(Geneva, IL) – Waubonsee Community College Cross Country runners had a successful day on Saturday at the 2023 NJCAA Region 4 Meet. The Chiefs' women's team captured the Region crown to advance to the NJCAA Division II National Championship Meet in Huntsville, Alabama on November 11. The championship is the sixth in program history and first since 2013 for Waubonsee's women. Subsequently, Chiefs' head coach Eric Baron was tabbed the Region 4 Women's Cross Country Coach of the Year for the first time ever. In addition, men's runners Dayton Beatty and Logan Cunz each earned All-Region honors and qualified for the national meet individually as the Chiefs' men finished fifth in the team standings with 76 points.

Early on runners were met with chilly and brisk conditions at the Northwestern Medicine Cross Country Course before northerly winds calmed down as the morning progressed. The men's 8K race commenced at 10:30 a.m. with Cunz and Beatty still near the front of the pack a couple kilometers in. Midway through the race Beatty passed his teammate and went on to finish sixth in a time of 29:06, surpassing his personal best on the Northwestern Course by nearly two minutes. Cunz crossed the finish line 0:24 later in eighth place to earn All-Region status for the second straight year.

All of Waubonsee's other runners drastically improved upon their previous times at the somewhat hilly course laid out over the former Settler's Hill Landfill. Owen Kroeyr placed 21^st overall by trimming almost three minutes off his prior time there. Teammate Finn Gannon crossed the finish line right behind him only two seconds later cutting 3:21 off his previous time traversing the Northwestern course. Huitzi Del Real improved his time by 1:58 and ended up 25^th overall, while Ricardo Duran cut 30 seconds off his previous time to round out the Chiefs' participants with a 31^st place finish among the NJCAA Division II runners. Kevin Diedrich from the College of DuPage won the men's race in a time of 26:51. Carl Sandburg College's Allan Kipruto, a native of Eldoret, Kenya was the top Division II finisher in helping lead the Chargers (57 points) to the Division II team title by edging Sauk Valley (63 points) by just six points.

Coach Baron's women's squad (26 points) then edged Sauk Valley Community College (29 points) for the Region 4 Division II title by just three points to qualify the entire team for Nationals. As she has done throughout the season Megan Johnson led Waubonsee's runners by placing third overall among Division II runners in the women's 5K race which began at 11:30 a.m. The freshman from Oswego East High School turned in a season best time of 21:35. Rose Dallal placed 10^th with a personal best 24:06 and Emma Perry was close behind her in 12^th place also with a personal best time of 24:22. Waubonsee's Nuria Pugh crossed the finish line only 14 seconds later in 14^th place, while Abbigail Placido came in 22^nd overall. Harper College's Lilly Alberts ran away from the competition crossing the finish line in a time of 18:52, nearly two minutes ahead of the rest of the field. Sandburg's Sharon Yego, also a native of Eldoret, Kenya was the top Division II finisher.