UPLAND, Ind.– The Lewis-Clark State Cross Country team sent two groups of athletes to separate meets to compete across the nation on Friday. The Warriors sent one group to the highly competitive Taylor Invitational, hosted by Taylor University (Ind.), while another group traveled to La Grande, Ore., for the EOU Invitational. The Warriors competed well in Indiana, with the men bringing home the team title and the women placing second.
"Our goals with coming over (to Indiana) are multiple, but big on the list is to race with some of the same challenges as we would have at nationals with travel, racing on a new course, etc.," Head Coach Mike Collins said. "Plus, we want to also compete well as it can help us in the national polls, which often play a factor in the at-large berths for nationals. I think we did both well today, and at the same time, have a lot of things that we can break down to help us get better."
TAYLOR INVITATIONAL
The LC State men, ranked No. 17 in the NAIA Preseason Poll, dominated at the Taylor Invitational with a first-place finish with 26 points, 35 points ahead of No. 20 Taylor. The Warriors had six runners finish in the top 10, and three in the top five.
Carter Gordon led the men with a third-place finish (26:13.3), Brycen Brown was fourth (26:17.8), Griffen Parsells was fifth (26:20.6) and Brycen Kempton was sixth (26:27.7). Freshman Kobe Wessels placed eighth (26:30.3) and fellow Lewiston native Connor Turpin rounded out the top 10 (26:30.7).
Aiding the Warriors in the victory were Cooper Carlson in 13th (26:52.7), Conner May in 17th(27:19.0), Brady Nelsen in 21st (27:40.8) and Tristin O'Brien in 41st (29:06.5).
"On the men's side, we are still trying to figure out how good we are, and I think we took a huge step forward today," Collins said. "Great packing across the board, another mixed lineup from the first meet, which we can expect all year long with this group. Winning this meet and having a bunch of guys in the top 10 is really encouraging to me, and I know they are excited as well and motivated even more to improve."
The No. 23 Warrior women put on a strong showing at the Taylor Invitational, led by senior Brooklyn Shell. LC finished second in the team standings behind the host, No. 4 Taylor, with 59 points. Taylor achieved a perfect score of 15, the lowest possible total in cross country.
"The Taylor women are very good and we hoped to compete as well as we could," Collins explained. "The goal would have been to break into their top five, and we weren't too far off. Two gals in the top 10 and finishing second is a good result for the day."
Shell, a Coeur d'Alene, Idaho, native, paced LC State with a sixth-place finish (19:19.0), followed closely by Geraldin Correa in 10th (19:26.7). A group of three freshmen rounded out the Warriors' top five, with Grace Tiegs placing 13th (19:42.4), Grace Dixon in 20th (20:19.3) and Clara Stephen in 27th (20:51.5). Abigail Peightal finished 31st (21:02.2).
EOU INVITATIONAL
A small contingent of Warriors competed at the EOU Invitational, where the men placed fourth. Connor Alexander was the highest finisher with a 30th-place finish (20:27.81), Trenton Johnson was 39th (21:06.19), Tristan Wood took 40th (21:11.23) and Jacob Adams was 47th (21:46.59).
Daniel Hibbs crossed the line 53rd (22:44.48) and Luke Sellmann was 54th (22:54.16).
The Warrior women had three athletes in the race at EOU, led by Abigail Gorton's 24th-place mark (16:24.39). Madison Howe took 29th (16:41.64) and Kelsey Henry was 39th (17:59.17).
UP NEXT
The Warriors will host their lone home meet of the season on Oct. 8 at the LC State Cross Country Trail in the Lewiston Orchards. The women will race at 10:30 a.m., followed by the men at 11:30 a.m.
Stay up to date on all things Warrior Athletics at lcwarriors.com and on social media @LCWarriors.