Cross Country - Seattle Pacific University Athletics
Cross Country Seattle Pacific University
Mark Moschetti, Assistant SID ● (206) 281-2772 ● [email protected] ● Fax: (206) 281-2266
Top-caliber teams await SPU at opener in Cali NCAA power Chico State, NAIA qualifier Oregon Tech, host Humboldt are all there
Seattle Pacific at Humboldt State Invitational Saturday, Sept. 10, 2016 Patrick’s Point State Park / Trinidad, Calif. Men’s 8K 9:00 a.m. Women’s 6K, 10:00 a.m. No live Webcast or live results
SEATTLE – It’s not just a new season for the Seattle Pacific cross country teams. It’s a new meet on the schedule to get it started. The Falcons will pile into a pair of vans this week and set their sights south toward California, where they will compete in Saturday’s Humboldt State Invitational. Racing at Patrick’s Point State Park in Trinidad begins with the men’s 8-kilometer race at 9:00 a.m., followed by the women’s 6K at 10:00. SPU will be one of 11 schools in the meet. That includes the host Lumberjacks, whose women were one of the teams the Falcons beat out last November for a trip to the NCAA Division II nationals. From last year’s national-qualifying squad that SPU WOMEN ON NATIONAL, met its goal with a top-15 finish, four women REGIONAL RANKING LISTS are back, joined by two other veterans and four freshmen. The men have a seven-man squad, The Falcon women are five of whom raced last season. among the nation’s and the West Region’s elite teams according to preseason rankings compiled by A FINE MORNING FOR A RUN the U.S. Track & Field and Cross For SPU athletes, Saturday’s meet should feel Country Coaches Association. almost exactly like running in Seattle. Friday’s SPU is No. 23 on the national list, overnight temperatures are forecast to be on the receiving 27 points in the polling. low 50s, and they will be heading toward the low It is one of four GNAC schools in 60s on Saturday. Some low clouds might still be lingering at race time, but the sun is expected to the top 25. Alaska Anchorage poke through eventually. is No. 6, Western Washington is No. 9, and Simon Fraser is No. 20. Grand Valley State A DIFFERENT KIND OF SCHEDULE of Michigan (197 points) and During some previous seasons, the Falcons have Adams State of Colorado (194) raced almost every weekend. This year, they have are a very close 1-2. just three meets prior to the GNAC Championships, The preseason regional list has all of them spaced two Saturdays apart. the Falcon women at No. 6. The After Saturday’s Humboldt Invite, SPU will return same four GNAC squads are on to action on Sept. 24 at the Saint Martin’s that list, with Anchorage No. 2, Invitational in Lacey. Then on Oct. 8, it’s the Western No. 3 and Simon No. 5. Western Washington Classic at Bellingham’s Chico State is at No. 1. Lake Padden Park. Anchorage leads the men’s The GNACs are set for Oct. 22 at Lake Padden, West Region rankings. The with regionals on Nov. 5 in Billings, Mont, and Seawolves are ranked No. 4 the D2 nationals on Nov. 19 in Saint Leo, Fla. nationally, with Simon Fraser For the first time since 1993, the Falcons will not 12th and Western Washington run at the Sundodger Invitational in West 22nd. Colorado Mines and Seattle’s Lincoln Park, as that would have given Grand Valley State are 1-2. meets on three straight weekends.
September 8, 2016
GENERAL INFORMATION Institution: Seattle Pacific University Address: 3307 Third Ave. W., Seattle, WA 98119 Enrollment: 4,120 Nickname: Falcons Colors: Maroon & White Affiliation: NCAA Division II Conference: Great Northwest Athletic Conference President: Dr. Daniel J. Martin (S. Nazarene) Athletic Director.: Jackson Stava E-mail: [email protected] Athletic Department office: 206-281-2085 Fax: 206-281-2266 Athletic Dept. Web Site: www.spufalcons.com Sports Info. Director: Dan Lepse (206-281-2741; [email protected]) X-country SID: Mark Moschetti (206-281-2772, [email protected])
COACHING STAFF Head Coach: Karl Lerum, 4th year Pacific Lutheran ‘98 Office: (206) 281-2897 E-mail: [email protected] Assistant Coaches: Audra Smith, 4th year Chris Reed, 3rd year
2016 SCHEDULE Sept. 10 Humboldt State Invitational M: 9:00 a.m. W: 10:00 a.m. Sept. 24 Saint Martin’s Invitational M: 9:30 a.m. W: 10:20 a.m. Oct. 8 WWU Classic (Lk. Padden / Bellingham) M: 10:00 a.m. W: 11:00 a.m. Oct. 22 GNAC (Lk. Padden / Bellingham) M: 10:00 a.m. W: 11:00 a.m. Nov. 5 NCAA West Regionals (Billings, Mont.) M: 10:00 a.m. W: 11:15 a.m. Nov. 19 NCAA D2 Championships (Saint Leo, Fla..) M: 5:30 a.m. W: 6:45 a.m.
SCOUTING REPORT SCOUTING THE HUMBOLDT STATE INVITATIONAL Nothing quite like finding out right away how things stack up against some of the best competition in the West. The Falcon women will get to do exactly that on Saturday, because heading up the expected field of 11 team is perennial regional powerhouse Chico State. The Wildcats have won the last eight California Collegiate Athletic Association titles. They also are the defending Division II West Region champions, and capped off their 2015 season with the fourth-place team trophy at nationals. The top three finishers from that national team, including 12th-place Sadie Gastelum, are back. Also worthy of keeping an eye on is host Humboldt State. The Lumberjacks are led by senior Kori Gilley, an All-West Region pick last year after she finished 15th in that race. Gilley was ahead of all the Falcons except now-graduated Anna Patti at both the regionals and at the Charles Bowles Invitational about a month prior to that. Other CCAA teams in the field are Sonoma State and Cal State Monterey Bay, while Dominican and Notre Dame de Namur are coming from the Pacific West Conference. Oregon Tech brings a solid women’s squad to the meet. The Pelicans were 19th at last year’s NAIA national championships, led by Suzie Garza, who capped her freshman year with a sixthplace finish. So how to the Falcons fit in here? Junior Mary Charleson (photo left) is coming off an outstanding outdoor track season, and was right on the cusp of making the NCAA field in the 1500 and 5000. She and senior Sarah Macdonald (photo right) will be trying right from the start to see how far toward the front they can get and how close together they can stay. Senior Hannah Calvert and junior Chynna Phan are expected to be among the scoring pack, as well. This will be the first opportunity to see the SPU freshman perform in their first 6K college race – a full kilometer longer than almost all high school competitions. Among the four newbies, Alyssa Foote had three consecutive top-15 finishes in Oregon’s large-school state meet, and Katherine Walter was 22nd as a junior and 15th as a senior in Washington’s Class 3A (one notch below large school) state meet. Ben Halladay is looking to stay at the front of the SPU pack in the men’s meet. Halladay is the leading veteran among the six Falcons making the trip to California, and was 31st in last year’s Great Northwest Athletic Conference meet. Seniors David McLeod and Joey Walker, and redshirt junior Brysten James are the other three veterans. Walker, James, and McLeod – in that order – finished within 11 seconds of each other at GNAC last October. Sophomore Jesse Phan will make his college cross country debut. He became a regular contributor, especially at 800 meters, during outdoor track last spring. Danny Provo, the team’s only true freshman, also will step onto a college course for the first time.
MOST RECENT SPU TOP 7 – WOMEN Nov. 21, 2015 at NCAA Division II Championships 6 kilometers at Tom Rutledge XC Course / Joplin, Mo. Seattle Pacific 15th / 32 teams, 398 points Runner SPU place Overall Anna Patti 1 62 Sarah Macdonald* 2 65 Mary Charleson* 3 99 Hannah Calvert* 4 128 Lynelle Decker 5 131 Chynna Phan* 6 148 Jessica Rawlins 7 185
Time 21:47.1 21:50.9 22:12.3 22:32.8 22:34.3 22:41.8 23:04.2
*Returning MOST RECENT SPU TOP 7 – MEN Nov. 7, 2015 at NCAA Division II West Regionals 10 kilometers at Ash Creek Preserve Monmouth, Ore. Seattle Pacific 20th / 23 teams, 557 points Runner SPU place Overall Ben Halladay* 1 99 Adam Avischious 2 106 Brian Comer 3 108 David McLeod* 4 127 Joey Walker* 5 128 Brysten James* 6 130 Clark Sterling* 7 145 *Returning
Time 32:34.11 32:46.50 32:48.06 33:32.76 33:33.74 33:36.07 34:09.00
SPEAKING OF THE FALCONS Assistant coach Chris Reed says … (On what he’s seeing this early in the season) “What you look for early on is did people do a good job over the summer of getting fit? Are they healthy? Are they confident? Are they still eager and happy? From what I’ve seen, that’s where we’re at. The other thing you really look for is their ability to work hard, because that’s what is really going to set the stage for the rest of the season.” (On the women’s team) “We’ve got a lot of talent on the team. From cross country season last to now, there’s been a lot of improvement among the individuals. You saw that a lot during track season. It’s a good group of returners, and we feel really good about the freshmen coming in. Put all that together, and we’re pretty excited about what’s going to happen this year. … The talent is there, the hard work is there, the personality and attitude are there, the character is there. If they continue to be the kind of team they’ve been over the last year, year and a half, two years, I fully expect us to be in Florida (at nationals) in November.” (On the men’s team) “The cool thing about the men is despite the fact that they lost the No. 2 and 3 runners from last season, I feel like the returners have done a nice job stepping up over the summer. Ben Halladay has had a fantastic summer – he’s more fit than he’s ever been. David McLeod has had a really good summer. Brysten James and Joey Walker, last year was their first year in the program. Now that they’ve had a year in the program, they approached summer differently than they ever have.”
SCOUTING THE 2016 FALCONS When it comes to experience on college running’s big stages, the Seattle Pacific women have a lot of it. That experience, combined with a foursome of talented newcomers, could help keep the Falcons very much in the chase for yet another trip to the NCAA cross country nationals this fall. Led by senior Sarah Macdonald, the top returning placer from the 2015 NCAAs, and junior Mary Charleson, who blossomed into a national-caliber runner not only on the trails, but also on the track, SPU heads into the autumn believing it can pursue a GNAC crown and some coveted tickets to Florida for November’s Division II national championship meet. Macdonald is coming off of her best cross country season as a Falcon. She ran No. 2 behind now-graduated Anna Patti through the regular season, then capped her year by placing 65th at NCAAs, crossing the line just three spots behind Patti.
Charleson was Seattle Pacific’s No. 3 placer at D2s, 99th overall. Just two weeks earlier in at West Regionals., she had the best race of her career, surging forward to finish 20th. That made her All-West Region lit and helped the Falcons squeeze out the fifth and final qualifying spot to nationals.
Katherine Walter. Foote had top-15 finishes in the Oregon state meet as a junior (12th) and senior (13th). Walter was a top-25er in the Washington state meet as a junior (22nd) and senior (15th). McNerney ran in three California state meets, and Lilly made the Washington meet twice.
Senior Hannah Calvert and junior Chynna Phan also are returning from the national team. Calvert scored in all seven meets, including a top-25 finish at GNAC. She was No. 4 for the team at regionals and nationals.
Seeking to set the pace for the SPU men once again is junior Ben Halladay. Last year as a sophomore, he was the first Falcon finisher in five of the six meets, including GNAC and West Regionals.
Phan is best known for her talent in the 800 meters, as she ran at last winter’s indoor track nationals in that event and on the All-American distance medley relay. She also scored in three of the five XC meets she ran, and was the final scorer at regionals to help clinch the national spot. Juniors Hailey Kettel and Sophie Carroll will be vying for top-7 spots, along with freshmen Alyssa Foote, Kate Lilly, Sedona McNerney, and
Among SPU’s other returners is senior Joey Walker, who scored at both GNAC (No. 4) and regionals (No. 5). Rounding out the list of veterans are senior David McLeod, along with juniors Brysten James and Clark Sterling. Jesse Phan joins cross country after some solid performances in the 800 during the outdoor track season. Freshman Danny Provo comes aboard after a pair of top-20 finishes in the Montana state meet (20th as a junior, 10th as a senior).
FALCON FODDER SO WHAT’S THE STORY THIS WEEK?
WOMEN PICKED 4TH, MEN TABBED FOR 10TH
-- With the exception of Sundodger in 2014, this is the first time since 1988 that the Falcons have run in a season-opening meet with 10 or more teams. That 2014 Sundodger had 19 women’s squads, and 21 men’s. The 1988 opener was the Emerald City Invite at Seattle’s Lower Woodland Park, with 10 women’s teams and eight men’s. Saturday’s meet has 11 teams.
Seattle Pacific’s women have been picked for a fourth-place finish in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference. The Falcons received 88 points in voting by the 11 conference coaches.
-- For five of the past six years, the season opener has been in Fairbanks, Alaska. -- Seattle Pacific is the only GNAC school in Trinidad. -- While four SPU women and two men will make their college cross country debuts, one Falcon will be making her long-awaited return to the course. Sophie Carroll, an academic junior, but a sophomore in terms of athletic eligibility, did not compete last year because of an injury. She also was sidelined for the winter indoor track season, but returned to the outdoor oval in the spring, running six meets, all in the 800 meters. -- Just six men will race for Seattle Pacific this week, but they expect to be up to seven before the end of the season after junior Clark Sterling returns from an internship. RUNNING AROUND THE WORLD While most of the Falcons trained locally this summer, a few got some miles in farther afield as they ventured out for various reasons. Senior Sarah Macdonald did some of her running on Saltspring Island in British Columbia. Junior Mary Charleson and freshman Kate Lilly both logged some miles in England. Junior Hailey Kettel ran while in Mexico, and freshman Sedona McNerney put in some early-morning workouts while in the Baja California part of Mexico. Even assistant coach Audra Smith did some training abroad as she and her husband traveled through Germany, Italy, and France.
Defending champion Alaska Anchorage, which has won six of the past seven GNAC women’s titles, is the favorite to do so again. The Seawolves received nine first-place votes and 117 points. Western Washington got the other two first-place votes and 117 points. The other team voted ahead of SPU was Simon Fraser, picked third with 90 points. The SPU men are picked for 10th, receiving 28 points. WHO’S THAT UP FRONT? For the first time since 2013, someone other than Anna Patti will be the first Falcon across the finish line on Saturday. Beginning with the 2013 NCAA Division II nationals in Spokane, the now-graduated star led the way for Seattle Pacific in 14 consecutive races. That included top-10 West Regional finishes in 2014 and 2015, and three straight victories to begin last year: the long-course and short-course meets as the Alaska Invitational, and a come-from-behind win at Sundodger. The last person other than Patti to set the SPU pace was McKayla Fricker, who was 10th at West Regionals in 2013. Of the current crew, Hannah Calvert led the team at the 2013 Saint Martin’s Invitational, and Sarah Macdonald was up front the following week at the Charles Bowles Invitational. UP NEXT SPU, Western Washington, and host Saint Martin’s are expected to be the three Great Northwest Athletic Conference teams on the course at the Saint Martin’s Invitational on Saturday, Sept. 24. The 8K men’s race starts at 9:30 a.m., followed by the women’s 5K at 10:20. The races take place on the Saint Martin’s campus in Lacey.
2016 Seattle Pacific Women’s Cross Country Roster Name Hannah Calvert Sophie Carroll Mary Charleson Alyssa Foote Hailey Kettel Kate Lilly Sarah Macdonald Sedona McNerney Chynna Phan Katherine Walter Pronunciation guide Chynna Phann
Yr. Sr Jr Jr Fr Jr Fr Sr Fr Jr Fr
Exp. 3V 2V 2V HS 2V HS 3V HS 2V HS
Hometown (HS/Last college) Enumclaw, WA (Enumclaw) Bremerton, WA (Central Kitsap) Mill Creek, WA (Jackson) Beaverton, OR (Aloha) Edmonds, WA (Edmonds-Woodway) Renton, WA (Hazen) Tucson, AZ (Pusch Ridge Christian) Fair Oaks, CA (Bella Vista) Bellingham, WA (Mt. Baker) Brier, WA (Mountlake Terrace)
China FAWN
2016 Seattle Pacific Men’s Cross Country Roster Name Yr. Exp. Ben Halladay Jr 2V Brysten James Jr 1V David McLeod Sr 1V Jesse Phan So HS Danny Provo Fr HS Clark Sterling Jr 2V Joey Walker Sr 1V Head coach: Karl Lerum Assistant coaches: Audra Smith, Chris Pronunciation guide Ben Halladay Brysten James Jesse Phan
HAL-a-day BRISS-ten F
Karl Lerum Audra Smith
LEER-um AH-druh
Hometown (HS/Last College) Mukilteo, WA (Kamiak) Warsaw, IN (Warsaw Community HS) Des Moines, WA (Mount Rainier / W. Oregon) Bellingham, WA (Mt. Baker) Missoula, MT (Hellgate) Mill Creek, WA (Jackson) Auburn, WA (Jefferson / Highline CC) Reed
MEN NATIONAL (Oct. 15) 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8 . 9 10.
Colorado Mines Grand Valley St. (Mich.) Adams State Alaska Anchorage Chico State Shippensburg Augustana (S.D.) Southern Indiana Cal Poly Pomona Western State (Colo).
WOMEN WEST RGN. (Aug. 30) 1. Chico State 2. Alaska Anchorage 3. Western Washington 4. Cal Baptist 5. Simon Fraser 6. Seattle Pacific 7. Cal Poly Pomona 8. Cal State San Bernardino 9. UC San Diego 10. Point Loma Nazarene
WOMEN
School (1st place) Points
School (1st place) Points
121 106 101 88 64 61 60 38 35 28 24
T17. Cal Baptist 20. Simon Fraser 23. Seattle Pacific
12. Simon Fraser 22. Western Washington
MEN 1. Alaska Anchorage (11) 2. Simon Fraser 3. Western Washington 4. Western Oregon 5. Northwest Nazarene 6. Montana State Billings 7. Central Washington 8. Concordia (Ore.) 9. Alaska Fairbanks 10. Seattle Pacific 10. Saint Martin’s
WOMEN NATIONAL (Aug. 31) 1. Grand Valley St. (Mich.) 2. Adams State (Colo.) 3. Chico state 4. Western State (Colo.) 5. Univ. of Mary (S.D.) 6. Alaska Anchorage 7. Hillsdale (Mich.) 8. Northern Michigan 9. Western Washinton 10. Southern Indiana
PRESEASON RANKINGS
1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11.
Alaska Anchorage (9) W. Washington (2) Simon Fraser Seattle Pacific Central Washington Western Oregon Condordia Northwest Nazar Saint Martin’s Alaska Fairbanks Montana St. Billings
117 107 90 88 79 63 46 45 36 25 21
MEN WEST RGN. (Oct. 14) 1. Alaska Anchorage 2. Chico State 3. Cal Poly Pomona 4. Simon Fraser 5. Western Washington 6. San Francisco State 7. Academy of Art 8. Azusa Pacific 9. Cal Baptist 10. UC San Diego Next rankings: Sept. 13-14
HEAD COACH / PROGRAM DIRECTOR KARL LERUM Having successfully continued a long-standing tradition of success with Seattle Pacific’s track and field teams, Karl Lerum is now in his fourth year as director of the school’s entire running program, including cross country, having taken on that role in the fall of 2013. Lerum is heading into his 12th year in charge of the SPU track program. In 2015, for the sixth time in school history, and all under his leadership, the Falcon women pulled an indoor-outdoor GNAC team title sweep. They followed that up with a second straight outdoor title in 2016. A few weeks after the season, Lerum was named the 2016 GNAC women’s outdoor Coach of the Year, as well as USTFCCCA West Region women’s outdoor Coach of the Year. The GNAC award was his seventh. He has swept the women’s indoor and outdoor honors five times: 2007, 2010, 2011, 2012, and 2015. He also has six West Region women’s indoor Coach of the Year awards and five outdoor honors, giving him 25 conference and region honors altogether between the winter and spring seasons. Of Seattle Pacific’s 10 conference indoor team championships, Lerum has been the man in charge for eight of those. During the 2016 outdoor season, 12 Falcon women posted a total of 17 NCAA provisional qualifying marks. Of those qualifiers, Jahzelle Ambus (400), Lynelle Decker (800, 1500), Geneva Lehnert (high jump), Maliea Luquin (100 hurdles) and Jalen Tims (400 hurdles) made it to nationals, with Decker making All-American in both of her races.
Indoors in 2016, Lerum’s Falcons hit nine NCAA qualifying marks, and ultimately came up big at nationals in Pittsburg, Kan. Decker raced to a silver medal in the 800, and the 4x400 relay team of Tims, Decker, Cheryl Hong, and Ambus bagged a bronze. In addition, the 4,000-meter distance medley relay of Decker, Ambus, Chynna Phan, and Anna Patti gained All-American status by finishing fifth. Ambus and Tims also ran in the 400 meters, and Lehnert got there in the high jump. Lerum stepped up to the Falcons’ coaching helm in October 2005, taking over from Jack Hoyt. He worked as an assistant to Hoyt in 2000, and again in 2003. In between, he spent two years as an assistant coach at Trinity College, an NCAA Division III school in Hartford, Conn. As an athlete at Pacific Lutheran University in nearby Tacoma, Lerum made his mark in two sports. On the football field, he set – and still owns – the school career records for receptions and receiving yards. On the track, Lerum has the Lutes record in the 400 meters and is among the school’s top 10 in the decathlon, 110 hurdles, long jump, 100 meters, and javelin. He was an All-American in the decathlon, finishing third at the NAIA nationals in 1996 and second in ‘97 and ‘98. He didn’t stop there. After college, Lerum was on the San Francisco 49ers’ roster for the 1998 and 1999 preseason, and played with the Amsterdam Admirals in NFL Europe. In 2003 and again in 2004, he served as the head coach of the Oslo Vikings football program in Norway. Lerum is a graduate of Franklin Pierce High School in Parkland, south of Tacoma. He has a bachelor’s degree in history from PLU and a master’s in history from Trinity. He and wife Yvonne and son Lucas live in Seattle.
ASSISTANT COACH CHRIS REED Chris Reed is beginning his sixth year as a collegiate coach and his fourth year as an assistant at Seattle Pacific, joining the staff in December 2013. The native of Klamath Falls, Ore., is a 2011 graduate of Western Oregon University, majoring in economics. On the cross country course, he was a two-time All-Great Northwest Athletic Conference selection, finishing seventh as a junior in 2009 and third as a senior in 2010. He also was a two-time NCAA qualifier, earning All-American recognition in 2009. On the track, Reed raced to a pair of All-GNAC honors, taking third in the 5,000 meters as a freshman in 2008, then placing third in the 1,500 as a senior in 2011. He also was fourth in the 5K as a junior and senior. Indoors, he won the 2011 GNAC mile title and anchored the Wolves’ distance medley relay to All-American status later that season. Reed finished his WOU career with five school records: the mile, 5000, and DMR indoors, along with the 5000 and 10,000 outdoors. He ran in five NCAA championship meets (twice in cross country and outdoor track, and once in indoor track). He became an assistant coach at Western Oregon in 2011 prior to joining the Falcons. He was named the West Region Women’s Indoor Assistant Coach of the Year in 2015 by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association. He also is the director of the Falcon Running Camp.
ASSISTANT COACH AUDRA SMITH Audra Smith, who started out as a sprinter, became a heptathlete, and now has competed in four marathons, is in her fourth year on the Falcons coaching staff, coming aboard in August 2013.The graduate of Idaho State spent the previous four years before joining the Falcons as a coach at the University of Washington – one year as a multi-events assistant for track, and the past three as a strength and conditioning coach. She now works primarily with SPU’s sprinters, During the 2015-16 school year, the Falcon women won a bronze medal in the 4x400 relay at the NCAA Division II indoor meet, sent two women to the open 400 at indoor nationals and one for the 400 at outdoor nationals. New school records were set in the women’s indoor and outdoor 400, the indoor 200, and the indoor 4x400 relay. Smith starred in the heptathlon at Idaho State, placing second at the Big Sky Conference meet in 2007. She also was a member of the victorious 4x100 relay team, and scored in the 100, 200, 100 hurdles, and javelin as the Bengals won the team championship for the first time in school history. In the winter of 2016, Smith was named the West Region Women’s Indoor Track Assistant Coach of the Year by the USTFCCCA.
2015 WOMEN’S RESULTS CHART
2015 MEN’S RESULTS CHART
Seattle Pacific University Cross Country 2016 Preseason Prospectus General Information
Institution: Seattle Pacific University Address: 3307 Third Avenue West, Seattle, WA 98119 Founded: 1891 Enrollment: 4,175 Nickname: Falcons Colors: Maroon & White Affiliation: NCAA Division II Conference: Great Northwest Athletic Conference President: Dr. Daniel J. Martin (Southern Nazarene) Athletic Dir.: Jackson Stava (Azusa Pacific ‘05) Athletic Department office: 206-281-2085 Fax: 206-281-2266 Athletic Department Web Site: www.spufalcons.com Sports Info Director: Dan Lepse (206-281-2741, [email protected]) Cross country SID: Mark Moschetti (206-281-2772, [email protected])
Cross Country Information
Head Coach: Karl Lerum (4th year; Pacific Lutheran ‘98) Coach’s office: 206-281-2897 E-mail: [email protected] Assistant Coaches: Audra Smith ([email protected]) Chris Reed ([email protected]) Athletic Trainer: Jason Durocher Trainer’s office: 206-281-2768 E-mail: [email protected]
History
First year of women’s cross country: 1976. First year of men’s cross country: 1954. Women’s NCAA appearances: 15 (1983, 86, 90, 94, 95, 96, 97, 98, 99, 2006, 07, 08, 09, 12, 13, 15). Men’s NCAA appearances: 1 (2004). Women’s best NCAA finish: 2nd (2007). Men’s best NCAA finish: 19th (2004). Women’s AIAW Division II appearances: 3 (1979, 80, 81). Men’s NAIA appearances: 1 (1961). Women’s best AIAW Division II finish: 2nd (1979, 80). Men’s best NAIA finish: 6th (1961). Women’s conference championships: 11 (Pac West 1993, 94, 96, 97, 98, 99; GNAC 2003, 05, 06, 07, 08). Men’s conference championships: 1 (GNAC 2004).
Primary Print Media
Seattle Times (www.seattletimes.com; [email protected]) Sports desk: (206) 464-2276 Fax: (206) 464-3255 Everett Herald (www.heraldnet.com; [email protected]) Sports desk: (425) 339-3470 Fax: (425) 339-3464 Tacoma News Tribune (www.thenewstribune.com; [email protected]) Sports desk: (253) 597-8680 Fax: (253) 597-8360
2016 Schedule
Date Opponent Time Sept. 10 Humboldt State Invite (Trinidad, Calif.) M: 9 a.m. W: 10 a.m. Sept. 24 Saint Martin’s Invitational (Lacey) M: 9:30 W: 10:20 Oct. 8 WWU Classic (Belilngham) M: 10 a.m. W: 11 a.m. Oct. 22 GNAC (Lk. Padden / Bellingham) M: 10 a.m. W: 11 a.m. Nov. 5 NCAA West Regionals (Billings) M 10 a.m. W 11:15 Nov. 19 NCAA Champs. (Saint Leo, Fla.) M: 5:30 a.m. W: 6:45
2015 Review WOMEN:
MEN:
GNAC: 5th (114). West Regionals: 5th (207). NCAA: 15th (398). Best invitational finish (full team): 3rd at Charles Bowles Invite. Rankings (National / West): Preseason: NR / 9. High: 13 / 3. Final: NR / NR. GNAC: 9th (252). West Regionals: 20th (557). NCAA: DNQ. Best invitational finish (full team): 10th at Charles Bowles Invite. Rankings (National / West): Preseason: NR / NR. High: 17 / 5. Final: 20 / 9.
2016 Women’s Preview
Top 7 returning: 4. Top 7 lost: 3. Other letterwinners returning: 1. Other letterwinners lost: 1. Returning Top 7 (4) Yr Hannah Calvert Sr Mary Charleson Jr Sarah Macdonald Sr Chynna Phan Jr
2015 Honors 128th at NCAAs All-West Region, 99th at NCAAs 65th at NCAAs 148th at NCAAs
Other returning letterwinners (1) Hailey Kettel Jr Other returners (1) Sophie Carroll R-So Top 7 / Other letterwinners lost (3 / 1) Top 7: Lynelle Decker, Anna Patti (All-GNAC, All-West Region, 61st at NCAAs), both graduated; Jessica Rawlins (185th at NCAAs), not returning. Other: Kiley Zeitler, graduated. Newcomers (4) Yr Alyssa Foote Fr Kate Lilly Fr Sedona McNerney Fr Katherine Walter Fr
Hometown (last school) Beaverton, OR (Aloha) Renton, WA (Hazen) Fair Oaks, CA (Bella Vista) Brier, WA (Mountlake Terrace)
2016 Men’s Preview
Top 7 returning: 5. Top 7 lost: 2. Other letterwinners returning: 0. Other letterwinners lost: 0 Returning Top 7 (5) Yr Ben Halladay Jr Brysten James Jr David McLeod Sr Clark Sterling Jr Joey Walker Sr
2015 Honors
Other returning letterwinners (0) Other returners (0) Top 7 / Other letterwinners lost (2 / 0) Top 7: Adam Avischious, Brian Comer, both graduated. Newcomers (2) Yr Jesse Phan R-Fr Danny Provo Fr
Hometown (last school) Deming, WA (Mt. Baker) Missoula, MT (Hellgate)
Mark Moschetti, Assistant SID ● (206) 281-2772 ● [email protected] ● Fax: (206) 281-2266
Top-caliber teams await SPU at opener in Cali NCAA power Chico State, NAIA qualifier Oregon Tech, host Humboldt are all there
Seattle Pacific at Humboldt State Invitational Saturday, Sept. 10, 2016 Patrick’s Point State Park / Trinidad, Calif. Men’s 8K 9:00 a.m. Women’s 6K, 10:00 a.m. No live Webcast or live results
SEATTLE – It’s not just a new season for the Seattle Pacific cross country teams. It’s a new meet on the schedule to get it started. The Falcons will pile into a pair of vans this week and set their sights south toward California, where they will compete in Saturday’s Humboldt State Invitational. Racing at Patrick’s Point State Park in Trinidad begins with the men’s 8-kilometer race at 9:00 a.m., followed by the women’s 6K at 10:00. SPU will be one of 11 schools in the meet. That includes the host Lumberjacks, whose women were one of the teams the Falcons beat out last November for a trip to the NCAA Division II nationals. From last year’s national-qualifying squad that SPU WOMEN ON NATIONAL, met its goal with a top-15 finish, four women REGIONAL RANKING LISTS are back, joined by two other veterans and four freshmen. The men have a seven-man squad, The Falcon women are five of whom raced last season. among the nation’s and the West Region’s elite teams according to preseason rankings compiled by A FINE MORNING FOR A RUN the U.S. Track & Field and Cross For SPU athletes, Saturday’s meet should feel Country Coaches Association. almost exactly like running in Seattle. Friday’s SPU is No. 23 on the national list, overnight temperatures are forecast to be on the receiving 27 points in the polling. low 50s, and they will be heading toward the low It is one of four GNAC schools in 60s on Saturday. Some low clouds might still be lingering at race time, but the sun is expected to the top 25. Alaska Anchorage poke through eventually. is No. 6, Western Washington is No. 9, and Simon Fraser is No. 20. Grand Valley State A DIFFERENT KIND OF SCHEDULE of Michigan (197 points) and During some previous seasons, the Falcons have Adams State of Colorado (194) raced almost every weekend. This year, they have are a very close 1-2. just three meets prior to the GNAC Championships, The preseason regional list has all of them spaced two Saturdays apart. the Falcon women at No. 6. The After Saturday’s Humboldt Invite, SPU will return same four GNAC squads are on to action on Sept. 24 at the Saint Martin’s that list, with Anchorage No. 2, Invitational in Lacey. Then on Oct. 8, it’s the Western No. 3 and Simon No. 5. Western Washington Classic at Bellingham’s Chico State is at No. 1. Lake Padden Park. Anchorage leads the men’s The GNACs are set for Oct. 22 at Lake Padden, West Region rankings. The with regionals on Nov. 5 in Billings, Mont, and Seawolves are ranked No. 4 the D2 nationals on Nov. 19 in Saint Leo, Fla. nationally, with Simon Fraser For the first time since 1993, the Falcons will not 12th and Western Washington run at the Sundodger Invitational in West 22nd. Colorado Mines and Seattle’s Lincoln Park, as that would have given Grand Valley State are 1-2. meets on three straight weekends.
September 8, 2016
GENERAL INFORMATION Institution: Seattle Pacific University Address: 3307 Third Ave. W., Seattle, WA 98119 Enrollment: 4,120 Nickname: Falcons Colors: Maroon & White Affiliation: NCAA Division II Conference: Great Northwest Athletic Conference President: Dr. Daniel J. Martin (S. Nazarene) Athletic Director.: Jackson Stava E-mail: [email protected] Athletic Department office: 206-281-2085 Fax: 206-281-2266 Athletic Dept. Web Site: www.spufalcons.com Sports Info. Director: Dan Lepse (206-281-2741; [email protected]) X-country SID: Mark Moschetti (206-281-2772, [email protected])
COACHING STAFF Head Coach: Karl Lerum, 4th year Pacific Lutheran ‘98 Office: (206) 281-2897 E-mail: [email protected] Assistant Coaches: Audra Smith, 4th year Chris Reed, 3rd year
2016 SCHEDULE Sept. 10 Humboldt State Invitational M: 9:00 a.m. W: 10:00 a.m. Sept. 24 Saint Martin’s Invitational M: 9:30 a.m. W: 10:20 a.m. Oct. 8 WWU Classic (Lk. Padden / Bellingham) M: 10:00 a.m. W: 11:00 a.m. Oct. 22 GNAC (Lk. Padden / Bellingham) M: 10:00 a.m. W: 11:00 a.m. Nov. 5 NCAA West Regionals (Billings, Mont.) M: 10:00 a.m. W: 11:15 a.m. Nov. 19 NCAA D2 Championships (Saint Leo, Fla..) M: 5:30 a.m. W: 6:45 a.m.
SCOUTING REPORT SCOUTING THE HUMBOLDT STATE INVITATIONAL Nothing quite like finding out right away how things stack up against some of the best competition in the West. The Falcon women will get to do exactly that on Saturday, because heading up the expected field of 11 team is perennial regional powerhouse Chico State. The Wildcats have won the last eight California Collegiate Athletic Association titles. They also are the defending Division II West Region champions, and capped off their 2015 season with the fourth-place team trophy at nationals. The top three finishers from that national team, including 12th-place Sadie Gastelum, are back. Also worthy of keeping an eye on is host Humboldt State. The Lumberjacks are led by senior Kori Gilley, an All-West Region pick last year after she finished 15th in that race. Gilley was ahead of all the Falcons except now-graduated Anna Patti at both the regionals and at the Charles Bowles Invitational about a month prior to that. Other CCAA teams in the field are Sonoma State and Cal State Monterey Bay, while Dominican and Notre Dame de Namur are coming from the Pacific West Conference. Oregon Tech brings a solid women’s squad to the meet. The Pelicans were 19th at last year’s NAIA national championships, led by Suzie Garza, who capped her freshman year with a sixthplace finish. So how to the Falcons fit in here? Junior Mary Charleson (photo left) is coming off an outstanding outdoor track season, and was right on the cusp of making the NCAA field in the 1500 and 5000. She and senior Sarah Macdonald (photo right) will be trying right from the start to see how far toward the front they can get and how close together they can stay. Senior Hannah Calvert and junior Chynna Phan are expected to be among the scoring pack, as well. This will be the first opportunity to see the SPU freshman perform in their first 6K college race – a full kilometer longer than almost all high school competitions. Among the four newbies, Alyssa Foote had three consecutive top-15 finishes in Oregon’s large-school state meet, and Katherine Walter was 22nd as a junior and 15th as a senior in Washington’s Class 3A (one notch below large school) state meet. Ben Halladay is looking to stay at the front of the SPU pack in the men’s meet. Halladay is the leading veteran among the six Falcons making the trip to California, and was 31st in last year’s Great Northwest Athletic Conference meet. Seniors David McLeod and Joey Walker, and redshirt junior Brysten James are the other three veterans. Walker, James, and McLeod – in that order – finished within 11 seconds of each other at GNAC last October. Sophomore Jesse Phan will make his college cross country debut. He became a regular contributor, especially at 800 meters, during outdoor track last spring. Danny Provo, the team’s only true freshman, also will step onto a college course for the first time.
MOST RECENT SPU TOP 7 – WOMEN Nov. 21, 2015 at NCAA Division II Championships 6 kilometers at Tom Rutledge XC Course / Joplin, Mo. Seattle Pacific 15th / 32 teams, 398 points Runner SPU place Overall Anna Patti 1 62 Sarah Macdonald* 2 65 Mary Charleson* 3 99 Hannah Calvert* 4 128 Lynelle Decker 5 131 Chynna Phan* 6 148 Jessica Rawlins 7 185
Time 21:47.1 21:50.9 22:12.3 22:32.8 22:34.3 22:41.8 23:04.2
*Returning MOST RECENT SPU TOP 7 – MEN Nov. 7, 2015 at NCAA Division II West Regionals 10 kilometers at Ash Creek Preserve Monmouth, Ore. Seattle Pacific 20th / 23 teams, 557 points Runner SPU place Overall Ben Halladay* 1 99 Adam Avischious 2 106 Brian Comer 3 108 David McLeod* 4 127 Joey Walker* 5 128 Brysten James* 6 130 Clark Sterling* 7 145 *Returning
Time 32:34.11 32:46.50 32:48.06 33:32.76 33:33.74 33:36.07 34:09.00
SPEAKING OF THE FALCONS Assistant coach Chris Reed says … (On what he’s seeing this early in the season) “What you look for early on is did people do a good job over the summer of getting fit? Are they healthy? Are they confident? Are they still eager and happy? From what I’ve seen, that’s where we’re at. The other thing you really look for is their ability to work hard, because that’s what is really going to set the stage for the rest of the season.” (On the women’s team) “We’ve got a lot of talent on the team. From cross country season last to now, there’s been a lot of improvement among the individuals. You saw that a lot during track season. It’s a good group of returners, and we feel really good about the freshmen coming in. Put all that together, and we’re pretty excited about what’s going to happen this year. … The talent is there, the hard work is there, the personality and attitude are there, the character is there. If they continue to be the kind of team they’ve been over the last year, year and a half, two years, I fully expect us to be in Florida (at nationals) in November.” (On the men’s team) “The cool thing about the men is despite the fact that they lost the No. 2 and 3 runners from last season, I feel like the returners have done a nice job stepping up over the summer. Ben Halladay has had a fantastic summer – he’s more fit than he’s ever been. David McLeod has had a really good summer. Brysten James and Joey Walker, last year was their first year in the program. Now that they’ve had a year in the program, they approached summer differently than they ever have.”
SCOUTING THE 2016 FALCONS When it comes to experience on college running’s big stages, the Seattle Pacific women have a lot of it. That experience, combined with a foursome of talented newcomers, could help keep the Falcons very much in the chase for yet another trip to the NCAA cross country nationals this fall. Led by senior Sarah Macdonald, the top returning placer from the 2015 NCAAs, and junior Mary Charleson, who blossomed into a national-caliber runner not only on the trails, but also on the track, SPU heads into the autumn believing it can pursue a GNAC crown and some coveted tickets to Florida for November’s Division II national championship meet. Macdonald is coming off of her best cross country season as a Falcon. She ran No. 2 behind now-graduated Anna Patti through the regular season, then capped her year by placing 65th at NCAAs, crossing the line just three spots behind Patti.
Charleson was Seattle Pacific’s No. 3 placer at D2s, 99th overall. Just two weeks earlier in at West Regionals., she had the best race of her career, surging forward to finish 20th. That made her All-West Region lit and helped the Falcons squeeze out the fifth and final qualifying spot to nationals.
Katherine Walter. Foote had top-15 finishes in the Oregon state meet as a junior (12th) and senior (13th). Walter was a top-25er in the Washington state meet as a junior (22nd) and senior (15th). McNerney ran in three California state meets, and Lilly made the Washington meet twice.
Senior Hannah Calvert and junior Chynna Phan also are returning from the national team. Calvert scored in all seven meets, including a top-25 finish at GNAC. She was No. 4 for the team at regionals and nationals.
Seeking to set the pace for the SPU men once again is junior Ben Halladay. Last year as a sophomore, he was the first Falcon finisher in five of the six meets, including GNAC and West Regionals.
Phan is best known for her talent in the 800 meters, as she ran at last winter’s indoor track nationals in that event and on the All-American distance medley relay. She also scored in three of the five XC meets she ran, and was the final scorer at regionals to help clinch the national spot. Juniors Hailey Kettel and Sophie Carroll will be vying for top-7 spots, along with freshmen Alyssa Foote, Kate Lilly, Sedona McNerney, and
Among SPU’s other returners is senior Joey Walker, who scored at both GNAC (No. 4) and regionals (No. 5). Rounding out the list of veterans are senior David McLeod, along with juniors Brysten James and Clark Sterling. Jesse Phan joins cross country after some solid performances in the 800 during the outdoor track season. Freshman Danny Provo comes aboard after a pair of top-20 finishes in the Montana state meet (20th as a junior, 10th as a senior).
FALCON FODDER SO WHAT’S THE STORY THIS WEEK?
WOMEN PICKED 4TH, MEN TABBED FOR 10TH
-- With the exception of Sundodger in 2014, this is the first time since 1988 that the Falcons have run in a season-opening meet with 10 or more teams. That 2014 Sundodger had 19 women’s squads, and 21 men’s. The 1988 opener was the Emerald City Invite at Seattle’s Lower Woodland Park, with 10 women’s teams and eight men’s. Saturday’s meet has 11 teams.
Seattle Pacific’s women have been picked for a fourth-place finish in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference. The Falcons received 88 points in voting by the 11 conference coaches.
-- For five of the past six years, the season opener has been in Fairbanks, Alaska. -- Seattle Pacific is the only GNAC school in Trinidad. -- While four SPU women and two men will make their college cross country debuts, one Falcon will be making her long-awaited return to the course. Sophie Carroll, an academic junior, but a sophomore in terms of athletic eligibility, did not compete last year because of an injury. She also was sidelined for the winter indoor track season, but returned to the outdoor oval in the spring, running six meets, all in the 800 meters. -- Just six men will race for Seattle Pacific this week, but they expect to be up to seven before the end of the season after junior Clark Sterling returns from an internship. RUNNING AROUND THE WORLD While most of the Falcons trained locally this summer, a few got some miles in farther afield as they ventured out for various reasons. Senior Sarah Macdonald did some of her running on Saltspring Island in British Columbia. Junior Mary Charleson and freshman Kate Lilly both logged some miles in England. Junior Hailey Kettel ran while in Mexico, and freshman Sedona McNerney put in some early-morning workouts while in the Baja California part of Mexico. Even assistant coach Audra Smith did some training abroad as she and her husband traveled through Germany, Italy, and France.
Defending champion Alaska Anchorage, which has won six of the past seven GNAC women’s titles, is the favorite to do so again. The Seawolves received nine first-place votes and 117 points. Western Washington got the other two first-place votes and 117 points. The other team voted ahead of SPU was Simon Fraser, picked third with 90 points. The SPU men are picked for 10th, receiving 28 points. WHO’S THAT UP FRONT? For the first time since 2013, someone other than Anna Patti will be the first Falcon across the finish line on Saturday. Beginning with the 2013 NCAA Division II nationals in Spokane, the now-graduated star led the way for Seattle Pacific in 14 consecutive races. That included top-10 West Regional finishes in 2014 and 2015, and three straight victories to begin last year: the long-course and short-course meets as the Alaska Invitational, and a come-from-behind win at Sundodger. The last person other than Patti to set the SPU pace was McKayla Fricker, who was 10th at West Regionals in 2013. Of the current crew, Hannah Calvert led the team at the 2013 Saint Martin’s Invitational, and Sarah Macdonald was up front the following week at the Charles Bowles Invitational. UP NEXT SPU, Western Washington, and host Saint Martin’s are expected to be the three Great Northwest Athletic Conference teams on the course at the Saint Martin’s Invitational on Saturday, Sept. 24. The 8K men’s race starts at 9:30 a.m., followed by the women’s 5K at 10:20. The races take place on the Saint Martin’s campus in Lacey.
2016 Seattle Pacific Women’s Cross Country Roster Name Hannah Calvert Sophie Carroll Mary Charleson Alyssa Foote Hailey Kettel Kate Lilly Sarah Macdonald Sedona McNerney Chynna Phan Katherine Walter Pronunciation guide Chynna Phann
Yr. Sr Jr Jr Fr Jr Fr Sr Fr Jr Fr
Exp. 3V 2V 2V HS 2V HS 3V HS 2V HS
Hometown (HS/Last college) Enumclaw, WA (Enumclaw) Bremerton, WA (Central Kitsap) Mill Creek, WA (Jackson) Beaverton, OR (Aloha) Edmonds, WA (Edmonds-Woodway) Renton, WA (Hazen) Tucson, AZ (Pusch Ridge Christian) Fair Oaks, CA (Bella Vista) Bellingham, WA (Mt. Baker) Brier, WA (Mountlake Terrace)
China FAWN
2016 Seattle Pacific Men’s Cross Country Roster Name Yr. Exp. Ben Halladay Jr 2V Brysten James Jr 1V David McLeod Sr 1V Jesse Phan So HS Danny Provo Fr HS Clark Sterling Jr 2V Joey Walker Sr 1V Head coach: Karl Lerum Assistant coaches: Audra Smith, Chris Pronunciation guide Ben Halladay Brysten James Jesse Phan
HAL-a-day BRISS-ten F
Karl Lerum Audra Smith
LEER-um AH-druh
Hometown (HS/Last College) Mukilteo, WA (Kamiak) Warsaw, IN (Warsaw Community HS) Des Moines, WA (Mount Rainier / W. Oregon) Bellingham, WA (Mt. Baker) Missoula, MT (Hellgate) Mill Creek, WA (Jackson) Auburn, WA (Jefferson / Highline CC) Reed
MEN NATIONAL (Oct. 15) 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8 . 9 10.
Colorado Mines Grand Valley St. (Mich.) Adams State Alaska Anchorage Chico State Shippensburg Augustana (S.D.) Southern Indiana Cal Poly Pomona Western State (Colo).
WOMEN WEST RGN. (Aug. 30) 1. Chico State 2. Alaska Anchorage 3. Western Washington 4. Cal Baptist 5. Simon Fraser 6. Seattle Pacific 7. Cal Poly Pomona 8. Cal State San Bernardino 9. UC San Diego 10. Point Loma Nazarene
WOMEN
School (1st place) Points
School (1st place) Points
121 106 101 88 64 61 60 38 35 28 24
T17. Cal Baptist 20. Simon Fraser 23. Seattle Pacific
12. Simon Fraser 22. Western Washington
MEN 1. Alaska Anchorage (11) 2. Simon Fraser 3. Western Washington 4. Western Oregon 5. Northwest Nazarene 6. Montana State Billings 7. Central Washington 8. Concordia (Ore.) 9. Alaska Fairbanks 10. Seattle Pacific 10. Saint Martin’s
WOMEN NATIONAL (Aug. 31) 1. Grand Valley St. (Mich.) 2. Adams State (Colo.) 3. Chico state 4. Western State (Colo.) 5. Univ. of Mary (S.D.) 6. Alaska Anchorage 7. Hillsdale (Mich.) 8. Northern Michigan 9. Western Washinton 10. Southern Indiana
PRESEASON RANKINGS
1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11.
Alaska Anchorage (9) W. Washington (2) Simon Fraser Seattle Pacific Central Washington Western Oregon Condordia Northwest Nazar Saint Martin’s Alaska Fairbanks Montana St. Billings
117 107 90 88 79 63 46 45 36 25 21
MEN WEST RGN. (Oct. 14) 1. Alaska Anchorage 2. Chico State 3. Cal Poly Pomona 4. Simon Fraser 5. Western Washington 6. San Francisco State 7. Academy of Art 8. Azusa Pacific 9. Cal Baptist 10. UC San Diego Next rankings: Sept. 13-14
HEAD COACH / PROGRAM DIRECTOR KARL LERUM Having successfully continued a long-standing tradition of success with Seattle Pacific’s track and field teams, Karl Lerum is now in his fourth year as director of the school’s entire running program, including cross country, having taken on that role in the fall of 2013. Lerum is heading into his 12th year in charge of the SPU track program. In 2015, for the sixth time in school history, and all under his leadership, the Falcon women pulled an indoor-outdoor GNAC team title sweep. They followed that up with a second straight outdoor title in 2016. A few weeks after the season, Lerum was named the 2016 GNAC women’s outdoor Coach of the Year, as well as USTFCCCA West Region women’s outdoor Coach of the Year. The GNAC award was his seventh. He has swept the women’s indoor and outdoor honors five times: 2007, 2010, 2011, 2012, and 2015. He also has six West Region women’s indoor Coach of the Year awards and five outdoor honors, giving him 25 conference and region honors altogether between the winter and spring seasons. Of Seattle Pacific’s 10 conference indoor team championships, Lerum has been the man in charge for eight of those. During the 2016 outdoor season, 12 Falcon women posted a total of 17 NCAA provisional qualifying marks. Of those qualifiers, Jahzelle Ambus (400), Lynelle Decker (800, 1500), Geneva Lehnert (high jump), Maliea Luquin (100 hurdles) and Jalen Tims (400 hurdles) made it to nationals, with Decker making All-American in both of her races.
Indoors in 2016, Lerum’s Falcons hit nine NCAA qualifying marks, and ultimately came up big at nationals in Pittsburg, Kan. Decker raced to a silver medal in the 800, and the 4x400 relay team of Tims, Decker, Cheryl Hong, and Ambus bagged a bronze. In addition, the 4,000-meter distance medley relay of Decker, Ambus, Chynna Phan, and Anna Patti gained All-American status by finishing fifth. Ambus and Tims also ran in the 400 meters, and Lehnert got there in the high jump. Lerum stepped up to the Falcons’ coaching helm in October 2005, taking over from Jack Hoyt. He worked as an assistant to Hoyt in 2000, and again in 2003. In between, he spent two years as an assistant coach at Trinity College, an NCAA Division III school in Hartford, Conn. As an athlete at Pacific Lutheran University in nearby Tacoma, Lerum made his mark in two sports. On the football field, he set – and still owns – the school career records for receptions and receiving yards. On the track, Lerum has the Lutes record in the 400 meters and is among the school’s top 10 in the decathlon, 110 hurdles, long jump, 100 meters, and javelin. He was an All-American in the decathlon, finishing third at the NAIA nationals in 1996 and second in ‘97 and ‘98. He didn’t stop there. After college, Lerum was on the San Francisco 49ers’ roster for the 1998 and 1999 preseason, and played with the Amsterdam Admirals in NFL Europe. In 2003 and again in 2004, he served as the head coach of the Oslo Vikings football program in Norway. Lerum is a graduate of Franklin Pierce High School in Parkland, south of Tacoma. He has a bachelor’s degree in history from PLU and a master’s in history from Trinity. He and wife Yvonne and son Lucas live in Seattle.
ASSISTANT COACH CHRIS REED Chris Reed is beginning his sixth year as a collegiate coach and his fourth year as an assistant at Seattle Pacific, joining the staff in December 2013. The native of Klamath Falls, Ore., is a 2011 graduate of Western Oregon University, majoring in economics. On the cross country course, he was a two-time All-Great Northwest Athletic Conference selection, finishing seventh as a junior in 2009 and third as a senior in 2010. He also was a two-time NCAA qualifier, earning All-American recognition in 2009. On the track, Reed raced to a pair of All-GNAC honors, taking third in the 5,000 meters as a freshman in 2008, then placing third in the 1,500 as a senior in 2011. He also was fourth in the 5K as a junior and senior. Indoors, he won the 2011 GNAC mile title and anchored the Wolves’ distance medley relay to All-American status later that season. Reed finished his WOU career with five school records: the mile, 5000, and DMR indoors, along with the 5000 and 10,000 outdoors. He ran in five NCAA championship meets (twice in cross country and outdoor track, and once in indoor track). He became an assistant coach at Western Oregon in 2011 prior to joining the Falcons. He was named the West Region Women’s Indoor Assistant Coach of the Year in 2015 by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association. He also is the director of the Falcon Running Camp.
ASSISTANT COACH AUDRA SMITH Audra Smith, who started out as a sprinter, became a heptathlete, and now has competed in four marathons, is in her fourth year on the Falcons coaching staff, coming aboard in August 2013.The graduate of Idaho State spent the previous four years before joining the Falcons as a coach at the University of Washington – one year as a multi-events assistant for track, and the past three as a strength and conditioning coach. She now works primarily with SPU’s sprinters, During the 2015-16 school year, the Falcon women won a bronze medal in the 4x400 relay at the NCAA Division II indoor meet, sent two women to the open 400 at indoor nationals and one for the 400 at outdoor nationals. New school records were set in the women’s indoor and outdoor 400, the indoor 200, and the indoor 4x400 relay. Smith starred in the heptathlon at Idaho State, placing second at the Big Sky Conference meet in 2007. She also was a member of the victorious 4x100 relay team, and scored in the 100, 200, 100 hurdles, and javelin as the Bengals won the team championship for the first time in school history. In the winter of 2016, Smith was named the West Region Women’s Indoor Track Assistant Coach of the Year by the USTFCCCA.
2015 WOMEN’S RESULTS CHART
2015 MEN’S RESULTS CHART
Seattle Pacific University Cross Country 2016 Preseason Prospectus General Information
Institution: Seattle Pacific University Address: 3307 Third Avenue West, Seattle, WA 98119 Founded: 1891 Enrollment: 4,175 Nickname: Falcons Colors: Maroon & White Affiliation: NCAA Division II Conference: Great Northwest Athletic Conference President: Dr. Daniel J. Martin (Southern Nazarene) Athletic Dir.: Jackson Stava (Azusa Pacific ‘05) Athletic Department office: 206-281-2085 Fax: 206-281-2266 Athletic Department Web Site: www.spufalcons.com Sports Info Director: Dan Lepse (206-281-2741, [email protected]) Cross country SID: Mark Moschetti (206-281-2772, [email protected])
Cross Country Information
Head Coach: Karl Lerum (4th year; Pacific Lutheran ‘98) Coach’s office: 206-281-2897 E-mail: [email protected] Assistant Coaches: Audra Smith ([email protected]) Chris Reed ([email protected]) Athletic Trainer: Jason Durocher Trainer’s office: 206-281-2768 E-mail: [email protected]
History
First year of women’s cross country: 1976. First year of men’s cross country: 1954. Women’s NCAA appearances: 15 (1983, 86, 90, 94, 95, 96, 97, 98, 99, 2006, 07, 08, 09, 12, 13, 15). Men’s NCAA appearances: 1 (2004). Women’s best NCAA finish: 2nd (2007). Men’s best NCAA finish: 19th (2004). Women’s AIAW Division II appearances: 3 (1979, 80, 81). Men’s NAIA appearances: 1 (1961). Women’s best AIAW Division II finish: 2nd (1979, 80). Men’s best NAIA finish: 6th (1961). Women’s conference championships: 11 (Pac West 1993, 94, 96, 97, 98, 99; GNAC 2003, 05, 06, 07, 08). Men’s conference championships: 1 (GNAC 2004).
Primary Print Media
Seattle Times (www.seattletimes.com; [email protected]) Sports desk: (206) 464-2276 Fax: (206) 464-3255 Everett Herald (www.heraldnet.com; [email protected]) Sports desk: (425) 339-3470 Fax: (425) 339-3464 Tacoma News Tribune (www.thenewstribune.com; [email protected]) Sports desk: (253) 597-8680 Fax: (253) 597-8360
2016 Schedule
Date Opponent Time Sept. 10 Humboldt State Invite (Trinidad, Calif.) M: 9 a.m. W: 10 a.m. Sept. 24 Saint Martin’s Invitational (Lacey) M: 9:30 W: 10:20 Oct. 8 WWU Classic (Belilngham) M: 10 a.m. W: 11 a.m. Oct. 22 GNAC (Lk. Padden / Bellingham) M: 10 a.m. W: 11 a.m. Nov. 5 NCAA West Regionals (Billings) M 10 a.m. W 11:15 Nov. 19 NCAA Champs. (Saint Leo, Fla.) M: 5:30 a.m. W: 6:45
2015 Review WOMEN:
MEN:
GNAC: 5th (114). West Regionals: 5th (207). NCAA: 15th (398). Best invitational finish (full team): 3rd at Charles Bowles Invite. Rankings (National / West): Preseason: NR / 9. High: 13 / 3. Final: NR / NR. GNAC: 9th (252). West Regionals: 20th (557). NCAA: DNQ. Best invitational finish (full team): 10th at Charles Bowles Invite. Rankings (National / West): Preseason: NR / NR. High: 17 / 5. Final: 20 / 9.
2016 Women’s Preview
Top 7 returning: 4. Top 7 lost: 3. Other letterwinners returning: 1. Other letterwinners lost: 1. Returning Top 7 (4) Yr Hannah Calvert Sr Mary Charleson Jr Sarah Macdonald Sr Chynna Phan Jr
2015 Honors 128th at NCAAs All-West Region, 99th at NCAAs 65th at NCAAs 148th at NCAAs
Other returning letterwinners (1) Hailey Kettel Jr Other returners (1) Sophie Carroll R-So Top 7 / Other letterwinners lost (3 / 1) Top 7: Lynelle Decker, Anna Patti (All-GNAC, All-West Region, 61st at NCAAs), both graduated; Jessica Rawlins (185th at NCAAs), not returning. Other: Kiley Zeitler, graduated. Newcomers (4) Yr Alyssa Foote Fr Kate Lilly Fr Sedona McNerney Fr Katherine Walter Fr
Hometown (last school) Beaverton, OR (Aloha) Renton, WA (Hazen) Fair Oaks, CA (Bella Vista) Brier, WA (Mountlake Terrace)
2016 Men’s Preview
Top 7 returning: 5. Top 7 lost: 2. Other letterwinners returning: 0. Other letterwinners lost: 0 Returning Top 7 (5) Yr Ben Halladay Jr Brysten James Jr David McLeod Sr Clark Sterling Jr Joey Walker Sr
2015 Honors
Other returning letterwinners (0) Other returners (0) Top 7 / Other letterwinners lost (2 / 0) Top 7: Adam Avischious, Brian Comer, both graduated. Newcomers (2) Yr Jesse Phan R-Fr Danny Provo Fr
Hometown (last school) Deming, WA (Mt. Baker) Missoula, MT (Hellgate)
