Warrior men's cross country continues to be ranked in the top five
 9-26-07 

The Lewis-Clark State College men’s cross country team dropped one spot in this week's NAIA Top 25 poll to end up at No. 5 in the nation. This marks the fourth straight week the Warriors have been ranked in the top 10, and the second straight week they have been in the top 5, and does even more to solidify their, already firm, position as one of the premier cross country programs of the 2007 season.     

The women, who overcame both Albertson (No. 19) and Eastern Oregon and lost only to NCAA teams to take fifth at the Bob Firman Invitational last week, also dropped one spot and now are ranked No. 16.

Receiving all seven first-place votes, Malone of Ohio holds the No. 1 spot for the men, while Simon Fraser still stands as the team top ranked team for the women.

Next Saturday both Warrior teams travel to Salem, OR for the Willamette Invite. The men's No. 5 ranking will be challenged as they face three of the top nine teams in the nation. "This weekend will say a lot as the men will run against current No. 2 Aquinas, No. 7 Concordia (CA), and No. 9 Eastern Oregon," LCSC coach Mike Collins says. "This will be a good test for the men in a national championship-like race."

The women's team will also face strong competition, and will probably have even more to gain or lose by their performance in this race than the men do. Collins contends, "If anything, this weekend is more important for the women than the men. A lot of ranked schools will be there, so it is a great opportunity to move up if not solidify our spot in the ratings." Teams participating include, No. 8 British Columbia, No. 13 Concordia (CA), No. 14 Aquinas, No. 15 Point Loma Nazarene, and Northwest University and Eastern Oregon which both received votes.