Local Sports Journal
It was a successful end to the season on Saturday at the NJCAA national cross country championships.
The women’s team finished 25th and the men came in 29th. The field included 286 men’s finishers and 295 women finishers.
“Nationals was a neat experience for out team,” MCC coach Dan Fishel said. “I have been blessed to coach such a great group of young men and women.”
MEN
at Rend Lake Golf Course
Ina, Illinois
Mathias Waterstradt led the way for the Jahyawk men’s team with a 104th place finish.
Christian Seaver, Alex Drew, Kyle Starr, Mitch Clark, Matt Almond and Lucas Johnson also competed for the men.
“In Michigan we’ve been blessed recently with ideal temperatures in the 40s, but the warm weather, strong winds, and a long course yielded some slow times — even though the competition was very strong,” Fishel said. “It was nice running against the best junior college runners in the country- including some international athletes – and seeing where we stack up. “
WOMEN
at Rend Lake Golf Course
Ina, Illinois
Warm temperatures produced slower than normal times for the field at the women’s national championships.
This was the first time in school history that a full MCC women’s team has run at the NJCAA nationals.
Leading the way for the women was Kaitlin Truman,  who finished 94th out of 295 finishers.  Kaytlynne Kerwin, Alexis Yost, Jessica Sevarns, Meagan Lavin, Jessica VanDyke and Erica Douglas  also competed for the Jayhawk women.
“I was proud of our team for running hard and being class acts at the national meet,” Fishel said. “In Michigan we’ve been blessed recently with ideal temperatures in the 40’s, but the warm weather and strong winds yielded some slow times  – even though the competition was very strong.”