LRC Racing Visits the Pacific Northwest
December 2018 marked the fifth consecutive time LRC Racing participated in the USATF Club XC championships. The race, held at Plantes Ferry Sport Complex in Spokane, WA, was the second straight championship with a men AND women’s team, while it was the first time LRC Racing had ever taken an “A” and “B” men’s team!
The women followed up last year’s 11th place finish with a team effort that put them 13th among the 32 teams. Katie Fitzsimmons (65th, 21:20) led the way, with Sara Fowler (83rd, 21:37) and Erica Doering (97th, 21:47) within 30 seconds of her, all three finishing within the top 100. Mary Noel (22:06) and Ashlyn Glann (22:28) rounded out the scorers leading to a 68 second 1-5 split. Laura Tarantino (22:51) and Katherine Sheridan (23:04) also raced, resulting in all seven runners finishing the 6k course in under 1:45. In all, 271 women ran the race.
On the men’s side, the “A” team finished 19th overall, setting an all-time best in team finish at these championships! The “B” team finished 37th, out of 50 teams. Leading the way for the “A team was Nolan Zimmer (89th, 31:43) who continued his strong fall racing season. Nolan Border (32:06), Jordan Wheeler (32:32), Cole Marolf (32:52) and Tim Grundmayer (32:57) rounded out the scoring members of the team, while Mark Abrams also raced (33:22). On the “B” team, Jacob Olson trekked across the country to finish in a time of 32:13. Austin Post (33:31), Ryan Dostal (33:46), John Cleary (34:19) and Andrew Jacob (34:30) made up the rest of the scorers, while Kyle Clouston also finished the 10k course in a time of 35:17 (although it was measured nearly a quarter long by many runners). In all, 425 men ran the race.
We are also proud of Cole Marolf, Ryan Dostal and Andrew Jacob for having ran every USATF Club XC championship that LRC has been a part of. Congrats you three for being part of tradition!
The team will remain fairly low-key over the next couple months, with the exception of a track meet here and there. Exciting things are happening in 2019 with the merger of LRC Racing and Team Nebraska (into Lincoln Running Co. Nebraska), so stay tuned!
