LCC track teams win regional titles

By Jonah Unger
Staff Writer

The LCC men’s and women’s track teams both won the regional championship on April 29, 2023, at Davenport University.

The men’s team faced some strong talent but ultimately defeated second-place Muskegon Community College, 80-72. A total of 12 teams competed in the men’s regional.

In the women’s competition, LCC has 130 points to easily top the second-place team by 45 points. There were also 12 teams in the women’s regional.

“It was a total team effort to win … our distance runners completely dominated,” LCC Track Coach James Robinson said. “We also had two women, Reva Lance and Rylie Bjorkman, do all seven events … They scored a ton of points by themselves.”

Track has been around for a long time at LCC, with the oldest Stars’ track record being from 1984. In terms of participation, track and baseball at LCC are the two biggest sports in terms of participation, according to Robinson. 

The LCC track teams practice year around, including a lot of conditioning in the fall. Many of the track team members also run for the LCC cross country teams in the fall.

This year’s LCC track teams have a lot of accolades. One reason for that, Robinson said, is due to the level of competition LCC track goes against. 

“Our athletes get to compete against every level of competition,” Robinson said. “We have gone against athletes from NCAA Division 1 schools like MSU and Eastern.” 

With the season approaching its end, the Stars have their sights set on the National championship meet. The championship is set to take place at New Mexico Junior College in New Mexico from May 18 to 20. 

“The NJCAA does not sponsor a Division 2 championship in track, so we step up to Division 1,” Robinson said. 

The Division 1 championship is very competitive. Some Division 1 community college track teams are good enough to compete against Big Ten track teams, according to Robinson. 

“This year we have one of the strongest groups of athletes we ever had going to nationals,” Robinson added.