Helena, Mont. – The No. 13 Men's Cross Country and RV Women's Cross Country Saints raced in two locations this weekend with the Yellowjackets/Battlin' Bears Open in Billings, Mont. on Friday and the LC State Invite in Lewiston, Idaho on Saturday.

 

In Billings, Carroll's 8 women stepped up to the 6k distance for the first time this season. The group placed 8th, beating the University of Providence and MSU-Northern and scoring only 12 points back from Dickinson State University. Ali Cunningham and Nina Badger set 6k personal records. Several Carroll men also raced in Billings with Eli Highness and Tanner Joyce running their first collegiate 8k.

 

Carroll's current Top 11 runners on each side raced in Lewiston with both the men and women placing 5th overall and 2nd of NAIA schools. The Saints women beat No. 16 Eastern Oregon and No. 23 Lewis-Clark State and were hot on the tail of No. 22 Montana Tech for a second consecutive meet. Steady Cascade Conference National Qualifier Eastern Oregon has been steadily improving this season, beating the Saints men and likely moving themselves up in the rankings this week.

 

Overall it was a strong day for Saints on both sides with 9 personal records in each group on the course. This included Carroll's top finishers of the race with Brycen Gardner for the men in 25:01 and Ryah O'Dell for the women in 18:10.

 

"In both Billings and Lewiston our teams executed their race plans well and brought great energy within their packs," said Head Coach Shannon Flynn. "It's fun to see objective progress, so the large number of personal records is exciting for the athletes," she added. "Our women checked off an important goal by beating two teams ranked ahead of them, so that gives us some strong momentum moving forward. We've been battling illness a bit on the men's side, but I know the team will embrace the challenge of stepping up in the next few races," she concluded.

 

Full results are available at this LINK for the Battlin' Bears Open and at this LINK for the LC State Invite.

 

It's a busy racing season from here on out for the Saints with a big trip to Grand Rapids, Mich. in 2 weeks for the NAIA Great Lakes Challenge.

 

Follow Carroll Athletics on Twitter and Facebook and Carroll Track & Field/Cross Country on Facebook and Instagram for race and season updates.