Oct. 13, 2005

BELLINGHAM, Wash. -

JOE SUNNEN, THE BELLINGHAM HERALD

Western Washington University junior Logan Senrud has been doing most of his cross country training this season on a bicycle or in the pool while dealing with Plantar Fasciitis.

It didn't slow him down any last Saturday at the 32nd annual WWU Invitational.

Senrud finished in eighth place, completing the 10-kilometer course in 33 minutes, 10 seconds in his first official race of the season since being diagnosed with the foot injury in August. On Monday, he was named the Great Northwest Athletic Conference men's cross country runner of the week.

"I have a decent amount of experience so it wasn't that difficult to get back," Senrud said. "But I was surprised by my performance."

Senrud helped the men's team win the race for the fourth time in the last six seasons.

"I was able to stay in shape by biking and doing a lot of pool running," Senrud said.

The injury has improved in recent weeks, but Senrud said it still bothers him.

"I've been able to run on it for a few weeks now, but there were a couple days last month when I could barely walk," Senrud said. "Things are fine now, they told me running wouldn't make it any worse."

The Vikings men's team is ranked No. 24 in the latest NCAA Division II coaches poll. WWU hosts the GNAC championships on Oct. 22.

"I'm really focused on the team right now," Senrud said. "I think we have a really good chance to go to nationals this year and to do that we need to perform well at the regional and the conference meets."

Volleyball team ranked: The WWU volleyball team entered the NCAA Pacific Regional poll at No. 7 on Friday. The Vikings (11-6, 7-2 GNAC) have won their last five matches, and seven of the last nine.

Western meets Central Washington on Saturday in Ellensburg. With a win, coupled with a loss by Seattle University, the Vikings could move into a tie for first in the GNAC.

Knight out: Senior outside hitter Krystal Knight will miss the rest of the season after injuring her knee against Seattle Pacific University on Oct. 1. Knight finished her season with 137 kills (2.58 per game).

Tickets sales level out: The Ticket sales for the third annual Battle in Seattle football game between Western Washington and Central Washington were similar to last year's numbers, said Steve Brummel, WWU's marketing and promotions director.

"We did just about the same number as last year," Brummel said. "We also had the same number of pregame sales as last year, about 8,000."

The annual game drew 11,312 people to Qwest Field, down from 11,458 the year before. The event drew 16,392 during its first year in 2003.

"Obviously we always want to sell more tickets," Brummel said. "We think that next year when we play each other only once, it will go back up."

Brummel said the Vikings did not have any figures on the amount of revenue the game generated, but expected to find out before the end of the week.