Men's Cross Country | 11.18.2022
MEN'S RESULTS | WOMEN'S RESULTS
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – Both Lewis-Clark State Cross Country teams finished about their seedings at the 2022 NAIA Cross Country National Championships on Friday morning, with the No. 20 men taking 19
th and the No. 22 women placing 20
th. The Warriors had a runner in the top 100 of each race as
Carter Gordon led the men in 83
rd and
Brooklyn Shell paced the women in 59
th.
"Felt generally good about our performances today," Head Coach
Mike Collins said. "We had a couple of challenges that we just could not control, nor overcome, but felt we dealt as well with them as we potentially could. For both teams, our number one runners from conference had down days because of things that they could not control."
The Warriors were able to gain valuable experience at the meet. Being a young team, with four running in their first national meet, LC State will return its core for next season.
"We have already visited about learning from this and working to get better," Collins added. "Other than (Connor) Turpin, we return every runner. I fully expect both teams to be running for podium spots next year. They are already as optimistic as am I. I would also point out that we saw some great performances from our freshmen girls today with a couple of PRs really coming through. The development potential of this group is off the charts."
THE MEN
The LC State men placed 19
th as a team with 503 points. Gordon earned his highest finish at national meet at 83
rd with a career-best time of 25:23.6.
Conner May was the next Warrior to finish and crossed the line 105
th with a personal-best time of 25:33.5.
Brycen Kempton was 133
rd (25:48.1) and
Brycen Brown placed 140
th (25:52.0).
Griffen Parsells wrapped up the top five for LC in 177
th (26:10.3).
Senior
Connor Turpin crossed the line 194
th in his final national meet with a time of 26:19.1, and
Kobe Wessels, the lone freshman in the group, was 197
th (26:20.9).
"In the men's race, our top runner from conference (Parsells) has had a hip flexor injury that popped up at conference and just would not go away," Collins explained. "It really affected his performance today, and had he been 100% we would have been a little higher in the placings. We had two kids that were sick. Senior
Connor Turpin is on the back end of a cold that has hampered training, so I really feel for him as a senior."
THE WOMEN
Shell had the best race of her career in Tallahassee and had the highest individual finish of any Warrior on the day. The Hayden, Idaho, native finished 59
th overall with a career-best time of 18:29.0. She paced the Warriors to a 20
th-place finish with 507 points.
Freshman
Grace Dixon placed 105
th in her national debut with a time of 18:56.9. Fellow first-year
Clara Stephens was 154
th (19:22.2).
Abigail Peightal ran her best race as a Warrior with a career-best time of 19:24.7 to take 157
th and
Geraldin Correa capped LC's top five in 183
rd (19:34.0).
Grace McCormick was the sixth Warrior to cross the finish line, doing so with a time of 20:03.7 and freshman
Grace Tiegs was 253
rd (20:10.3).
On the women's side, our top finisher and fifth overall in conference,
Geraldin Correa, got sick this week as we were traveling," Collins said. "Based on her conference performance and workouts, I had no doubt that she was going to be an All-American today, and I think it would have helped propel her teammates even more. Unfortunately, she finished as our fifth. Heartbreaking for her, but my kids are resilient. I have no doubt that they will respond like the Warriors that they are."
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