Men's Cross Country | 02.18.2021
MEN'S RANKINGS | WOMEN'S RANKINGS
KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Both Lewis-Clark State Cross Country teams made their triumphant returns to the national polls after strong starts to the delayed season. The NAIA poll was suspended in November due to a lack of teams running, but with the majority of the NAIA in action now, the poll resumed on Thursday with the men ranked No. 6, and the women No. 17.
"We are pleased to see our teams back in the polls," Head Coach
Mike Collins said. "Unfortunately, not racing in the fall pulled us out of the polls, not because we weren't good, but because we couldn't prove it. It is nice to be racing and we hope to continue to improve."
The Warriors men checked in at No. 6 in the latest poll after finishing third at the national championship last season. Through two meets so far this season, the Warriors have brought home two team wins, and
Cole Olsen has raced his way to a pair of individual victories.
The LC State women, ranked 17
th in the nation, earned their first win of the season at the LC State Winter Invitational 1.
Emily Adams led the Way for LC in the race with a third-place finish.
"Based on the polls, this (improving in the poll) is going to be critically important to our women," Collins explained. "Right now, they would not make the national championship based on their ranking, so we will have to improve and prove that we should move up. It will be challenging as there are a lot of teams in front of us that won't race again until nationals because their conference championships were completed in the fall.
"It is a disadvantage to us and everyone else that did not race in the fall," Collins continued, "but we will take that as a challenge and work to be better. We will have an opportunity next week when Carroll comes to our meet. They are the Frontier Conference Champions and ranked in the top 10, so if we can run well against them it should help us and the other teams in our conference get a little more respect."
The Warriors host the LC State Winter Invitational 2 on Feb. 26, with the men racing at 1 p.m. and the women at 2 p.m. in the Lewiston Orchards.
