(Huntsville, AL.) - Waubonsee Community College runners recently competed at the 2023 NJCAA Cross-Country National Championships in Huntsville, Alabama. Men's and Women's races in all three junior college levels were held with nearly 1,200 participants from across the country. In the final race of the day Waubonsee's women's team collectively turned in their best times of the season on the way to finishing 30th in the team standings of the Division II race. The Chiefs also had two runners qualify and compete in the men's Division II race earlier in the day.
As she has done all season Megan Johnson paced Coach Eric Baron's women's team finishing 62nd overall out of 279 runners from across the country. The freshman from Oswego East High School covered the 5K course laid out at John Hunt Park in a time of 20:29. Waubonsee's Emma Perry placed 171st, Rose Dallal was 197th, Nuria Pugh came in 215th and Abbigail Placido finished 263rd. Cowley (KS) College won the women's team title with a score of 66 to edge Heartland (IL) College by just five points. Lake Michigan College's Olivia Ippel ran away with the individual title posting a blistering time of 17:56 to cross the finish line nearly 10 seconds ahead of Heartland College's Nora Brady.
On the men's side Waubonsee's Logan Cunz, a two-time All-Illinois Skyway Collegiate Conference and All-Region performer, capped off his two-year career by posting his best time ever. One of four Chiefs' who missed out on competing at last year's National Meet in Florida due to travel disruptions, Cunz traversed the 8K course at John Hunt Park in a time of 28:23 to finish 129th. Freshman Dayton Beatty placed 162nd overall out of 291 participants. With a score of 73 points Lansing (MI) Community College captured the men's team title by also edging Heartland College by five points. Paradise (AZ) Valley Community College's Nathan Pestka grabbed the men's title by holding off Lansing's Michael Dennis to win by five seconds with a time of 24:49.
