Muskegon Community College cross country teams post solid times at Calvin College

It was near perfect conditions for the Jayhawk men’s’ team at the  Michigan Intercollegiate Cross Country Championships.

The men’s team ran their fastest top 5 combined runner time of the season, and all but one athlete ran a season or personal best time.

The men took 17th place out of 24 teams and beat several teams despite being shorthanded without Corey Burt (Orchard View).

Mathias Waterstradt (North Muskegon High School) led the way with a 73rd place finish (8th NJCAA runner) out of 190 runners in the race standings with a time of 26:39.

Other athletes who ran personal- or season-best times were Kyle Starr (Grant), Christian Seaver (Montague), Alex Drew (Coopersville), Lucas Johnson (Mona Shores), and Matt Almond (Holton).

“I think Alex Drew had the best race of anyone today,” said Coach Dan Fishel.  “Alex didn’t get to race last weekend, so he put it all out there today.”

The Jayhawk men will host their only home meet next Friday, October 12th at University Park Golf Course.  The race begins at 2 p.m.

The women turned in a solid team effort in beating their best top 5 runner combined time by almost 4 minutes with a 1:44:06.

The Jayhawk women took 16th (4th NJCAA school) out of 24 colleges and everyone ran a season or personal best time.

KT Truman (Kent City) led the women with a 58th place (5th NJCAA runner) out of 182 runners in the race standings.  KT’s time of 19:24 is officially the fastest women’s time in MCC school history, beating Samantha Zimmer’s school record time of 19:43 from last year.

“It’s hard to pick the best race out of the women because they all had great races!” said Fishel.  “Courtney Collins (Orchard View) had the biggest drop in time and Alexis Yost (Coopersville) was close to that and ran very aggressively.  Kaitlynnne Kerwin (Kent City) and Jessica Sevarns (Ravenna) had a big break through by beating their high school and college PR’s.  Krista Brandel (Muskegon), Erica Douglas (Muskegon), Meagan Lavin (Hesperia), and Jessica VanDyke (Reeths-Puffer) all also set season PR’s and ran great races. “

The Jayhawk women will host their only home meet next Friday, October 12th at University Park Golf Course. The men’s race begins at 2 p.m. and the women’s race begins at 2:45 p.m.