LCSC men’s cross country team finishes at No. 18; women are 19th

11-17-07

KENOSHA, Wis. – Senior Calin Hantau fell short in his bid to become Lewis-Clark State College’s first two-time NAIA All-American in cross country, but the Warrior men’s team still came up with the program’s best finisher at the NAIA Cross Country Championships on Saturday.

The Warrior men finished 18th overall in the meet, topping the 21st-place finishes in each of the past two seasons. The Warrior women also finished in the Top 20, placing 19th in the women’s meet.

Malone College of Ohio placed three runners in the top 10 to capture the men’s title, while Simon Fraser captured its fifth straight women’s title and 10th overall.

After finishing among the top 20 runners last year in the meet to earn All-America honors, Hantau wound up 34th on Saturday, covering the 8-kilometer course in 25 minutes, 35.7 seconds. Fellow senior Aaron Galbraith was next for LCSC in 81st place in 26:06.9, while freshman Sean Huey was 9th in 26:12.3.

The Warriors finished with 427 points in the meet, three ahead of fellow Region I competitor Eastern Oregon. Simon Fraser was the only Region I team to finish ahead of LCSC, placing fourth overall.

Rounding out the finishers for the LCSC men were junior Adrian Ramirez at No. 166, in 26:49.3; freshman Chris McConnell at No. 214 in 27:19.9, sophomore Eric Tuwei at No. 216 in 27:20.8, and freshman Jake Miller at No. 218 in 27:33.8.

On the women’s side, LCSC had 473 points. It’s the seventh straight year the Warrior women have finished No. 21 or better in the meet. The Warriors finished third among Region I teams behind Simon Fraser and the University of British Columbia, which was fifth overall.

Senior Jenny Jensen led the Warriors, covering the 5-kilometer course in 19:00.4 to finish 82nd overall. Sophomore Kyli Astle wasn’t far behind at 19:07.6 for 94th place.

Other LCSC finishers include senior Emily Perkins at No. 132 in 19:26.2, sophomores Katja Palm-Loevslett and Lindsay Szybura at No. 173 and No. 174 in 19:48.2 and 19:48.5, respectively, senior Rikki Glick in 20:09.8 for No. 206, and junior Rosa Bautista at No. 225 in 20:33.4.

The Warrior women will now switch gears and begin preparing for the indoor track season. This is the first year LCSC has sponsored women’s track and field.