| COLUMBIA, Mo. – The Warriors took care of business in Missouri with a strong showing at the Gans Creek Classic men’s open 8k on Friday morning. No. 13 LC State had six runners in the top 100 of the 388-person field and bested No. 5 Cumberlands (Ky.) in the process. Warrior Men’s Cross Country placed ninth with 214 points. The race featured seven top-25 NAIA teams and showed LC State where it stacks up with other NAIA schools.
“Good performance today for the men,” Head Coach Mike Collins said. “I thought we had a nice team race. We have multiple guys that can be within our top five, so it’s nice and that we have guys that can and will step up on days if somebody else is having a bad day or sick. I think our guys are pretty motivated. We had a great start today and a good middle, we just have to get better at finishing. We do that and we’re going to be in the run for it later. They are motivated and excited, and I’m looking forward to seeing us work on things. Getting a chance to run on the national course will definitely do them good later and will also help our women as we prepare for that hopefully.”
Lewiston native Kobe Wessels led the Warrior group with a 40th-place finish. He clocked a time of 25:09.8 and was in the top 15 among NAIA runners in the race. Conner May placed second for LC State for the third consecutive race to solidify his consistency. The senior crossed the line in 25:14.4. Fellow senior Griffen Parsells ran a personal-best time of 25:16.0 to place 54th.
Carter Gordon was the fourth LC State runner across the line in 68th (25:24.3) and Connor Alexander wrapped up the top five with a PR of 25:36.1 to place 86th.
Alexander Fry finished in the top 100 in 92nd (25:41.2), Clay Shumaker was 137th (26:07.5) and Cooper Carlson placed 174th (26:31.2). Tristin O’Brien was 192nd (26:38.3) and Keith Uitdewiligen capped the LC runners at 204th (26:46.0).
No. 10 Oklahoma City was the top NAIA team at the meet in second place and No. 7 Indiana Wesleyan was fifth. The Warriors tied in points with No. 6 Taylor (Ind.) and finished ahead of No. 5 Cumberlands (Ky.) by 57 points. No. 16 Aquinas (Mich.) and No. 21 Grace (Ind.) also placed in the top 15.
UP NEXT
The Warrior women, along with a select group of men, will compete at the Charles Bowles Willamette Invitational in Salem, Ore., on Oct. 5.
Stay up to date with all things Warrior Athletics at lcwarriors.com and on social media @LCWarriors. |
