| CHENEY, Wash. – The No. 13 LC State Men’s Cross Country team put together a stellar race to open the 2024 season and edged NCAA Division I Idaho in the final team standings. The Warriors placed third with 103 points, besting the Vandals’ 108 points at the Clash of the Inland Northwest in Cheney. The No. 14 Warrior women saw strong performances from their top returner, as well as a group of talented freshmen, to place fifth overall.
The women started the day the 4k, followed by the men in the 6k, hosted by Eastern Washington.
“For our first meet of the year, it was probably the most memorable one that I can think of at this point in time,” Head Coach Mike Collins said. “We don’t keep records on 4k/6k very much, but that was probably the best team performance I have seen in many years, especially on this course that we have been on before.
“The women’s team was 30-40 seconds faster as a team than we were a year ago,” Collins explained. “The men were more than three minutes faster than a year ago, so very encouraging.”
THE MEN
The Warrior men put together a masterful race to finish ahead of the Vandals by five points. LC State had 10 runners with career-best times, including the top seven runners.
“I love that fact that we raced towards the front on the men’s side,” Collins said. “We kept our gaps small, so we are really pleased at this point with where we are at.”
The top Warrior finisher, Carter Gordon, bested his pervious top time by 30 seconds (18:32.23) to place 12th in the field of 107. Conner May (15th, 18:35.18) and Kobe Wessels (23rd, 18:45.73) both PRed by more than a minute. May led the race after the first two kilometers to help put the Warriors in a strong position as a team.
Connor Alexander (19:05.70) and Griffen Parsells (19:10.03) finished 37th and 38th, respectively, and Alexander Fry rounded out the top 40 with a time of 19:16.46. Junior Tristin O’Brien finished in the top 50 at 45th (19:28.71).
Clay Shumaker placed 51st in the field with a time of 19:43.63, Cooper Carlson was 55th (19:55.46) and Keith Uitdewiligen was 58th (20:01.44). Freshmen Manuel Valdez (63rd, 20:19.97), Samuel Iverson (73rd, 20:47.83) and Jace Joslyn (74th, 20:49.38) completed the first races of their careers in the top 75.
Every Warrior placed in the top 100, rounded out by Jacob Adams in 92nd (21:38.08) and Luke Sellmann in 93rd (21:45.20).
THE WOMEN
The women placed fifth in the field with 130 points.
Grace Tiegs led a fresh Warrior roster, followed by a pair of impactful freshmen. In all, three of LC State’s top five were newcomers. Tiegs placed 36th in the NCAA DI loaded field of 80 runners when she crossed the line with a personal-best time of 15:03.91. She was the second non-DI runner to finish.
First-years Lily Bennett and Damaris Kibiwot were the next Warriors to cross the line. Bennett finished in 41st place (15:11.47) and Kibiwot was 44th (15:1851). Senior Abigail Shumaker ran a career-best time of 15:18.77 to finish 45th and Spokane Falls CC transfer Camille Ussher was 50th (15:44.11) to put the top five Warriors runners in the top 50.
Senior Grace McCormick finished her race with a time of 16:42.30 to place 64th, Emily Collins was 68th (17:11.63) and Sydnie Zywina was 70th (17:30.46). Haileyann Johnson finished 74th (19:40.63).
UP NEXT
The Warriors are back in action at the Cougar Classic in Colfax on Sept. 13.
Stay up to date with all things Warrior Athletics at lcwarriors.com and on social media @LCWarriors. |
