Cross country teams divide & conquer

By Julie Newell
Editor in Chief

The LCC cross country teams had a busy day on Friday, Sept. 30, when the squads split up and competed in two meets.

The first one was the Lansing Invitational at Grand Woods Park, where the men’s team placed first and the women’s team placed second.

“We were very strong in this race,” LCC Head Coach Jim Robinson said. “I couldn’t be more pleased with how the men ran. Other than the Michigan State girls … our women were really dominant, too.”

The second meet was the Oakland Community College Raiders Invitational in Sterling Heights, where the men’s team placed fourth and the women’s team placed fifth.

Sophomore Haley Bell, who ran in the women’s 5K meet in Lansing, said the home meet went well for the Stars.

“This is a fast course, and we practice here all the time,” Bell said. “We all love this course, and the hill gives us a good advantage point for nationals.”

In the Lansing Invitational, freshman Olivia Vanderwey placed seventh overall, registering a 5K time of 19:10. Behind her, sophomore Haley Ellis placed 10th with a time of 19:31. Sophomore Katelyn Slone placed 15th in 19:55 for LCC.

“We expect to do good here and it was a beautiful day so we’re pretty ecstatic about how it went,” sophomore Gabrielle Metzger said.

In the men’s 8K at the Lansing Invitational, LCC freshman Liam Elder placed third overall, registering a time of 25:49.

“I think my race went pretty well,” Elder said. “I think we won as a team, overall, I’m really proud of what we’ve been doing.”

Right behind Elder, freshman teammate Michael Dennis placed fourth with a time of 25:53.

Sophomore Jacob Dennis placed sixth for LCC with a time of 26:06. Stars sophomore Kobe Blanco placed seventh in 26:10.

“I feel like I did really well,” Dennis said. “We worked as a pack at the beginning, and at the end Liam helped carry (us) … but as a team I think we did really good.”

In the women’s 5K at the Raiders Invitational, LCC freshman Alyssa Williams placed seventh overall, registering a time of 20:34. Behind her, sophomore Teagan Norman placed eighth with a time of 20:48. Freshman Olivia Johnson placed 28th in 22:07.

In the men’s 8K at the Raiders Invitational LCC sophomore Cole Moen placed 20th, registering a time of 28:31. Freshman Ezekial Hardy placed 33rd with a time of 29:20. Sophomore Sam Darjes-Watrall placed 36th in 29:34 for LCC.

“When all the pieces come together, we’re going to have a really outstanding teams by the end of the year,” Robinson said.

The Stars are scheduled to compete at the Muskegon Invitational on Saturday, Oct. 15 in Muskegon.