(Grayslake, IL.) - Waubonsee Community College's Men's Cross Country team earned both the Illinois Skyway Collegiate Conference (ISCC) and the Region IV Division I title with a stellar effort at the College of Lake County's course. The Chiefs placed four runners in the top-11 en route to grabbing the ISCC Championship with 39 points to finish six ahead of second-place Lake County. Waubonsee simultaneously captured the Region title compiling 49 points with the trio of Jordan VanBarriger, Stephen Merriweather and Brad Osuch all among the first six runners to cross the finish line. The Chiefs now advance to the NJCAA Division I National Meet in Garden City, Kansas on Saturday, November 10. Waubonsee's Women's team finished third in the ISCC with Daphne Kolody, Gaby Juarez and Maira Weitkamp each earning All-ISCC honors. The trio also garnered All-Region status as they led Waubonsee to fourth place in the final Region IV scoring.
As he has done all season, VanBarriger led coach Trevor Howard's men's team as he finished second overall among all the ISCC participants. The freshman from Rockford East High School covered the 8K course in a time of 26:38, a full 22 seconds behind Lake County's Jeremy Wallace. Merriweather was not far behind his teammate placing third with a time of 26:50. Osuch gave Waubonsee a third runner in the top-5 as he placed fifth with a time of 27:13 as the trio earned All-ISCC honors. Tomas Dominguez narrowly missed out of making the All-Conference team as well as he finished 11th overall. Ryan Moshinsky rounded out the Chiefs' scoring by coming in 18th overall, while C.J. Girolamo finished 23rd.
Waubonsee won the Region IV Championship by nine points over Lake County. Moraine Valley took third place, Malcolm X College was fourth, Morton College placed fifth and Carl Sandburg College finished sixth. VanBarriger was third overall, Merriweather was fourth and Osuch was sixth as the trio earned All-Region status. Dominguez came in 15th to join them on the All-Region team. Moshinsky placed 23rd and Girolamo was 32nd to round out Waubonsee's competitors.
In the women's race Kolody came in second by traversing the 5K course in a time of 20:45, finishing 24 seconds behind Moraine Valley's Calista Stefaniak. Juarez was right behind Kolody in third place, while Weitkamp finished seventh among ISCC runners. The Chiefs' Dani Padilla crossed the finish line in 20th place with Amanda Winslow rounding out Waubonsee's scoring in 23rd place. In regards to the Region scoring, Kolody was sixth, Juarez seventh and Weitkamp 15th overall to each earn All-Region honors and qualifiy for the National Meet in Kansas. Padilla finished 36th and Winslow came in 41st. Sauk Valley won the team title with a score of 41, well ahead of second-place Sandburg which tallied 56 points. Moraine Valley was third, Waubonsee a distant fourth and Morton College placed fifth.