SEATTLE -- Jessica Pixler said her sights were set a little higher for Saturday's Sundodger Invitational cross country meet.
But the Seattle Pacific cross country star already is setting those same sights forward to the next big challenge.
Pixler cut four seconds off her time of a year ago and ran to a third-place finish at the 18th annual Sundodger on a drizzly morning at West Seattle's Lincoln Park.
The Falcon senior stopped the clock in 20 minutes, 26.07 seconds for her 6-kilometer (3.72-mile) run on the rain-slickened course.
The only two women to finish ahead of the two-time defending NCAA Division II titlist were Kendra Schaaf and Mel Lawrence, both from the reigning Division I champion University of Washington Huskies. Schaaf broke her own year-old meet and course record with a 19:49.12, eight seconds faster than last season. Lawrence was second in 20:06.18.
“It was OK, but it wasn't quite what I was looking for,” said Pixler (Sammamish, Wash./Eastlake HS), who ran third last year in 20:30.99. “I wanted to go out fast and hold on as long as possible, and maybe try to kick a the end. But it didn't quite work out that way.
“The Stanford Invitational is next week, and I'm definitely going to go for the win in that one,” Pixler added.
Fellow Falcon senior Jane Larson (Fall City, Wash./Cedar Park Christian HS) ran a solid race, as expected, and came up with a 12th-place finish in 21:29.26. That was a jump of eight spots from a year ago.
“I think I ran a smarter race than I ran here last year,” Larson said. “That was my goal coming into it. I had more control at the start. I very definitely felt good about it overall. I came out and did what I wanted to do.”
The Falcons, ranked No. 3 in the country and No. 1 in the West Region in Division II, finished fifth among the eight teams in the elite-level Invitational race. Seattle Pacific totaled 111 points. Heavily-favored Washington, the unanimous preseason top team in Division 1, won with 21 points. Oregon State was second with 93.
Western Washington and Alaska Anchorage both served notice that they intend to challenge SPU for top honors at next month's Great Northwest Athletic Conference championships in Yakima. Western finished third in the same Invitational race as the Falcons on Saturday, tallying 83 points led by the fourth-place overall finish of Sarah Porter. Anchorage won the Open race with 22 points.
“It's about having a good awareness and knowing that we have a really strong conference, and it's not going to be any kind of cakewalk to defend our title,” Falcons coach Erika Daligcon said. “All things considered, I was pleased to see them getting in there and racing.”
Schaaf, the talented Husky sophomore from Saskatchewan who won the Pacific-10 Conference title last fall and was 12th the D-1 NCAAs, took command right away. She had a five-second lead on Pixler even before the runners hit the 1-kilometer marker, and just gradually stretched it out from there.
Pixler maintained second place for more than half of the race before Lawrence caught up near the 4K mark.
“I wasn't sure what kind of shape she was in. But she's a phenomenal runner,” Pixler said. “I figured if she was within my reach, I would go with here. But she took off right away and looked pretty strong, and I'm not quite there with my training yet, so I let her go.”
Daligcon had no qualms about Pixler's fastest-ever Sundodger performance.
“We'll take a PR,” she said. “With the training Jessica has been putting in, I'm pleased with that. I feel like once it comes to that (later) stage of the season, some really good things are going to happen.”
The Falcons will take five of their top women, including Pixler and Larson, to the Stanford Invitational next Saturday. The rest of the women will join the men at The Evergreen State College in Olympia for the Pete Steilberg Classic. The women race at 10:45 a.m., following the 10 a.m. men's race.
NCAA Women's Cross Country
Sundodger Invitational
Saturday, September 19, 2009
6K at Lincoln Park/Seattle
INVITATIONAL
Team scores -- 1, Washington 21; 2, Oregon State 70; 3, Western Washington 83; 4, Idaho 93; 5, Seattle Pacific 111; 6, Portland State 183; 7, Seattle U 192; 8, Eastern Washington 242.
Top 10 -- 1, Kendra Schaaf (UW) 19:49.12; 2, Mel Lawrence (UW) 20:06.18; 3, Jessica Pixler (SPU) 20:26.07; 4, Sarah Porter (WWU) 20:37.13; 5, Lauren Saylor (UW) 20:48.08; 6, Ania Campbell (Unattached) 20:51.36; 7, Allison Linnell (UW) 21:06.60; 8, Kenna Patrick (UW) 21:15.18; 9, Teegan Schoch (Idaho) 21:16.70; 10, Lindsay Flanagan (UW) 21:18.99.
Other SPU placers -- 12, Jane Larson 21:29.26; 39, Kate Harline 23:09.32; 42, Lisa Anderberg 23:15.98; 49, Mary Williams 23:34.43; 65, Suzie Strickler 24:32.72; 69, Krysta Carrick 25:03.03.
Next meet -- Seattle Pacific (select) at Stanford Invitational, Saturday, Sept. 26, Stanford University Golf Course (Stanford, Calif.), 11:30 a.m.; Seattle Pacific at Pete Steilberg Classic, Saturday, Sept. 26, Evergreen State College (Olympia), 10:45 a.m.
