Track athletes compete in nationals

By Michael Leek
Sports Editor 

Several members of the LCC track and field team competed in the NJCAA Division I national meet in Monroe, La., from Thursday, May 16, through Saturday, May 18.

LCC Head Coach Jim Robinson said he is pleased with how his athletes performed, despite competing in a higher division.

“We needed to step up to compete with the competition in Division I because we had to be top eight in the country to score points,” Robinson said. “To be top eight in any event is a big ask, but we did pretty well.”

The men’s track and field team was able to score seven points. In pole vault, freshman Alex Brown finished in fourth place with a personal record of 4.67 meters. Sophomore Thialen Broughton finished in seventh place in the pole vault with a 4.52-meter vault.

In the 10,000-meter run, LCC placed well, as sophomore Michael Dennis finished in 15th place with a time of 32:00.85.

The steeple was the last event in which the men’s team placed, with sophomore Aaron Bowerman finishing 23rd in 9:54.27.

The LCC women’s team was not able to score points as it only had two athletes who qualified. Sophomore Jana Stiffler finished the 10,000-meter race in 10th place at a time of 38:47.46.

Freshman Reyna Rojas competed in the pole vault and finished in 13th place with a personal record of 3.12 meters.

Dennis said the nationals for track and field are lower-pressure events for the LCC athletes, as they are more individual-based than cross-country.

“It was still an amazing experience to compete in nationals,” Dennis said. “My favorite events to compete in are the 10K and 5K, but I really enjoy the 10K. You can have bad laps or even bad miles and still make a comeback, which is really fun.”

Dennis was a big part of the men’s cross country team winning the national championship last fall and explained the differences between cross country and track.

“The biggest difference to me is the way the events work,” Dennis said. “In cross nationals, there is a guys’ race and girls’ race, but nationals in track takes three days and I raced two events, so I ended up racing two days, which does not happen in cross country.”

During the off-season, Robinson said the staff will focus on recruiting and getting stronger in every area of track and field.

“The goal is to build a very competitive sprint and throwing team as well,” Robinson said. “So, I’m putting it out as ‘We have a full track team and if you want to compete at a high level, LCC is a good option’.”