Thanks to a strong showing at last week’s meet, the Lewis-Clark State College cross country teams rose dramatically in the NAIA Cross Country Coaches’ Top 25 polls, which were released on Wednesday. The men’s team climbed from No. 10 to No. 5, and the Warrior women went from No. 19 to No. 14.
For the LCSC men this is the highest ranking the team has received since they reached their highest mark of No. 4 during the 2007 season.
“I guess I’m a little surprised at the ranking,” said LCSC head coach Mike Collins. “We beat some pretty good teams last week, but there are some really good teams around the country.”
The LCSC men finished second out of 23 participants at the Charles Bowles Invitational last Saturday and bested a number of high-ranked teams including British Columbia (then ranked No. 4) and Southern Oregon (then ranked No. 8). The Warriors were only seven points behind winner Concordia of Oregon, which moved from No. 5 to No. 3 in this week’s poll.
“The ranking is pretty cool, but our guys definitely have a bigger goal than rankings,” said Collins. “It’s a nice pat on the back saying ‘you guys did good,’ but we have a lot more to do.”
The LCSC women ran what Collins called, “their best race in a couple of years,” at the Charles Bowles Invite and claimed fifth out of 21 teams. The team finished ahead of Southern Oregon which was ranked No. 15 at the time.
“I’m a little more surprised about the women’s ranking,” said Collins. “We did run strong, but we beat just one team, on paper, we weren’t supposed to.”
Considering how well Carroll College, ranked No. 11 in the women’s poll, is running this year, holding a high ranking might be vital for the Warrior women’s hopes of advancing to nationals again this year.
The winners of the men’s and women’s conference championships, held in Billings, Mont., on Nov. 4, will receive an automatic berth to nationals. For any other conference teams to advance they would have to be ranked high enough to receive an at-large berth.
On Oct. 14 both Warriors teams will head to Spokane to compete at the Inland Empire Classic.
MEN
|
RANK
|
LAST WEEK
|
SCHOOL (1ST PLACE VOTES)
|
TOTAL POINTS
|
|
1
|
2
|
Oklahoma Christian (15)
|
586
|
|
2
|
3
|
Shorter (Ga.) (5)
|
574
|
|
3
|
5
|
Concordia (Ore.)
|
540
|
|
4
|
6
|
Cal State San Marcos (1)
|
531
|
|
5
|
10
|
Lewis-Clark State (Idaho)
|
502
|
|
6
|
7
|
The Master's (Calif.)
|
495
|
|
7
|
8
|
Southern Oregon
|
474
|
|
8
|
9
|
Shawnee State (Ohio)
|
459
|
|
9
|
1
|
Wayland Baptist (Texas)
|
419
|
|
10
|
11
|
Olivet Nazarene (Ill.)
|
413
|
|
11
|
22
|
Bryan (Tenn.)
|
378
|
|
12
|
12
|
Aquinas (Mich.)
|
371
|
|
13
|
15
|
Westmont (Calif.)
|
360
|
|
14
|
16
|
Friends (Kan.)
|
324
|
|
15
|
13
|
Concordia (Neb.)
|
308
|
|
16
|
14
|
St. Francis (Ill.)
|
304
|
|
17
|
23
|
Eastern Oregon
|
303
|
|
18
|
17
|
Biola (Calif.)
|
257
|
|
19
|
4
|
British Columbia
|
254
|
|
20
|
18
|
Oklahoma Baptist
|
245
|
|
21
|
19
|
Southwestern (Kan.)
|
209
|
|
22
|
21
|
Embry-Riddle (Fla.)
|
172
|
|
23
|
20
|
Graceland (Iowa)
|
153
|
|
24
|
24
|
Cornerstone (Mich.)
|
138
|
|
25
|
25
|
Trinity Christian (Ill.)
|
125
|
Others receiving votes: College of Idaho 120; Azusa Pacific (Calif.) 113; Berea (Ky.) 71; Siena Heights (Mich.) 48; SCAD Savannah (Ga.) 32; Morningside (Iowa) 28; Vanguard (Calif.) 26; Saint Xavier (Ill.) 15; Huntington (Ind.) 12; Point Loma Nazarene (Calif.) 12; Cumberlands (Ky.) 12; Rocky Mountain (Mont.) 11; Baker (Kan.) 6; Dordt (Iowa) 1; Park (Mo.) 1; Doane (Neb.) 1; Spring Arbor (Mich.) 1; Great Falls (Mont.) 1.
WOMEN
|
RANK
|
LAST WEEK
|
SCHOOL (1ST PLACE VOTES)
|
TOTAL POINTS
|
|
1
|
1
|
Azusa Pacific (Calif.) (19)
|
590
|
|
2
|
2
|
Cal State San Marcos (2)
|
573
|
|
3
|
6
|
British Columbia
|
543
|
|
4
|
5
|
Northwest Christian (Ore.)
|
531
|
|
5
|
4
|
Olivet Nazarene (Ill.)
|
520
|
|
6
|
3
|
Biola (Calif.)
|
485
|
|
7
|
8
|
Friends (Kan.)
|
478
|
|
8
|
7
|
College of Idaho
|
476
|
|
9
|
9
|
Concordia (Ore.)
|
436
|
|
10
|
10
|
Morningside (Iowa)
|
405
|
|
11
|
13
|
Carroll (Mont.)
|
396
|
|
12
|
11
|
The Master's (Calif.)
|
385
|
|
13
|
12
|
Indiana Wesleyan
|
364
|
|
14
|
19
|
Lewis-Clark State (Idaho)
|
318
|
|
15
|
15
|
Embry-Riddle (Fla.)
|
315
|
|
16
|
14
|
Aquinas (Mich.)
|
293
|
|
17
|
15
|
Southern Oregon
|
285
|
|
18
|
17
|
Westmont (Calif.)
|
282
|
|
19
|
18
|
Saint Xavier (Ill.)
|
239
|
|
20
|
22
|
Roberts Wesleyan (N.Y.)
|
221
|
|
21
|
20
|
Taylor (Ind.)
|
204
|
|
22
|
21
|
Dordt (Iowa)
|
173
|
|
23
|
RV
|
Milligan (Tenn.)
|
169
|
|
24
|
23
|
Viterbo (Wis.)
|
138
|
|
25
|
RV
|
Point Loma Nazarene (Calif.)
|
122
|
Others receiving votes: Shawnee State (Ohio) 104; Northwest (Wash.) 77; St. Francis (Ill.) 63; Cornerstone (Mich.) 62; Cumberlands (Ky.) 52; Eastern Oregon 19; Rocky Mountain (Mont.) 19; SCAD Savannah (Ga.) 16; Northwestern (Iowa) 15; Texas Wesleyan 15; Spring Arbor (Mich.) 9; Park (Mo.) 9; Trinity Christian (Ill.) 6; Shorter (Ga.) 5; Grand View (Iowa) 5; Baker (Kan.) 3; Concordia (Neb.) 1; Doane (Neb.) 1.
