Men's Cross Country | 11.05.2021

RESULTS

KLAMATH FALLS, Ore. – Lewis-Clark State Cross Country is coming home with four All-Cascade Conference runners after the 2021 Cascade Conference Cross Country Championships. The No. 12 Warrior men finish second as a team, just four points behind the champion, and the LC women took fourth.
 
"Obviously it was a very, very competitive day for us in the Cascade Conference, in my mind one of the two top conferences in the entire country," Head Coach Mike Collins said. "We went into this meet with our work cut out for us."
 
College of Idaho swept both the team and individual titles. The No. 14 Yote men and No. 6 women earned the CCC automatic bid to nationals on Nov. 19. LC State will await the announcement of the at-large bids to find out if it will join C of I in Vancouver, Wash.
 
THE MEN
LC State's men's squad finished second overall with 56 points, just four behind conference champion No. 14 College of Idaho. Both teams from Idaho finished ahead of No. 8 Southern Oregon, who took fourth (76). No 15 Oregon Tech placed third with 73 points.
 
"I thought our men ran quite well for us," Collins said. "We had three in the top 10, which says a lot for that part of our team which has been the same for the last three years, so it was great to see them staying consistent to lead this team. Our fourth and fifth today, Brycen (Kempton) and Brycen (Brown), did really well. We were four points out of the lead and when it comes to nationals I think they are going to do even better."
 
The Warrior men had three runners finish in the top 10, led by Cole Olsen's runner-up finish. The fifth-year senior crossed the line at 25:03, with Clayton VanDyke in fifth with a time of 25:29. Chase Barrow rounded out the top 10 at 25:48, with all three earning All-Cascade Conference honors.
 
"I thought Cole did really well," Collins said. "The kid from C of I earned the win and we are excited to see how that all shakes out when we are at nationals."
 
C of I won the battle in the middle of the pack with its fourth, fifth and sixth runners finishing in the top 20. LC's Brycen Kempton (26:12) was 18th and Brycen Brown (26:24) came in 22nd to cap the Warriors' scoring group.
 
Carter Gordon was LC's sixth runner across the line. He took 29th with a time of 26:42. Freshman Griffen Parsells was 31st (26:43), Connor Turpin was 33rd (26:49), Dillon Dawson finished 39th (27:09) and David Phillis was 48th (28:15) in the field of 84.
 
The strong showing by the Warriors helps the team in its bid for a spot at the national championships. Updated NAIA rankings will be released on Monday.
 
"Runner-up in this conference is nothing to hang your head at," Collins explained. "I know that the goal was to win, but I feel pretty good about where we are at right now. I would like to give a real big shout out to Connor Turpin, who lost a shoe literally within the first 200m of the race and ran the next 4.9 miles with one shoe."
 
THE WOMEN
The LC State women finished fourth as a team at the CCC Championships behind champion and sixth-ranked C of I, No. 13 SOU and Oregon Tech. The Warriors finished ahead of No. 25 Northwest with 103 points.
 
"On the women's side, it's kind of an up-and-down feeling with where we are at," Collins said. "I thought we raced decently well today. I figured going into this meet we would have to finish third to feel comfortable that we could get a shot at nationals, so finishing fourth kind of leaves us in a little bit of limbo."
 
Fifth-year senior Emily Adams led the team with an eighth-place finish (19:42) to earn all-conference honors. Geraldin Correa was 18th (20:25) and Rylee Brown took 21st (20:38).
 
"Emily went out and ran really well as an all-conference runner today," Collins said. "I thought we packed up really well early, we just lost some key points in the middle section of the race."
 
Callie Johnson crossed the line in 27th with a time of 20:54, and Brooklyn Shell capped the scoring group in 30th with a time of 20:58. Abigail Peightal was 33rd (21:12) and Abigail Gorton finished 40th (21:26).
 
Madison Howe finished 49th (22:03), Grace McCormick was 51st (22:10), and Rainey Gallup rounded out the team in 63rd (23:27).
 
"Fortunately, we were able to finish in front of No. 25 Northwest and that should help us in the national polls" Collins explained. "We will be waiting until Monday or Tuesday to see if we get in or not, but I think we will be really close. I have been telling my girls to think positive and have good thoughts. We will need some help around the country to help things fall into place."
 
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