Men's Cross Country | 02/25/21 | 2:50 PM

HELENA, Mont. -- Carroll's Cross Country Team travels to Lewiston, Idaho to compete in the Lewis-Clark State Winter Invite this Friday.

Conditions are expected to be wet and muddy, but the Saints are prepared to compete hard despite the adversity. Lewis-Clark State, College of Idaho, and Northwest University are national caliber teams that will be attending, so the meet should include some exciting racing.

On the men's side, the Saints aim to solidify a spot in the Top 25 nationally in an attempt to earn an at-large qualification to the NAIA National Meet as a group. Two individuals - James Normandeau and Connor O'Hara - are currently qualified as individuals.

"We are young on the men's side, and I'm so pleased with the improvements in fitness, toughness, and confidence I've seen over the past few months," said Head Cross Country Coach Shannon Flynn. "This race will be a challenge, but the men are fired up to embrace that and make a big jump forward this weekend,"

The women's team received an automatic qualification to Nationals with their Frontier Conference win in the fall, so this meet will serve as a dress rehearsal for the National Meet in Cedar Rapids, Iowa on April 9.

"The other teams attending have looked very strong over the past month, so this is a great opportunity for us to see where we're at and learn what we need to do over the next six weeks to be as competitive as possible at Nationals," said Coach Flynn. "I'm excited to watch how we apply the growth we've made this fall and winter to a race with nationally ranked competition," she added. 

Races kick off at 1:00 pm PST for the Men's 8k and 2:00 pm for the Women's 5k. Spectators are not allowed, and COVID safety procedures will be followed for all teams attending.