Oct. 12, 2006

SPOKANE, Wash. - Alaska Anchorage and Seattle Pacific will attempt to defend their respective men's and women's team titles Sat., Oct. 21, in the sixth annual Great Northwest Athletic Conference cross country championships at Lacey, Wash. Saint Martin's University is the host school. The men's race begins at 10 and the women's start will be at 11.

The Seawolves won their second men's team title in four years a year ago and are ranked 15th in the latest NCAA Division II national poll. Western Washington, however, is ranked 13th.

The two teams split their head-to-head matchups this fall in which they were both at full strength. Western, which won team titles Sept. 9 in the Emerald City Invitational and Oct. 7 in their own invite, finished second and Alaska Anchorage placed fifth in the UW Sundodger Sept. 16 in Seattle.

UAA beat the Vikings finishing third in the Willamette Invitational on Sept. 30, one position ahead of Western. Anchorage also won the team title Sept. 23 at Saint Martin's finishing 21 points ahead of second-place Western Oregon and 42 ahead of third-place Western Washington. Most of WWU's top runners, however, skipped that meet.

On the women's side, Seattle Pacific, which is ranked 10th nationally, has had a pair of first and a pair of second-place team finishes this fall, finishing only in back of NAIA national power Simon Fraser. SPU, which won GNAC titles in 2003 and 2005, is the highest ranked West Region team in the national poll. Alaska Anchorage is ranked 21st.

Individually, the Falcons have been led by freshman Jessica Pixler along with Mary Moriarty and Karin Rohde. Pixler, who splits her time between the SPU soccer and cross country teams, won individual titles in both the Emerald City Invitational and the open division of the Sundodger.

Moriarty, who placed seventh in last year's GNAC meet to earn GNAC Freshman-of-the-Year honors, and Rohde, a 2004 all-conference performer, were the two top collegians placing second and third, respectively at the Saint Martin's Invitational.

They also finished seventh and 10th, respectively, at Western Washington on Oct. 7. Mandy Kaempf of Alaska Anchorage, who was the top collegiate finisher and placed third overall, was the only GNAC runner to finish ahead of the two SPU harriers.

Kaempf, a three-time all-conference performer and a 46th place finisher at the 2005 national meet, was making her 2006 season debut. She is the top returning placer from last year's conference meet, finishing third. She also earned fifth place finishes in both the 2003 and 2004 seasons and could join former UAA standout Stacy Edwards (2001-03, 05) as the only cross country athlete in GNAC history to win four all-conference awards with another Top 10 finish.

Other returning all-conference performers from last year in addition to Kaempf include Moriarty (7th), Central Washington's Rachel Bailey (8th), who won CWU's Apple Ridge Run Invitational on Sept. 23, and Alaska Anchorage's Laura Carr (10th).

Another athlete who could contend for individual honors is Central Washington's Katie Hummel, who won the Lewis and Clark Invitational Sept. 9 and was the GNAC's top finisher, placing fourth in the Willamette Invitational.

On the men's side, a total of eight previous all-conference performers will be in the field. David Kiplagat of Alaska Anchorage finished second a year ago and will likely battle Saint Martin's John Riak for the title this season.

Kiplagat has four career wins, including the open division of the Sundodger this fall. Riak, who placed 16th in last year's conference meet, has had a breakout season, winning four races including the National Catholic Championships at South Bend, Indiana.

Riak also finished second at Western Washington and has lost only once all year to a GNAC runner, placing ninth in the Willamette Invitational, 36 seconds in back of Kiplagat, who finished second.

Other returning all-conference performers include Aaron Dickson and Drew Dickson of Alaska Anchorage, who placed fifth and 10th in the 2005 conference championships; Sam Scotchmer of Central Washington, who placed sixth in 2004 before redshirting last season; Seattle Pacific's Bjorn Bostrom, who placed seventh in 2004, and Sam Brancheau. Keever Henry and Logan Senrud, all of Western Washington.

Senrud placed sixth last year, while Brancheau and Henry finished eighth and 10th, respectively, two years ago.

In addition to Riak, who has seven career victories, and Kiplagat, Scotchmer and Anthony Tomsich of Western Washington have individual wins this fall. Scotchmer finished first at both Lewis & Clark and at the CWU Apple Ridge event, while Tomsich won at Emerald City.