LEWISTON – Chloe Overberg put together a strong race on Saturday to lead the No. 20 Warrior women to the best finish by an NAIA team at the 2023 LC State Invitational. The Asotin native clocked a time of 18:09, her best 5k time in a Warrior uniform, to lead LC State to a fifth-place finish behind a contingent of NCAA Division I teams. The Warrior men finished seventh, paced by Carter Gordon.
The meet marked the regular-season finale for the Warriors. LC State will race at the Cascade Conference Cross Country Championships, presented by U.S. Bank, on Nov. 3.
THE WOMEN
The Warrior women finished fifth in the field of eight teams with 138 points, behind only DI programs. LC State placed ahead of No. 16 Rocky Mountain (Mont.) who totaled 171 points. Cascade Conference opponent Northwest (Wash.) placed eighth at the meet.
“The women really had one goal in mind and that was beating Rocky Mountain, who is ranked above us in the national polls, and they did that in a big way,” Head Coach Mike Collins said. “A three-minute improvement from a year ago, so really encouraging.”
Overberg placed 24th overall to lead LC State for the second straight race and was the top NAIA finisher. Geraldin Correa was not far behind in 27th with a personal-best time of 18:16, and senior Brooklyn Shell finished 33rd (18:31) in her final home meet. Grace Tiegs and Abigail Gorton also ran career-best times at the meet, with Tiegs in 35th (18:46) and Gorton in 46th (19:00).
Freshman Aubree Williams clocked a time of 19:04 in her first home meet to finish just outside LC’s top five in 49th. Grace Dixon was 63rd (19:34), Emma Peltier placed 73rd (20:12) and Grace McCormick was 74th (20:31). Haileyann Johnson finished 80th (21:31), just in front of Madison Howe in 81st (21:40).
“Big day by a lot of women,” Collins added. “Grace T., Chloe, Geraldin, Brooklyn, Aubree and Abby G. all came through and really did work in the front spots, and our other women clamped it down for us.”
THE MEN
The Warrior men saw a lot of positive marks on Saturday. LC State, receiving votes in the national rating, finished ahead of No. 21 Northwest and (RV) Rocky with its seventh-place mark (190 points). No. 5 Eastern Oregon was the top NAIA team at the meet, followed by No. 24 Corban (Ore.). Corban’s Robert Swoboda won the individual title with a Corban school-record time of 23:54.
“The men had similar goals to the women, but we were looking to beat Corban, Northwest and Rocky, all of which are above us in the polls,” Collins explained. “We got two of the three and we were also better than a year ago, so everything moving in a good direction.”
LC State’s top five male runners each ran personal-bests. Gordon edged his previous best with a time of 24:57 to place 26th in the field of 157. Brycen Brown placed 39th (25:15) in his final home meet, and Griffen Parsells raced past several runners at the end of his run to cross the line 44th (25:25). Clay Shumaker finished 61st (25:45) and Kobe Wessels was 66th (25:55).
“The men saw some standout performances with Griffen, Clay and Kobe really holding their own in the base of the lineup,” Collins said. “Carter and Brycen (Brown) continue to lead for us and the men as a whole look tough.”
Conner May was the sixth Warrior to cross the line and did so 83rd overall (26:12), and Brycen Kempton was 85th (26:18). Keith Uitdewilligen (98th, 26:38) and Connor Alexander (109th, 27:02) both ran career-bests and Cooper Carlson placed 111th (27:11). Jacob Adams ran a PR for the second race in a row to finish 119th (27:43), Alexander Fry was 121st (27:49) and Luke Sellmann placed 145th (29:35).
UP NEXT
LC State races at the CCC Championships on Nov. 3 in Caldwell, Idaho.
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