Carpenter brings home national title to LCSC

Mar. 7—Lewis-Clark State College sophomore Jennah Carpenter, a Lewiston High School alumna, became the first LC woman to win a national championship in a field event in indoor or outdoor track and field at the NAIA indoor track and field national championships Saturday in Brookings, S.D.

Carpenter won the event by clearing a height of 1.73 meters, hitting the mark on her third attempt after clearing three of the last four heights on her first jump and clearing the 1.7 mark on her second. Carpenter succeeded in the previous four heights of the event in fewer attempts than second-place finisher Erica Xayarath of Huntington University (Ind.), who also cleared 1.73 on her third attempt, giving Carpenter the tiebreaker after neither competitor could clear the 1.76 height.

"The whole day was just kind of trying to stay in the competitive mindset," Carpenter said. "I went into the day going 'I want to win this.' I was talking to one of the (Southern Oregon) girls, she was talking to me, and she said 'You get All-American multiple times, but at this point, you just want to win.' And that's when I said 'I want to freaking win.' "

Carpenter's national title was the cap for a national championship meet in which the Warriors secured four All-American honors, two coming from Carpenter.

"We went into it, and you kind of do the best-case, worst-case scenarios," LC coach Mike Collins said. "What might happen, what could happen, and we kind of had a little bit of a mix of both. Coming back (to Lewiston) with All-Americans, even if it's just one, is a good outing. Coming back with four All-Americans is, quite honestly, outstanding — let alone a national champion. Everybody's got their goals set high, every kid there is working to earn an All-American recognition, so we come back and to score points is a big deal."

Amongst those All-American earners were sophomore Geraldin Correa of Kennewick, Wash., and sophomore Carter Gordon of Coeur d'Alene.

Correa earned the honor with her sixth-place finish in the 800 meters with a time of 2 minutes, 13.37 seconds, setting a school record in the process. Correa added her indoor All-American honor to her 4x800 relay outdoor honor from last season.

Gordon earned his first All-American honor by finishing fourth in the men's 600 with a personal record of 1:19.05.

The other All-American honor came from none other than Carpenter, who competed in the pentathlon Thursday and set several school records in the process.

"I think it's a good message for the rest of my athletes," Collins said. "Like, 'Hey, we just got to get in (the events). Once we get in we got a shot of doing some pretty special things if you're focused on it.' "

Assistant coach Kurtis Bonner was given a lot of credit for helping train Carpenter for her success at nationals, specifically in the high jump, by both Collins and Carpenter.

"It's amazing," Bonner said. "Going to nationals as a sophomore, coming off an All-American outdoors (honor), sixth place as a freshman (last spring) is huge. It took a (personal record) to be All-American, and she did it at nationals and it's amazing to see that as a coach. Being a Lewiston product as well and coaching former All-Americans at another school, it's amazing to come back and see that as a freshman."

Carpenter described the emotions of bringing a national title back to her hometown.

"I am so grateful," Carpenter said. "The community is amazing. Coaches, everyone has just been so supportive. But it just means so much. I'm just grateful for the opportunity to stay here and that the coaches have given me to do track here. And, everyone from middle school to high school that has helped me get here to where I am, it means a lot."

Collins described the impact that a lot of the local athletes, including his daughter Emily, have had on the track and field program.

"Local kids are awesome," Collins said. "My daughter's been a part of it, Jennah's been a part of it, both my daughters were a part of it. So, I know the kids. I know their coaches. I know a lot of what they've had to go through, and it's not easy. We get them in here, it's an opportunity to fine-tune, a lot of times, what the local coaches have done. Kids from Deary and Troy and places like Nez Perce — we had a girl from Nez Perce (Grace Tiegs) competing in nationals. It's like, 'Nez Perce, Idaho?

"Where the heck is Nez Perce, Idaho?' And you got a kid at the national championship competing, let alone the Lewiston kids. It's fun, it's exciting. I'm an Idaho kid myself so I'm committed to those Idaho kids. And we're gonna have kids from a few other places, too; a good college program's going to have some diversity."

Collins hopes that the success of his athletes off the nationals in Brookings will only further encourage upcoming college freshmen to consider joining the LCSC program.

"I talk with my assistant coaches about the kids we're recruiting," Collins said. "And these are the kids we're looking for, these are the kind of kids we want when it comes to the philosophy of our program. Our goal this year, some of our changes this year, we're really focused on trying to earn All-American status. All-American status scores points. Scoring points puts you on the level with what you might be ranked at the national level. And quite honestly, I want to come home with a team trophy."

Collins, Carpenter and the rest of the Warriors track and field squad will have a chance to continue to pursue those goals at the outdoor track and field season-opener March 18 at the Sam Adams Classic in Spokane.

Kowatsch can be reached at tkowatsch@lmtribune.com, 208-305-1814 or on Twitter @Teren_Kowatsch