Cross country teams shine in Illinois

By Julie Newell
Editor in Chief

LCC’s cross country teams competed in the Spartan Invitational at Aurora College in Illinois on Saturday, Sept. 10

“I was quite pleased with how both teams did,” LCC Head Coach Jim Robinson said. “It was pretty hot and, even though that area is relatively flat, the course was a repurposed garbage dump, so it was very hilly.” 

The women’s team placed second in the 6K race with 72 points and the men’s team placed fourth in an 8K race with 118 points.

Heartland Community College, another top Division 2 community college (along with LCC), also competed in the meet.

“They (Heartland CC) were second behind our women last year at nationals and we beat them pretty handily; beat their women’s team pretty handily,” Robinson said. “Their men were ahead of us last year at nationals and they got the better of us on this day.”

Individually on the women’s team, Barbara DeGood placed sixth and registered a time of 24:20.

“Most of the other teams were NCCAA schools,” Robinson said. “So to finish sixth overall – that is really good.”

Jana Stiffler placed 16th for the LCC women with a time of 24:56. Haley Ellis placed 17th and registered 25:02 for the Stars.

Individually on the LCC men’s team, Michael Dennis placed 14th and finished in 26:48.

“Michael Dennis was our first finisher,” Robinson said. “He looked strong the whole way.”

Kobe Blanco placed 25th at 27:14 for LCC. Teammate Liam Elder was 27th in 27:20.

“The guys are very motivated to keep improving to be in position to be the top two-year college in the country,” Robinson said.

The Stars are scheduled to compete at the Knight/Raider Invitational on Saturday, Sept. 17 in Grand Rapids.

“This (upcoming meet) will give us a chance to see what our competition is going to be like in our conference and our region,” Robinson said.