SPOKANE, Wash. -- Whitworth College's cross country teams are geared up and ready to compete at the 2005 Northwest Conference Championship meet, scheduled for Saturday morning at Bush Park in Salem, Oregon. Not only are the men's and women's teams aiming for high finishes, both Doug Blackburn (Sr., Evansville, Ind.) and Kristi Dickey (Sr., Kennewick, Wash.) should challenge for individual championships.

Doug Blackburn is the top returning individual finisher from the 2004 race, when he finished as runner up at the championship meet held in Spokane. Blackburn has won one race already this season and has been among the top runners at virtually every competition. He finished second last season to Willamette's Aaron Hollingshead by less than 10 seconds.

Doug Blackburn

"Doug has been running extremely well and should be one of the favorites to win the individual title," said Whitworth head coach Dr. Toby Schwarz. "His natural competitiveness, along with his training, should be a great combination to put him in the hunt."

Whitworth's last individual champion was Steve Sund, in 1992.

Blackburn will lead a men's team that has finished third in the NWC championships each of the past three seasons. The Pirates are aiming for another top three finish in 2005. Jeff Grassley (Jr., Flower Mound, Texas) and Jacob Deitz (So., Mead, Wash.) have a chance to battle for All-Northwest Conference (top seven finish). Willamette's men are heavy favorites to win their fifth straight conference title. Puget Sound has been runner up four years in a row.

Like Blackburn, Kristi Dickey is a challenger for the NWC title. Dickey finished seventh at the NWC Championships last season, but has stepped up her performances in 2005. She has been a contender for the individual championship in every women's race in which she has competed this season.

Kristi Dickey

"Kristi Dickey has taken her training to the next level and is poised for a great finish to her college career," said Schwarz. "She has worked hard this season to add more tools to her toolbox and she can't wait to use them."

No Whitworth woman has ever been an individual conference champion in cross country.

The Pirate women enter a women's meet in which any of the top five teams could compete for the conference title. Willamette has won three titles in a row, but Lewis & Clark, George Fox, Linfield and Whitworth all could put together a meet that challenges for the NWC title. Elaine Heinemann (Sr., West St. Paul, Minn.) and Julie Lauterbach (Jr., Arnold, Calif.) could easily be in the hunt for an All-NWC finish.

"The women's team is as talented, if not slightly more so, than our 2002 West Region Championship team. But our frustrating reality is that the conference as a whole has really improved," said Schwarz. "We believe we can compete for the conference and regional titles once again, and we hope to prove it over the next three weeks."

Saturday's women's race begins at 10:00 am. The men will follow at 11:00 am. Results will be posted on the Northwest Conference website (www.nwcsports.com).