LEWISTON, Idaho –Lewis-Clark State College cross country coach Mike Collins announced the signing of freshman Clayton Kearl on Monday. Kearl becomes the newest addition to the men’s program that has made six consecutive trips to nationals and has been ranked in the nation’s top 25 for the past seven years.

A native of Salt Lake City, Utah, Kearl comes out of East High School where he earned four varsity letters in cross country and consistently placed in the top five at regionals and the top 25 at the state meet. Kearl was a part of East High’s 2006 state championship team, and served as team captain of both the cross country and track teams his senior year. Also during his senior year, he finished No. 21 at the state cross country meet in Utah’s largest school classification by running 16:01 at over 5,000 feet in elevation. Unfortunately, a foot injury cut his track season short in May.

 “The recent injury may put Kearl a little behind in training when reporting day gets here, but we believe he will be a factor before the fall is over and will undoubtedly play a major role the future success of the program,” Collins said.

Kearl plans to major in Business at Lewis-Clark State.