Lewis-Clark State College senior Kelsey Klettke finished second in the women’s race at the cross country Frontier Conference Championships on Saturday in Helena, Mont.
The Prairie High School graduate, a NAIA All-American in 2010 who did not compete last year and took a redshirt season because of injury, ran the 5-kilometer (3.1-mile) course in 18 minutes, 50.1 seconds.
Rhianna Grossman of event host Carroll College won in 18:38.3 at Bill Roberts Municipal Golf Course.
Carroll won the conference’s automatic team bid to the NAIA nationals Nov. 17 in Vancouver. LCSC was among those receiving at-large bids announced Monday.
Klettke would have claimed an individual berth had the Warriors not been awarded a team berth, as one of the top five finishers not running for the winning team.
Cross country races
• Western Washington freshmen Taylor Guenther and Austin Reiter were the Vikings’ second and third finishers at the NCAA Division II West Regional Championships for cross country held Saturday in Kahuku, Hawai’i.
Guenther, a Prairie High School graduate, placed 49th in 23 minutes, 14 seconds over 6 kilometers (3.7 miles) at the Kahuku Golf Course. Reiter, a Camas High School graduate, was 56th in 23:23.
The Vikings finished seventh in the 25-team field, snapping a four-year string of appearances at NCAA-II nationals.
Camas High School graduate Tanner Boyd was the sixth runner for the WWU men. The junior covered the 10-kilometer (6.2-mile) course in 34:21.
• Union High School graduate Roman Kirvov placed 23rd for Concordia University at the Cascade Collegiate Conference Championships at Lents Park in Portland, covering the 8 kilometers (5 miles) in 26:05. Columbia River High School graduate Nick Wilson was 42nd in 26:59.
For Concordia in the 5-kilometer (3.1-mile) women’s race, Vancouver Christian High School graduate Kristina Cupp was 70th in 21:41.
SUU’s Browning FCS freshman of week
Southern Utah linebacker Zak Browning was named Freshman of the Week in the NCAA Football Championship Subdivision by College Sports Journal for his play in the Thunderbirds’ 30-27 upset of then top-ranked Eastern Washington on Saturday.
The 5-foot-11, 215-pound Union High School graduate had a game-high 15 tackles against the Eagles, with 14 solo stops. He also had a tackle for loss and a fumble recovery.
Browning’s tackle for loss came on second-and-10 on EWU’s final drive and was instrumental in preventing a touchdown and helping to force a field goal attempt — which the Eagles missed. He recovered the fumble — which he also had a hand in forcing — at the SUU 12-yard line in the fourth quarter to thwart another EWU scoring opportunity.
MWC honors nothing new for Newman
Illinois College sophomore kicker Matt Newman was named Midwest Conference Special Teams Performer of the Week for the fourth time this season.
The Ridgefield High School graduate was 6 of 6 on extra-point kicks in a 50-28 win over Cornell College on Saturday. He is 51 of 51 on extra points this season, and currently seventh on the conference all-time single-season list for made extra points.
The win was the first over the Rams in program history for the Blueboys (8-1), who made a 2-point conversion following their first touchdown.
Suggestions for College Notebook? Contact Kurt Zimmer at 360-735-4563 or kurt.zimmer@columbian.com.
