(Aurora, IL) - Waubonsee Community College's Jordan VanBarriger beat everyone to the finish line at the Aurora University Spartan Classic. The Chiefs' sophomore from Rockford East High School outran all 241 competitors representing 14 NCAA Division III colleges, nine junior colleges and four unattached running clubs. VanBarriger covered the 8K course at the Oakhurst Forest Preserve on Aurora's far east side in a new school record time of 25:22, holding off Carroll (WI) College's Spencer Kirsteatter the last 150 yards to win by a full eight seconds. VanBarriger trimmed a full minute off his time from a year ago at the same event and eclipsed the Waubonsee record of 25:27 set by Dylan Zangri at the 2017 Region IV Meet. As a team the Chiefs finished fifth among the junior college's participating with 82 points as Morton College grabbed the top spot with 43 points. Waubonsee's Brad Osuch came in seventh, Dalton Klingensmith was 15th, Noah Robinson placed 26th, C.J. Girolamo finished 33rd and Cristian Driscoll was 35th to round out the Chiefs' runners. North Central College from Naperville won team honors among the four-year schools tallying 52 points, followed by Milwaukee (WI) School of Engineering with 65 and Wheaton College with 71 points.

Waubonsee's women finished fourth among the 10 junior colleges in the field compiling a score of 71, while Harper College took the team title with 43 points. Gaby Juarez-Marrufo finished fifth out of 36 junior college runners with a time of 25:56 for the 6K race. The Chiefs' Elizabeth Hess was 12th, Maira Weitkamp placed 16th, Dani Padilla finished 18th, Ezbeydy Rivera came in 20th and Rebecca Sweeney was 21 to round out Waubonsee's participants. Elmhurst College won the team crown among the 14 four-year schools with a score of 58, holding off second place Carroll (WI) College which tallied 70 points. Bethel (IN) College's Emma Jankowski was first among the four-year school runners with a time of 22:02. Unattached runner Jane Bareikis won the women's race. The Kenyan native and Chicago resident covered the course in a time of 20:35.