Fort Lewis College’s soccer, cross-country and volleyball teams all competed over the weekend, some for the first time this season.
The cross-country teams highlighted the weekend with performances against Division I schools at Northern Arizona University.
The FLC men finished in third place, besting DI University of Arizona and NAIA No. 5-ranked Emby-Riddle.
Northern Arizona finished first with 15 points, followed by Grand Canyon University (64), Fort Lewis (95), Arizona (102), Embry Riddle (109), Mesa (160), Central Arizona (189), Pima (236) and Phoenix (288).
FLC also had the tightest pack in the race: 1:00.
“This was a really good day for us,” said FLC men’s coach Josh Coon. “We packed up and ran as a team, (and) we beat some quality teams.”
The coach said the team’s spread was as tight as it’s been during his tenure.
Steven Nez led the team in the 4.5-mile race, placing 16th in 24:16. Ethan Bartlett finished 17th in 24:20, Ricardo Trejo placed 25th in 24:48, Cody Speece finished 31st in 25:15 while Max Robinson rounded out the team’s score with a 33rd-place finish in 25:17. David Wilcox placed 34th in 25:19.
“Ethan really impressed,” Coon said. “He’s kept the faith since his rough USATF race in January 2020, and today that work showed off. I’m proud of him.”
The coach also praised Robinson and Wilcox’s performances.
“Max and David have overcome so much, I can’t say enough about them and I’m so proud of their fight today,” Coon said. “Overall this is a really positive first step. We know we have a lot of work to do, but we know the caliber of people we have.”
The Fort Lewis women’s cross-country team finished fifth overall behind a trio of DI programs. Northern Arizona finished first with 19 points, followed by Arizona (59), Grand Canyon (86), Embry-Riddle (91), Fort Lewis (123), Mesa (164), Pima (223) and Ottawa (228).
Angel Curley led Fort Lewis, placing 22nd in the 2.5-mile race in 17:23. Karla De La Cruz placed 25th in 17:34 and was followed by Krista Benze (32nd, 17:51), Dorothy Elder (35th, 17:53) and Taylor Murphy (36th, 18:01).
The runners all finished within 37 seconds of one another.
“For the first meet of the season, it was great and we had an awesome pack time, which is important when it comes to scoring,” head women’s coach Brett Sublett told FLC Athletics. “We really emphasized running as a pack in training, so it was awesome to see that carry over into the race.”
Both squads will run this Saturday in Alamosa.
On the pitch, the Fort Lewis men’s team stayed unbeaten with a 2-2 tie against University of Texas-Permian Basin on Saturday. FLC won its opener, 3-1, on Thursday against Lubbock Christian.
Fort Lewis jumped out to a 2-0 lead with goals from Tomas Duenes in the 13th minute and a Gabriel Legendre in the 25th minute.
Permian Basin, however, scored late in the first half and tied it in the second half.
“I think in the first half we found some things that were working really well for us and started to stray from it, let our emotions take over a bit,” head coach David Oberholtzer told FLC Athletics. “Overall, I’m proud of the guys, and there were some good lessons to take away going into next week.”
The Skyhawks next will take on No. 8-ranked Colorado School of Mines Friday in Golden.
The Fort Lewis women’s soccer team rebounded from its opening loss to beat Permian Basin 5-0 on Sunday.
Katie Smith scored just over a minute into the contest, and the Skyhawks kept their foot on the gas pedal after that.
Smith scored a second goal in the 19th minute, Madyson Barela scored twice in the win, and Aubrey Swindle also scored for FLC.
“Today it was clear that our team settled in and relaxed,” head coach Damian Clarke said to FLC Athletics. “We were composed, and it was a great overall performance that proved we can go out and win games.”
The team will next face Texas A&M University-Commerce on Thursday in Texas.
The Fort Lewis College volleyball team began its season with four games at West Texas A&M University’s Britkare Lady Buff Classic but was unable to get in the win column.
In its first match, FLC and Fort Smith went the distance, but Fort Smith eventually prevailed, 3-2.
Fort Lewis then fell to West Texas A&M, 3-0, Texas Permian Basin, 3-0, and St. Edwards University, 3-0.
Tuesday, the Skyhawks will host New Mexico Highlands to start its RMAC season.