SPOKANE – It was a banner day for the Lewis-Clark State College men’s cross country team as it not only had five runners in the top 10 to win the Erik Anderson Invitational going away, but the Warriors also defeated NCAA Division I foe Gonzaga in the process on Saturday.
In the event named after former Community Colleges of Spokane head cross country coach, the Warriors rolled to the men’s title with 25 points by having the top two finishers and four of the top seven. Gonzaga was a distant second at 58 points, while Whitworth was third at 71.
On the women’s side, Gonzaga took the title with 54 points, while Whitman was second at 60. LCSC finished fifth overall at 88.
The Warrior men, who swept the top five spots at the Frontier Conference meet last season but had a rather disappointing finish at the NAIA national meet, have been using that season-ending meet as motivation for this season. It certainly appeared that it worked to perfection during Saturday’s 8-kilometer race.
Dave Marks, a freshman transfer from the University of Portland, won the meet in a time of 25 minutes, 53.70 seconds, while junior Jake Miller was right behind in second at 26:10.48. Sean Huey, a junior, was fifth at 26:21.10, while Eric Tuwei, who won the conference race last year, was seventh at 26:38.34. Grant Eldridge rounded out the scoring runners for LCSC with a 10th place finish in 26:58.09.
The five finishers in the top 10 is one of the top early-season races for the Warriors.
On the women’s side, LCSC had three finishers in the top 11 as Kyli Astle, Kelsey Klettke and Lindsay Szybura finished 9-11th, respectively. Astle was timed in 19:55.45, barely ahead of Klettke’s 19:55.87 mark. Szybura was timed in 19:57.35.
Whitworth’s Dana Misterek was the overall winner of the 5-kilometer race in 19:04.59.
Both Warrior teams will be back in action next Saturday in Salem, Ore., for the Willamette Invitational.
MALE
Team scores – 1, Lewis-Clark State 25. 2, Gonzaga 58. 3, Whitworth 71. 4, Spokane CC 113. 5, Great Falls 122. 6, Whitman 155. 7, Club Sasquatch 171.
Overall winner – Dave Marks, LCSC, 25:53.70.
Other LCSC finishers – 2, Jake Miller 26:10.48. 5, Sean Huey 26:21.10. 7, Eric Tuwei 26:38.34. 10, Grant Eldridge 26:58.09. 23, Tanner Smedley 27:36.05. 25, Chris McConnell 27:40.91. 44, Mickael Testa 28:21.0. 45, Tommy Bollinger 28:21.06. 52, Frank Lagrimanta 28:39.84. 56, Nick Pierson 28:46.63. 62, Sean Hagan 29:07.65. 71, Andy Keim 29:34.61. 76, Conor Thompson 29:45.66. 84. Alex Weber 32:04.54.
FEMALE
Team scores – 1, Gonzaga 54. 2, Whitman 60. 3, Spokane Swifts 72. 4, Whitworth 81. 5, Lewis-Clark State 88. 6, Spokane CC 219. 7, Spokane alumni 274. 8, Great Falls 314.
Overall winner – Dana Misterek, Whitworth, 19:04.59.
LCSC – 9, Kyli Astle 19:55.45. 10, Kelsey Klettke 19:55.87. 11, Lindsay Szybura 19:57.35. 26, Stephanie Shuel 20:28.59. 32, Tayler Harrington 20:52.09. 37, Allie Ford 21:00.27. 42, Chelsey Leighton 21:17.92. 48, Madison Randall 21:23.57. 50, Francis Rojas 21:29.73. 54, Amy Watkins 21:47.60. 55, Amanda Palmer 21:48.22. 60, Sheree Barbour 21:56.24. 66, Whitlee Young 21:10.06. 67, Casey Hampton 22:12.45. 69. Jessie Gulsvig 22:18.48. 90, Rachael Park 24:20.97.
