THE SCHEDULE                 Seattle Pacific at Puget Sound Invitational
                                                Saturday, Sept. 3, 2022
                                                Women's 5K, 11:00 a.m.   Men's 5K, 11:30 a.m..
                                                Fort Steilacoom Park / Steilacoom, Wash.
                                                No live Webcast or live results
 
 
SEATTLE – Officially, autumn doesn't arrive on the calendar for another three weeks. But cross country season arrives on the calendar this weekend, so …
 
… call it autumn.
 
The Seattle Pacific Falcons will open their 2022 schedule on Saturday when they head south for the Puget Sound Invitational at Fort Steilacoom Park in Steilacoom, just southwest of Tacoma.
 
Both races are 5 kilometers. The women answer the starting call at 11:00 a.m., followed by the men at 11:30.
 
This will be the second straight year that SPU has begun its campaign in Steilacoom, but this time, both teams will be there. Last September, the men finished in fourth place. The women did not compete, opening their season the following weekend in Oregon.
 
AN IDEAL DAY FOR RACING
It should be as close to a perfect day as possible. The forecast calls for mostly sunny skies with temperatures pushing toward the mid 70s by race time. Winds are not expected to be a factor, and no rain is in sight.
 
KEEPING TRACK OF THE ACTION
Live results will not be available. Results will be posted as quickly as possible after the race at www.loggerathletics.com and at www.tfrrs.org.
 
ASSOCIATE HEAD COACH CHRIS REED SAYS …
(On his outlook for the season)
"It's a young team, for sure. We haven't really talked too much about outcome-specific goals. What we talked about and agreed upon were process-specific goals and what we want to be as a team. There's potential for improvement among the conference standings this year. We didn't have any team representation at regionals last year. That's an expectation that we'll be representing ourselves on both the men's and women's sides. Improvement will be the name of the game."
 
(On the schedule)
"We have some low key-meets (early on) and also some shorter distances to allow us to build. … The heightened competition as the season goes on is something that's really exciting for us. I know the team is looking forward to Oct. 22 (at the NCAA Division II Pre-Nationals) in a big way. They're talking a lot about not being intimidated by anybody, and that's exciting to hear from a team. Some of the top teams in the country, some of the top teams in the region will be there. We'd like to be in the mix by that point of the year, and that will set us up well for the championship season with conference and regionals.
 
(On his expectations for Saturday's meet)
"The biggest thing I'm looking for is their ability to compete at a high level. Regardless of what their times are, regardless of where they place, just compete with pride and wear the uniform that exhibits their pride in being a Seattle Pacific Falcon. If we can do that from Day 1, I think it makes for a really exciting season forthcoming."
 




SCOUTING THE PUGET SOUND INVITATIONAL
Among the SPU returners on the men's side, four of them ran this course last September. Jon Owen was the highest-placing among those four, taking 16th. Ben Sheirbon, Gabe Endresen, and Rory McClelland also were in action that day. (That race was 6 kilometers; this one will be 5K.)
 
On Saturday, as many as five new Falcons could make their college debuts. All of them raced in their respective high school state meets as seniors in 2021.
 
Another newcomer, sophomore Kade Franco, comes in with college experience, having competed for Orange Coast College last fall and was 47that the California Community College Athletic Association championship meet.
 
SPU's women will make their season debut with a blend of four veterans and four newcomers. Nicki Yorges, who was a consistent top-three scorer for the Falcons in 2021 and raced at the NCAA West Regionals, is back. Libby Michael did not race last fall because of an injury, but did get in a full season of outdoor track. This will be her first cross country race since the Central Washington Winter Invitational in February 2021.
 
Vanessa Aniteye will race cross country for the first time. She starred on the track for Seattle Pacific last spring, winning GNAC crowns in the 400-meter dash and the 4-by-100 relay. Aniteye went on to NCAAs and earned All-American honors in both events.

Annika Esvelt, who ran to All-GNAC and All-West Region, is not slated to compete this week.
 
Stepping up to a college starting line for the first time are freshmen Maya Ewing, Katelyn Flolo, and Matise Mulch. Ewing was a two-time top-20 finisher at the Class 1A (small school) Washington state high school meet. Flolo recorded a top-30 state finish in 2019 in the Class 4A (large school) Washington state meet. Mulch won the district title and was third in in last year's Washington 1A meet.
 
BACK-TO-BACK-TO-BACK
Seattle Pacific runners will be in action on each of the first three Saturdays of September.
 
After the Puget Sound Invite this week, the Falcons will get ready for the CWU Invitational on Sept. 10 at Apple Ridge Run in Yakima, with races at 11:00 a.m. and 11:40 a.m. That course was the site of the Great Northwest Athletic Conference Championships from 2008-11.
 
Then on Sept. 17, the teams will trek to Tacoma for the PLU Open. Seattle Pacific also ran there last fall, with Annika Esvelt winning the women's race.
 
NCAA NATIONALS & PRE-NATIONALS ARE ON THE WAY
Seattle Pacific is serving as the host school for 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 Regional Park in University Place, just south of Tacoma. They are set for the morning of Friday, Dec. 2, with the men at 10:00 a.m. and the women at 11:15..
 
In preparation for that meet, SPU is hosting the NCAA D2 Pre-Nationals on Saturday, Oct. 22 at Chambers Creek. The Men's Open is set for 10:00 a.m., and the Men's D2 Invitational is a 10:40. The Women's Open will follow at 11:20 a.m., and the Women's D2 Invitational at noon.
 
The men's races will 8 kilometers (nationals will be 10K), and the women's will be 6K (nationals also will be 6K).
 
As of this week, 26 teams are entered in the meet. That includes all 10 from the GNAC and 10 others from the West Region. The list of schools literally stretches ocean to ocean: Hawaii Pacific and Hawaii Hilo from the Pacific side, to Delaware's Wilmington University on the Atlantic side.:
 
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 with semifinals on Thursday and the final on Saturday.
 
POLLING PLACE
The Seattle Pacific women have been picked for a fifth-place finish, and the men have been picked for ninth in the GNAC preseason coaches poll that was released on Aug. 24.
 
SPU's women received 49 points in the voting. Simon Fraser is a slight favorite, receiving six of the 10 first-place votes and 86 points. Western Washington is second with three firsts and 79 points, while Alaska Fairbanks is third with one first and 72 points.
 
The Falcon men received 23 points in the voting. On that side as well, Simon Fraser is the favorite – barely – with six first-place votes and 86 points. Right behind is Western Washington with 84 points and the other four first-place votes.
 
SCOUTING THE 2022 FALCONS
Both Seattle Pacific teams are looking to move up the Great Northwest Athletic Conference ladder this fall. The women were fifth in last year's conference championship meet; the men finished 10th.
 
 

The Falcon women return two of their top three GNAC scorers. Annika Esvelt, a junior academically but a sophomore for athletics, took ninth at conference and went on to a 22nd-place finish at NCAA West Regionals. She won back-to-back races in 2021, first at the PLU Open, then two weeks later at the Chambers Creek College Open. But cross country was just the start of things for her, as she went on to place eighth in the 5000 meters at NCAA indoors, then fourth in the 10,000 and 10^th in the 5000 at NCAA outdoors.
 
 

Nicki Yorges, now a sophomore, showed solid promise during her first season. She ran in five of the six meets, and was the No. 3 scorer for the Falcons in the last four of those, including conference, where she was 35^th overall, and at West Regionals. Yorges went on to run distances ranging from 800 to 5000 meters on the track.
 
 

Libby Michael is looking forward to her first full cross country season. Injuries have limited her to just one meet since joining the Falcons in 2019, that being the CWU Winter Invitational in February 2021. Michael was back in action for the 2022 outdoor track season.
 
 

New to cross country but certainly not new to running is Vanessa Aniteye. She is a well-established star on the track. After three years at Alaska Anchorage (2017-19), she came to SPU in the fall of 2021. Aniteye used her final season of outdoor eligibility this past spring, winning her fourth GNAC title in the 400-meter dash, then running the second leg on the 4-by-100 relay at conference, setting a school, GNAC meet and overall GNAC record. She broke the school 400 record three times, the last of which was with a 53.64 to give her sixth place at nationals.
 
Aniteye has one indoor season left, which she will use this coming winter, with the possibility of focusing on the 800. She will use cross country to help prepare for that.
 
Also looking at switching her focus from sprints to longer distances is junior Charisma Smith. She ran in two meets last fall.
 
A trio of freshmen will make their college debut with the Falcons. Maya Ewing was a two-time top-20 finisher at the Class 1A (small school) Washington state high school meet for Lynden Christian. Katelyn Flolo recorded a top-30 state finish in 2019 for Camas in the Class 4A (large school) Washington state meet. Matise Mulch of Lakeside-Nine Mile Falls, won the district title and was third in in last year's Washington 1A meet.
 
SPU's men will definitely have a new front runner, as Colin Boutin completed his career last fall with a best-ever 26th-place finish at West Regionals. (He does have one season of indoor track eligibility left, which he will use this winter.)
 
 

Brennan LeBlanc, a junior, and Jon Owen, a redshirt sophomore, traded off the Nos. 2 and 3 spots last year. At the PLU Open and the Chambers Creek College Open, LeBlanc was the second Falcon scorer, and Owen was the third. At GNAC, Owen was the No. 2 Seattle Pacific runner across the finish line (45th overall), and LeBlanc was No. 3 (49th).
 
Sophomores Gabe Endresen and Ben Sheirbon, and redshirt sophomore Rory McClelland are back, as well. Endresen (usually No. 4 or No. 5) and Sheirbon (ranging from No. 3 to No. 5) scored in all five meets they ran. McClelland ran in three meets, scoring in one.
 
A total of seven newcomers will round out the roster. Sophomore Kade Franco already has some experience, having competed for Orange Coast College last fall. Drew Thompson ran outdoor track for the Falcons last spring, but this will be his first cross country season.
 
The other five – Lucas Reyes, Ethan Erickson, Nathaniel Gale, Tom Thake, and Isaac Venable – are all freshmen. Gale competed in his fourth Montana state high school meet as a senior in 2021. Cervantes Reyes, Erickson, and Venable all competed in the Washington state high school meet for the first time during their 2021 senior seasons.
 
AROUND THE WEST
Perennial power Chico State is the choice to win its 20th straight California Collegiate Athletic Association men's title. The Wildcats received eight first-place votes 75 points in the preseason coaches poll. Cal Poly Pomona was second with 68. On the women's side, Chico State is an ever-so-slight favorite, with five of the 11 first place votes and 109 points. Stanislaus got five firsts and 103 points.
 
The Pacific West Conference has not released a preseason poll.