Lackland Henry third, men third in Cheney

Friday, September 3

Cheney, Wash.

Montana

Clash of the Inland Northwest

Photo: Von Klohe

9/3/2021 6:57:00 PM | Men's Cross Country, Women's Cross Country

Results

By: Montana Sports Information

Sophomore Olivia Lackland Henry ran to a third-place finish in the women's four-kilometer race on Friday morning as the Montana cross country teams opened their fall season at the Clash of the Inland Northwest on the campus of Eastern Washington in Cheney.

The Grizzlies placed third in the men's six-kilometer race, with Joel Mendez leading the way with a 14th-place showing.

With teammate Beatrix Frissell, who won the Clash of the Inland Northwest on the same course in 2019, sitting this one out, it was Lackland Henry's chance to lead a young team.

Running behind Gonzaga's Sadie Tuckwood and Idaho's Maya Kobylanski, who finished first and second, Lackland Henry raced in the top 10 the entire distance before closing to third at the end.

"Livy ran as well as we could have hoped for," said coach Clint May. "What most impressed me was as a young runner, she ran a really mature race.

"She didn't go out overly aggressive, then from about 10th in the middle of the race she moved up to third. She caught everyone she could. I was really, really impressed."

Lackland Henry finished with a time of 14:30, 15 seconds off the lead and nine seconds ahead of fourth.

Montana ran with a team of eight, six of whom are freshmen and were competing in their first collegiate race on Friday.

Kayla Ingraham was Montana's No. 2 runner. She finished 21st in a time of 15:22.

"I was pleased in the fact that six of the eight had never run a college cross country race before," said May.

"A lot of them come from a middle-distance background. Even on a course that was a half mile shorter than the normal distance, it was still a stretch of their comfort zone. But they ran well, so I was happy with the effort."

The men's race was dominated by Gonzaga, which is ranked No. 27 in the nation. The Bulldogs had the top 10 finishers but had company through the first third of the race.

Mendez was leading everyone at the first kilometer, and he had some teammates just off the lead pack.

"I was happy we had some individuals that ran up in that top pack," said May. "It's something in years past that we would have shied away from.

"Ultimately in the end, some of our guys did fade by doing that, but I'm really happy that they were not fazed by who was in the competition."

Mendez would finish in a time of 19:03, 26 seconds off the leaders. AJ Eckmann was 19th in a time of 19:14, Ben Cikutovich was 25th in a time of 19:23.

"Joel lost a little bit of ground but not a lot," said May. "Some of them might be feeling that was a little too hot of a pace for where our conditioning is right now, but I'm not upset at all.

"I love the mentality that says, we can get in and race. With more training, we can hopefully finish a race without dropping so many places over the back half of the race."

Gonzaga won the team title with the minimum 15 points. Idaho came in second with 73, Montana had 83, Eastern Washington 94.

"I was hoping we would possibly beat Idaho, but they got us," said May. "And Eastern Washington is much improved. It was a good race overall."

Montana's next race will be the Montana State Classic in Bozeman on Saturday, Sept. 18.