MONMOUTH, Ore.—Nine Lewis & Clark College men's cross country runners posted PR 6K times and four juniors finished inside the top-14, to lead the Pioneers on Friday at the Ash Creek Collegiate Meet.
THE BASICS
Men's Cross Country - 3
rd out of 8 Teams – 65 Points
HOW IT HAPPENED
Lewis & Clark finished in third place behind only host Western Oregon University (NCAA DII) and NCAA DI Portland State University. Juniors
Quinn Higgins,
Sam Garcia,
Emil Miller and
Evan Markelz all finished in the top-14 on Friday afternoon.
Higgins matched his career-best finish at the Ash Creek Collegiate Meet by placing sixth overall. The Pioneers junior sat 22
nd overall after the first checkpoint (1K), before steadily working his way through the field. He moved up to sixth place at the 5K mark and crossed the line sixth overall. Higgins posted a career-best 6K time of 18:14.30.
Juniors
Sam Garcia,
Emil Miller and
Evan Markelz ran together for most of the race and came across in 12
th, 13
th and 14
th places. The trio sat 32
nd-34
th at the 1K mark, moved up to the low 20s after 2.5 kilometers and pushed into the top-16 after 4K.
Garcia was sitting third amongst the trio after 4K (16
th overall), but used a late push to finish 12
th overall. He crossed the finish line in 18:55.20. Miller was just behind him in 13
th overall with a mark of 18:59.20. Markelz, who missed the season opener due to injury, made his season debut and placed 14
th with a time of 19:01.30.
Junior
Colin Shimabukuro came across in 27
th place to finish as the team's fifth scorer. Shimabukuro, who was running just his second race since being injured before last year's NCAA Regional Meet, made huge strides throughout the race. He was sitting in 58
th place at the first checkpoint, before moving up 51
st (2.5K) and then 40
th after 4K. Shimabukuro would pass another group of runners and break into the top-30 at the 5K mark and would ultimately place 27
th with a time of 19:53.90.
Senior
Theron Plumb posted a 32
nd-place finish. Plumb moved up from 50
th overall into the low 30s thanks to a big move between the 2.5K and 4K mark. He crossed the line in 20:05.60.
First year
Seth Austin placed seventh on the team and 38
th overall. The first year notched a final time of 20:16.80.
Fellow first year
Knox Orchard came across in 20:26.60 in his collegiate debut. He placed 48
th overall and eighth on the team.
Senior
Joseph Naylor and junior
John Blockhus finished back-to-back. Naylor ended the race in 52
nd place (20:44.70) and Blockhus came across in 20:56.10 to finish 53
rd overall.
BY THE NUMBERS
- Higgins finished in the top-10 for the second-straight race and third time in his collegiate cross country career. His sixth-place finish matched his career-best mark at the Ash Creek Collegiate Meet and of his career. A Lewis & Clark runner has finished sixth overall at the Ash Creek Collegiate Meet for three years running, as Markelz placed sixth in 2023.
- Juniors Jordan Wu and Teagon Aasen finished 67th and 77th overall. Wu posted a time of 22:25.20. Aasen notched a mark of 23:27.10.
- Blockhus (107.30 seconds), Higgins (40.30), Miller (30.90), Shimabukuro (4.30), Plumb (3.20), Aasen (2.80) and Garcia (0.6 all posted PR 6K times on Friday. Austin and Orchard each ran their first collegiate 6Ks on Friday.
- Higgins finished sixth overall behind one unattached runner, three Western Oregon Wolves and the top-runner from Portland State. Thus far this season, he has finished seventh and sixth overall and seven of the 11 runners who have finished ahead of him have been from NCAA DI schools.
- Orchard made his collegiate debut on Friday. Markelz and Blockhus each made their season debuts.
WHAT'S NEXT
Lewis & Clark will travel to Tacoma next weekend for the PLU Invitational. The race will feature all nine Northwest Conference schools and be raced on the PLU Meadows course that will host this year's NWC Championship Meet on November 1.
