SPOKANE – The Lewis-Clark State College men’s cross country team, led by junior Eric Tuwei, cruised to a second-place finish while the women’s team finished third at the Runners Soul Bigfoot Open on Saturday.
Tuwei finished the 8-kilometer race in fourth-place with a time of 25:42.90. He was followed by teammates Sean Huey, who finished in ninth with a mark of 26:06.10, and Adrian Ramirez, who placed 10th with a time of 26:08.60.
Currently ranked No. 10 in the NAIA, the Warrior men finished with 50 points in the team standings, 12 points behind Community Colleges of Spokane.
LCSC coach Mike Collins was pleased with how both of his team performed at the non-conference invite, as claiming first was not his top priority, “This race was a good training race—a race to teach my runners some patience.”
“I told them to hold back for the first mile, and that they were not allowed to start chasing until after that,” said Collins.
The LCSC women’s team, currently ranked 12th in the NAIA, had all of its runners positioned between 40th and 55th at the one mile mark, but ended the race with twelve of its runners in the top 30.
Freshman Stephanie Shuel finished the 5K race in seventh-place with a time of 18:50.90 to lead the Warriors, while Kyli Astle and Lindsay Szybura finished second and third on the team, respectively. Astle took 11th with a time of 19:03.50, and Szybura claimed 13th with a time of 19:08.70.
The women’s team finished with 64 points, while Community College of Spokane finished second with 46, and Whitworth took first with 35.
Collins commented that the strategy he used is a good way to teach his runners patience and to push some of them into a stronger pace during the latter parts of a race.
LCSC will get a chance to run against most of the teams which competed at the Bigfoot Open at the LCSC Invite on Saturday, Oct. 25 at Lewiston’s Hells Gate State Park.
MEN’S 8K RESULTS
Team scores – 1, Community Colleges of Spokane 38. 2, Lewis-Clark State College 50. 3, Whitworth University 67. 4, Bigfoot X-Country Club 72. 5, Carroll College 151. 6, Flathead Valley CC 182. 7, Whitman College 185.
Medalist – Dak Riek, Bigfoot XC Club, 25:34.10
LCSC Individuals (out of 68 total runners) – 4, Eric Tuwei 25:42.90. 9, Sean Huey 26:06.10. 10, Adrian Ramirez 26:08.60. 15, Chris McConnell 26:33.60. 17, Jake Miller 26:38.70. 18, Grant Eldridge 26:41.90. 22, Frank Lagrimanta 26:50.80. 35, Jon Dalton 27:49.60. 39, Andy Keim 28:04.90. 43, Pedro Morales 28:37.30. 50, Clayton Kearl 29:19.90. 59, Scott Sweet 30:39.90.
WOMEN’S 5K RESULTS
Team scores – 1, Whitworth University 35. 2, Community Colleges of Spokane 46. 3, Lewis-Clark State College 64. 4, Bigfoot X-Country Club 126. 5, Whitman College 131. 6, Carroll College 143.
Medalist – Johanna Olson, Bigfoot XC Club, 17:37.60 (new course record)
LCSC Individuals (out of 61 total runners) – 7, Stephanie Shuel 18:50.90. 11, Kyli Astle 19:03.50. 13, Lindsay Szybura 19:08.70. 16, Amanda Palmer 19:19.40. 17, Kelsey Klettke 19:20.90. 20, Tayler Harrington 19:23.50. 21, Katja Loevslett 19:34.40. 23, Jessie Gulsvig 19:42.90. 24, Francis Rojas 19:52.80. 25, Shere Barbour 19:53.40. 26, Rosa Bautista 19:55.50. 30, Whitlee Younger 20:09.10. 31, Madison Randall 20:10.50. 32, Rachael Park 20:12.70. 33, Kirsten White 20:13.80. 36, Casey Hampton 20:25.00.
