges was 11th last year and Smith was 46th. Yorges has been the No. 4 scorer for the Falcons in all three meets this fall.

Competing on the course for the first time will be seniors Vanessa Aniteye and Libby Michael, along with freshmen Matise Mulch, Katelyn Flolo, and Maya Ewing.
 
Michael won the season-opening Puget Sound Invitational on Sept. 3, with Mulch second. Aniteye, who was No. 5 for SPU in that race, moved up to No. 3 for the team at the Central Washington Invitational a week later, then was No. 2 at the Bowles. Mulch has scored in all three meets (No. 2 for the team at UPS and Central); Ewing made her debut at the Bowles and was the No. 5 scorer.

 

On the men's side, three of the current Falcons who are slated to race on Saturday ran in the 2021 Chambers Creek meet. Brennan LeBlanc had a solid race that day, finishing 16th. That was No. 2 for Seattle Pacific in a time of 26 minutes, 41.7 seconds for 8K. Jon  Owen was the No. 3 SPU finisher (27th), and Rory McClelland was No. 6 (47th).
 
The Falcons have had three different leaders in the three meets this season. At the Bowles earlier this month, it was LeBlanc showing the way, taking 28th overall – and he did it with his best-ever 8K time, stopping the watch in 25:22.9. That was full minute faster than his previous best 8K of 26:22.5.
 
Drew Thompson was the first Falcon across the finish line at Puget Sound on the first Saturday in September, and Owen was in front of the SPU pack at Central Washington a week later.
 
For everyone else – Ethan Erickson, Kade Franco, Nathaniel Gale, Lucas Cervantes-Reyes Tom Thake, and Isaac Venable – it will be their first experience on the course.

THE POINT OF PRE-NATIONALS
A pre-national meet has become a standard part of the regular-season schedule. It is offered by the host school as an opportunity for teams to come and get a feel for that year's national championship course in competitive racing conditions.
 
Unlike nationals, there is no qualification process for pre-nationals. It is open to any school that wishes to enter. Generally, many schools from the host team's particular region will come. Others from farther away will decide to come or not come based on their schedule and travel logistics.
 
Seattle Pacific's last trip to a pre-nationals was in 2019 when the Falcon women made the short trip to Sacramento for the Capital Cross Challenge at Arcade Creek Golf Course. SPU finished eighth among the 40 teams, and sophomore Kaylee Mitchell won the race. Then eight weeks later, the Falcons returned for nationals and were 12th among the 34 teams that qualified.

POLLING POWER
Of the 30 schools that are entered, six on the men's side and five on the women's side are ranked in this week's national polls as compiled by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA).
 
All of those, plus an additional five men's teams and six women's teams are in the regional rankings.
 
Leading the way for both genders is Colorado School of Mines. The Oredigger men are No. 1 both nationally and regionally; the women are No. 3 nationally and No. 2 regionally.
 
Other men's teams with national recognition are Chico State (No. 5), Western Colorado (No. 10), Western Washington (No. 20), Simon Fraser (No. 22) and Cal Poly Pomona (No. 25).
 
Joining Mines on the women's side with national rankings are Western Colorado (No. 11), Chico State (No. 12), Biola (No. 20) and Western Washington (No. 29).


IT'S ALL ABOUT THE FESTIVAL
The Pre-Nationals is the first event that is connected to this year's NCAA Division II Fall Festival. The Olympics-style gathering will determine the national champions not only in cross country, but also volleyball, men's and women's soccer, and women's field hockey.
 
The cross country championships will be at Chambers Creek are set for the morning of Friday, Dec. 2, with the men at 10:00 a.m. and the women at 11:15.
 
The entire Festival is spread over three days, Thursday through Saturday, Dec. 1-3. Volleyball will be in Brougham Pavilion all three days (quarterfinals on Dec. 1, semis on Dec. 2, finals on Dec. 3). Men's and women's soccer will be at Interbay Stadium (all four semifinals on Thursday, both finals on Saturday). Field hockey will be at Renton Memorial Stadium (semifinals on Thursday and the final on Saturday).
 
AROUND THE GNAC
All 10 GNAC teams will be coming into the meet fresh. None of the 10 schools has competed since the weekend of Oct. 7-8. (SPU's most recent race was Oct. 1 at the Charles Bowles Invitational in Salem, Ore.). One of the teams in action on Oct. 8 was Western Washington at the prestigious Lewis Crossover on Romeoville, Illinois. The men were third among 20 teams, and the women were seventh among the 20 in that race.

Click on this link for a look at this week's GNAC cross country notebook. Click on this link for results, polls, and stats.
 
UP NEXT
Saturday is the final regular-season meet for the Falcons. They then will have two weeks to get ready for the GNAC Championships. This year's races are back at Ash Creek Preserve adjacent to Western Oregon University in Monmouth for the first time since 2018. The men will race 8 kilometers beginning at 10:00 a.m., and the women will go 6K at 11:00 a.m.