(Lewiston, ID) Senior Carter Gordon capped his storied career with the only thing left to check off his list, NAIA Cross Country All-American. The fifth-year Warrior earned his final medal with a 28th-place finish at the 2024 NAIA Cross Country National Championships on Friday. He led the LC State men to 13th place as a team, three spots above their ranking heading into the race.
The Warrior men totaled 425 points to earn the 13th-place finish. Top-ranked College of Idaho took home its first team title, and fellow Cascade Conference member Eastern Oregon finished 11th at the Gans Creek Cross Country Course.
“A great day to be a Warrior running at the national championships,” Head Coach Mike Collins said. “We always set our goals high and work hard to achieve, and today I felt like we ran really well. Maybe a little short, but in the end it is part of the process and we are continuously working to get better. Great day for Carter to top off his career with another All-American award. Lots of returners next year for both teams, so we are excited about the future as well.”
Gordon’s seventh All-American honor came with a time of 24:33.1, just off his personal best. The Coeur d’Alene native earned six national honors in track and field, including his indoor 800m national title last season, but had yet to do so in cross country. He crossed the line in 28th place in his fifth and final national cross country race for LC State.
Fellow senior Griffen Parsells just missed out on the top 100 in 101st. He ran a time of 25:09.8 in the competitive 326-person race. Junior Alexander Fry continued to show his improvement and was the third Warrior to cross the finish line for the second straight meet. He ran a personal-best time of 25:10.5 to finish just behind Parsells in 102nd.
Lewiston native Kobe Wessels cracked the top-120 runners in 120th. He ran a time of 25:16.8, while Conner May placed 183rd with a time of 25:40.2. Cooper Carlson was 241st (26:15.5) and Connor Alexander finished 254th (26:27.6).
The race marked the end of the careers of Gordon, May and Carlson, as well as Luke Sellmann who made the trip with the team to cheer on his teammates. The group competed for LC State for five seasons.
