Roadrunner women finish 13th, men 16th at NJCAA Division II national meet

Published 10:08 am Sunday, November 13, 2022

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TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — The Southwestern Michigan College women’s cross country team improved 10 spots from last year at the National Junior College Athletic Association Division II Championships in Tallahassee Saturday.

Lansing Community College won its second consecutive national championship as it edged Mesa (Arizona) Community College 57-58 in the 5K race. Hartland Community College (120) was third, while Coconino (Arizona) Community College and Wallace State (Alabama) Community College

Coconino won the tiebreaker to earn its first national finish in school history.

Coconino was led by individual national champion Hayley Burns, a freshman, who ran a time of 18:22.

The Roadrunners, who came into the national meet ranked No. 11, finished 13th with 400 points.

Southwestern Michigan was led by freshman Morgan Kesteloot (Lockport, Illinois) who finished 42nd with a time of 20:48. Allison Lauri (Niles/Brandywine) finished 71st (21:29), Addison Modderman (Lawton) 86th (21:52), Madison Kesteloot (Lockport, Illinois) 117th (22:43) and Abby Radecki (Mishawaka) 129th (23:00).

Bailee Shambaugh (Mishawakafinished 132nd and Carolyn Denau (Benton Harbor) 200th with times of 23:03 and 26:45, respectively.

Paradise Valley (Arizona) Community College won the men’s Division II championship with 68 points.

Heartland (Illinois) Community College was second (88), Lansing Community College (94) was third, Mesa (116) was fourth and NorthWest Arkansas Community College (148) fifth.

Yotuel Garcia, of Mesa, was the individual national champion as he ran a time of 25:25 on the 8K course.

The Roadrunners improved six spots from 2021 by finishing 16th overall with 469 points. Southwestern Michigan was ranked No, 15 heading into the national meet.

Dowagiac’s Ethan Saylor led the Roadrunners with a 70th place finish and a time of 28:39.

Micah Ordway (Delton) was 79th with a time of 28:56, Isaiah Beiter (Lawrence) was 102nd with a time of 29:27, Kelsey Brown (Buchanan) was 123rd with a time of 30:14) and Zach Stearns (Mishawaka) was 174th with a time of 31:57.

William Westphal (Cassopolis) was 177th with a time 32:02 and Alex Blanton (Plainwell) was 190th with a time of 32:55.