By Jesse Zentz, Helena IR

The Carroll College women's cross country team ran to a fifth-place finish, as junior Rhianna Grossman and freshman Jordan Mathes earned All-American honors at the NAIA championships today in Vancouver, Wash. The Carroll men were 24th in their debut at the meet.

Grossman, who won her second straight Frontier Conference title two weeks ago in Helena, placed 22nd with a 5-kilometer time of 18 minutes, 24 seconds in her third trip to nationals, while Mathes was 28th in 18:28. To earn All-American recognition, competitors must finish in the top 30.

Sophomore Hannah Hafner placed 67th, freshman Bailey Hughes was 79th and sophomore Allie Reynolds was 129th to round out the women's scoring group of five runners. Senior Ariel Murtaugh was 133rd and sophomore Shelby Sweeney placed 212th.

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By Jesse Zentz, Helena IR

Three is said to be a magic number, but the sixth-ranked Carroll College women prefer to put superstition aside and instead are focused on factors they can control in their third straight trip to the NAIA Cross Country National Championship meet.

The Saints will assault a 5-kilometer course at 11:30 a.m. MST Saturday at Vancouver National Historic Site in Vancouver, Wash., while their male counterparts — featured Thursday in the Independent Record — race on an 8K course at 12:45 p.m. The meet is host to 32 men’s and women’s programs with seven runners on each team.

“We’ve put in the work and we have a great team,” said junior Rhianna Grossman, the two-time reigning Frontier Conference champion who will be competing at nationals for the third time. “I think we just need to execute our race plan and run the way we know we’re capable of running. If we do what we’re supposed to do, I think we’ll do great.”

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By Jesse Zentz, Helena IR

“There’s a first time for everything” is a phrase that aptly describes the position the 15th-ranked Carroll College men’s cross country team currently finds itself in. Less than two weeks ago, the Saints unexpectedly unseated six-time reigning champion Lewis-Clark State at the Frontier Conference Championships for their first crown, and now are set for their first appearance at the NAIA Cross Country National Championship meet.

The event at Fort Vancouver National Historic Site in Vancouver, Wash., begins with the women’s 5-kilometer race at 11:30 p.m. MT Saturday, followed by the men’s 8-kilometer race at 12:45 p.m. For the Carroll men, this opportunity has been a long time waiting. But for a program that is only six years old, some on the outside might consider the Saints’ rise rather quick.

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HELENA, MT. For the first time in school history the Carroll College Cross-Country programs will bring home Championship trophies for both the women and men’s programs.

The Carroll College women’s defended their crown and won their third straight cross-country title by beating runner up LC-State by 21 points, 32-53.  Three-time champion junior Rhianna Grossman, who crossed the finish line with a time of 18:38.3, led the charge for the Saints.  Rhianna was 12 seconds faster then her nearest competitor. Rhianna led the race from start to finish and really set the tone on the afternoon for the Saints.  The Saints next four finishers would all end up in the top 11 with Bailey Hughes, Jordan Mathes, Hannah Hafner, Allie Reynolds, and Greer Davis finishing 5th,7th, 8th, and 11th respectively. Rhianna would take home the conference runner-of-the-year honors as well.

“This was a very tactile race. You had to be smart out there today…the runners had to manage the speed changes, and the wind today.  Our kids were able to do that and race really well.  I could not be happier for them today“ said Carroll College Head Coach Matt Morris.

On the men’s side the Carroll College program hade it’s single best day in school history. Not only were they the first Frontier Conference program to beat LC-State in a conference meet, they did it in the Frontier Conference Championships, earning the men’s first Conference Championship along with their first birth to the NAIA National Championship meet.

The men were led by freshman Derrick Williams who finished 5th overall with a time of 26:52.8. Dennis Leigh, Sancho Ridesatthedoor, and Lyla Pocha who finished 7th, 8th, and 9th respectively finished closely behind. Conner Garcia finished up 13th bringing in the final point garner for the Carroll team and giving the Saints their first ever conference title.

“The kids earn all the credit for this one. The coaches come up with the game plan but at the end of the day when the guns goes off the kids are the ones that had to execute. They stuck together and got it done. It is a great achievement for our program and the Carroll College community” Morris would add.

Carroll College head cross-country coach Matt Morris would take home Frontier Conference coach of the year honors for both the men’s and women’s programs making it a clean sweep for the Saints this afternoon.

 Both men’s and women’s programs will be heading to Vancouver, Washington in two weeks for the NAIA National Championship meet November 17. This will be the third straight year that the women have qualified for it and the men’s first ever trip to the National Championship meet.

By Jesse Zentz, Helena IR

Carroll College cross country continues to confound. Even coach Matt Morris appeared surprised and staggered after his Saints took down all comers Friday afternoon to sweep the Frontier Conference team titles at Bill Roberts Golf Course and earn automatic berths in NAIA national championships on Nov. 17 in Vancouver, Wash.

“Amazing,” said Morris, who also was honored as Frontier men’s and women’s coach of the year. “At the end of the day, that was all the kids. They go execute. I’m just like everybody else here standing and watching, yelling for them. You’ve got to give all the credit to the kids on both sides. They got the job done.”

Guided by back-to-back individual champion Rhianna Grossman, the sixth-ranked women’s team won its third consecutive title, but it was the unranked men who provided an upset even Morris didn’t see coming, as two freshmen, a sophomore and two juniors guided the Saints past eighth-ranked Lewis-Clark State College (Lewiston, Idaho) and 17th-ranked Dickinson State (N.D.).

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By Jesse Zentz, Helena IR

The Carroll College women’s cross country team enters today’s Frontier Conference Championships as the reigning champion and the favorite to claim the title for a ticket to NAIA nationals, but the sixth-ranked Saints aren’t taking anything for granted in the six-team field. The women start their 5-kilometer journey on Bill Roberts Golf Course at 12:15 p.m. and the men toe the line for the start of their 8-kilometer race at 12:55 p.m. Nationals is Nov. 17 in Vancouver, Wash.

“I feel like we’re really ready,” said Carroll junior Rhianna Grossman, the reigning individual women’s champion. “We have a solid race plan and hopefully it will go well. I have high hopes for our team.”

With two other ranked teams in the women’s field — No. 12 Lewis-Clark State (Lewiston, Idaho) and No. 14 Rocky Mountain — the conference will likely send at least one at-large team to nationals along with the champion. The top five individual finishers not on a qualifying team also advance.

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By the Helena IR

The Frontier Conference cross country championship meet Friday, Nov. 2, at Helena’s Bill Roberts Golf Course will feature five ranked teams, including three in the top 15 on the women’s side — led by No. 6 Carroll College. The Saints didn’t change positions in the most recent NAIA coaches’ poll released Wednesday, but Lewis-Clark State and Rocky Mountain both climbed a spot to No. 12 and No. 14.

On the men’s side, Lewis-Clark State moved up one position to No. 8 and Dickinson State advanced five places to No. 17. The top-ranked men’s team remains Southern Oregon with 18 of 21 first-place votes.

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