GENEVA, Ohio – Lewis-Clark State College’s Sam Atkin finished fifth in the 3,000 meters on the final day of the NAIA Indoor Track and Field National Championships on Saturday.

“He raced to win,” said LCSC head coach Mike Collins. “He had a pretty good lead for a while.”

Atkin, who is from Lincolnshire, England, finished with a program-record time of 8:24.04. He joins Kaytlyn Coleman, who took seventh in the weight throw on Friday, as the first two All-Americans in the school’s indoor track and field history.

“We’re very excited for Sam and for the program,” Collins said. “We competed in four events and had two All-Americans.”

Coleman also competed in the shot put on Saturday and finished 20th with a throw of 40-03.25 (12.27m).

“We really don’t focus real hard on indoor. We focus more on outdoor,” said Collins. “So with that in mind, the results are pretty encouraging. We’re very excited about the future.”

With the indoor meets now behind them, the Warriors open the outdoor season with their first official team meet on March 21-22 at the Whitworth Invite in Spokane, Wash.

A few LCSC runners got their outdoor seasons started on Saturday though at the Snake River Canyon Half Marathon, held along Wawawai River Road between Pullman and Clarkston, Wash. At this event, senior Chelsey Leighton qualified for the NAIA’s outdoor nationals by completing the 13.1 mile race in 1:25.23.

Complete Results from Geneva, Ohio