LEWISTON, ID – For the 20th consecutive season, both LC State Cross Country teams will open the year ranked in the top 25 in the NAIA preseason poll. Both Warrior teams, the No. 15 men and No. 16 women, return after top 20 finishes at the 2024 NAIA Cross Country National Championships. Coach Mike Collins will lead LC State into his 29th season on Aug. 29 at the Clash of the Inland Northwest.
LC State will compete in a stacked conference with multiple ranked teams on each side, including the defending NAIA Men’s Cross Country National Champion College of Idaho.
“Our conference is arguably one of the top two in the country with the other being the Crossroads,” Collins said. “We have it tough all year, but that is good, but sometimes it is hard to get the raters to believe that there are five, six, or even seven top 25 teams in one single conference, yet I believe that will be the case this year for the Cascade.”
The LC State women were picked to finish second in the competitive conference behind the 2023 national champion Yotes who enter the season ranked No. 11. Southern Oregon is No. 19 and Eastern Oregon is No. 20.
“The C of I women are going to be good, and EOU I think are the two favorites,” Collins said. “Evergreen has really added some good runners, and SOU has great coaching and some great transfers. Our conference is tough, tough, tough. We will have to race well, but I think we can do good things, and I am looking forward to it.”
The men are predicted to place fourth behind No. 9 Corban (Ore.), No. 7 C of I and No. 11 EOU. SOU is ranked No. 22 in the preseason poll.
“On the men’s side, very similar,” Collins added. “C of I will be good as always, but Corban comes back as the team to beat. SOU will also be tough and EOU is always in the mix. Trinity Western is the new team and I think they are going to surprise a lot of people as I believe they are going to challenge for one of the top three or four spots in the conference.”
Both LC State teams return a great deal of experience. The women’s side returns its top four finishers from nationals last season in seniors Grace Tiegs and Camille Ussher, and sophomores Lily Bennett and Damaris Kibiwot. Kibiwot had a standout freshman year as the top LC State finisher at nationals and an All-American finish in the indoor 3,000m. The Kenya native, along with Ussher, earned All-Cascade Conference honors in cross country last season. Tiegs and Bennett were also consistent top finishers for the team last season.
“Expectations are pretty high,” Collins said. “We have one of the best representations of returners in the conference, but we are also in one of the best conferences in the country. Teams tend to reload here, but with our strong returners and with our high expectations of our new women, we hope to do some neat things. Based off of last year, I think we will have a shot of making the top 10 nationally and also have a shot at winning a conference title.”
Along with the core of returners, LC State’s freshman class brings a lot of depth to an already talented roster. Lilly Gilbert, Kailee Lerew, Eva Lundgren and Nuala Rollins have strong prep resumes and will look to contribute right away, while Jackie Jepngeitch adds to the team’s potential out of Kenya.
“For the women, initially it will circle around Grace, Damaris, Lily and Camille to get the ball rolling for us, but we have some really good freshmen that are going to surprise some people,” Collins explained. “Not a lot of experience there, which is good, but with good leadership and examples I have no doubt that Eva, Kailee, Nuala and Lilly will be apply great pressure for us. Jackie is still getting transitioned to this hemisphere, but we hope she will be contributing before it is all said and done too.”
On the men’s side, the Warriors graduated a talented class that left its mark and led the way for the current group of seniors. In all, LC State returns eight from last season’s roster.
“Our chemistry is great,” Collins said. “These guys get along so well. It is a great family dynamic, and they all work so well together and have no egos out there. Right now, it is about staying healthy and working on things one day at a time and not getting ahead of ourselves. I do believe we are going to need at least one of our new guys to step into the mix, but regardless, we should be able to put pressure on the better teams in our conference.”
Kobe Wessels, a Lewiston native, leads the way after his All-American finish in 2023, while Connor Alexander, Alexander Fry, Clay Shumaker and Tristin O’Brien showed a great amount of improvement throughout their careers.
“Kobe comes back after being an All American his sophomore year, then last year a little illness before conference and nationals knocked him down a little,” Collins said. “He is a tremendous young man, and I could not be any prouder. He has worked very hard this summer, has made some very big sacrifices this fall for himself and for the team and I believe they will pay off. You always hope for a little luck along the way, but he has set himself up for success either way.”
Local products Chrisitan Lybyer (Lewiston) and Malachi Walsh (Moscow) bolster the roster in contrast to fellow newcomer Sven Druijff out of Amersfoot, Netherlands.
“Sven looks to be working to hang right with Kobe and could be one of those unknowns that becomes known very quickly,” Collins added. “Our core guys will be what makes or breaks the team though. Clay, Conner, Tristan and Alex; with those guys on and doing their job, we will be good.”
