| LEWISTON, Idaho – LC State Cross Country signed five individuals to bolster the programs ahead of the 2024 season. Three men and two women make up the group from across the northwest region. Head Coach Mike Collins announced the additions of Camille Ussher, Lily Bennett, Ben Vernon, Manuel Valdez and Samuel Iverson.
THE WOMEN
Ussher joins the Warrior Cross Country team with collegiate experience out of Spokane Falls CC. The Bonners Ferry native prepped at Bonners Ferry High School before helping the Sasquatch to an NWAC title in 2023. She was an All-American in cross country, as well as in track and field in the 800m and 4x400m relay.
Bennett hails from Shelton, Wash., where she was a four-year varsity athlete at Shelton High School. She holds personal-best times of 19:50.2 in the 5k, 11:51.25 in the 3200m and 5:44.83 in the 1600m. Bennett helped the Highclimbers to back-to-back league cross country titles in 2021 and 2022, as well as the league title for track and field in 2022.
“Our women’s program is taking a pretty big hit due to graduation, and both Lily and Camille will have some immediate pressure as we fully expect them to contribute right away,” Collins explained. “Lily looks to really be improving throughout her high school career and we hope to see it continue with us. Small-school girl that we think will really blossom with good, supportive teammates around her. Camille is similar but she has really jumped up in level of performance in her second year at Spokane Falls. I think both gals will be important cogs in our running performances next year.”
THE MEN
Vernon, a native of Shelley, Idaho, is a transfer from the College of Southern Idaho where he helped the team to a sixth-place finish at nationals last season. He holds personal-best times of 26:44 in the 8k and 9:25 in the 3k.
“Ben is a CSI transfer that I think saw Chase (Barrow) who ran at the same high school, really do great things here at LC,” Collins said. “Ben is motivated and looking forward to being a contributing runner on what will be a very good team in the fall.”
Valdez comes to LC State from Boise by way of Bishop Kelly High School. He placed 35th at State as a senior and has a personal-best time of 16:31 in the 5k. Valdez helped BKHS to a 4A Idaho State title in 2022 and third-place finish in 2023. The team finished fifth in 2021.
“Out of one of the best high school cross country programs in the state at Bishop Kelly High School and Coach Shanahan, Manuel will undoubtedly make the team better both in his running and his knowledge gained through his high school career,” Collins said. “Will take some time to transition to what we do, but looking forward to helping him progress.”
Iverson is a native of Bonanza, Ore., where he is a senior at Henley High School. He ran a career-best 5k time of 16:38.77 for the Hornets and was First-Team All-State and all-conference. He was named captain of the cross country team and earned the Grit Award and Work Ethic Award.
“Another small school runner that we believe will be able to take advantage of the high-level teammates he will have around him,” Collins added. “It will be tough to break into our top seven next year with all the returners we have, but Sam may be the guy to do it once he adapts to the training and the longer races.”
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