(Geneva, IL) - Waubonsee Community College's Cross Country runners competed in the Aurora University Spartan Classic on Saturday. Head coach Eric Baron's women's team placed sixth as a team with 144 points, while the men's squad finished seventh overall at the Northwestern Medicine Cross Country Course in Geneva with 199 points. Megan Johnson came in 19th to lead Waubonsee's women, completing the 6K race in a time of 27:44. Leliarosa Bonilla finished 26th and teammate Alexandra Lemke was 27th crossing the finish line less than two seconds later. Crystal Torres placed 34th and Katharine Ball was 38th to round out Waubonsee's competitors. In the men's 8K race David Valkanov paced the Chiefs with a 11th place finish covering the course in a time of 27:39. Luis Baez placed 34th, Dayton Beatty was 43rd and Ricardo Duran finished 54th for the Chiefs. Finn Gannon crossed the finish line a short time later in 57th place and Landon Godee came in 62nd to round out Waubonsee participants.
The host school Aurora University won the women's team title with a score of 29 points. Elmhurst College was second with 53 points, while the College of DuPage was a distant third with 89 points. Aurora's Mika Fields ran away from the pack crossing the finish line first in a time of 24:03, a full 0:53 ahead of the next competitor. Perennial NCAA Division III power North Central College dominated the men's race posting a perfect score of 15 points to easily take the top spot, finishing well ahead of second place Aurora's 80 points. North Central's BJ Sorg beat teammate Matt Jett by less than half a second to win the race in a time of 24:56.50. The top seven finishers were all from North Central College, which came into the day ranked sixth nationally in the latest U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) NCAA Division III poll.
