Sports Illustrated Honors Pixler
SPU Distance Running Star is Among This Week's Faces in the Crowd
Jessica Pixler runs toward her third straight NCAA cross country title.
1/7/2010 5:55:07 PM
SI Faces in the Crowd page
SEATTLE -- One of the Faces in the Crowd in this week’s issue of Sports Illustrated will be familiar to Seattle Pacific fans.
Jessica Pixler, the Falcons’ senior cross country and track star, is among the half-dozen athletes included in the Jan. 11 issue that is now on newsstands.
Pixler was chosen for winning her third straight NCAA Division II women’s cross country championship this past November, becoming just third women -- and the first at the D-2 level -- to accomplish that feat.
That was Pixler’s eighth NCAA title. She also has three consecutive indoor track mile championships, one indoor crown in the 5,000 meters, and two outdoor titles in the 1,500.
Pixler also is a finalist for the top women’s honor at the upcoming Seattle Sports Star of the Year awards show, set for Tuesday, Jan. 19, at Benaroya Hall. Falcon fans can cast a vote for Pixler online and find out more by clicking on this link.
This is not the first time an SPU athlete has been featured in that section of Sports Illustrated. In fact, current gymnastics coach Laurel Tindall (Anderson) was one of the Faces in the Crowd in the March 20, 1972 issue of SI, before she attended Seattle Pacific.
Tindall was an outstanding gymnast who received 10 All-America awards, including six while with the Falcons in 1974 and 1975. She was a member of the U.S. National Team in 1974.