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LCSC cross
country teams slip in NAIA Top 25 polls
10-3-07
 The
Lewis-Clark State College men’s and women’s
cross country teams both fell in the latest
NAIA Top 25 polls, which were released on
Wednesday.
The
Warrior men fell from No. 5 into a tie for
No. 8 with Lindenwood, while the Warrior
women dropped one spot to No. 17 overall.
LCSC
coach Mike Collins says he figured the men
would fall after last week’s race at
Willamette, which saw the Warriors take
sixth overall, behind No. 7-ranked Concordia
of California.
“Considering we were ranked No. 5 at the
time, not that big of an upset,” Collins
says. “We are perfectly fine with being No.
8. At this point we know our destiny (going
to nationals) is in our own hands.
Obviously, the best way is to win the
regional meet and get the automatic berth,
but it won’t be easy by any means. Eastern
Oregon is ranked No. 10, Southern Oregon is
No. 12 and Albertson is No. 21, along with
Simon Fraser at No. 26, all of which are
very strong teams. So we definitely have
our work cut out for us. Right now, it
looks like our region should send at least
three teams to nationals this year, with the
possibility of four or five, but we want to
avoid the possibility scenarios.”
On the
women’s side, the Warriors fell one spot
despite a strong showing at the Willamette
Invitational.
“I am
not all that disappointed with the drop,”
Collins says. “I just want to be sure we are
running well enough that we don’t drop too
much further. Like the men, our region will
likely send at least three teams to
nationals, but a fourth or a fifth is a lot
more questionable. We don’t want to be in
that spot. One really good thing after
Willamette is that I know we can run better,
so hopefully once we get to regionals we
will run to our capabilities and let the
chips fall where they may. We can’t control
the performances of the other teams, only
our own, but if we run to our abilities we
should be just fine.”
Both
LCSC teams are off this week. LCSC’s next
meet is in Spokane on Oct. 13.
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