Kaskaskia College Second at NJCAA Region 24 Meet

The Kaskaskia College cross country teams opened the post season at the NJCAA Region 24 meet held on the campus of Eastern Illinois University.

The KC Blue Devils finished second with 43 points and the winner was favored Danville College with 38 points. Illinois Central College was third with 51 points. The KC men were led by Brenner Webster (Salem) with a third place finish and a new school record for the 8K distance. Webster's 26:38.0 eclipsed fellow Salem alumni Jordan Jones' time of 26:49 set in 2010.

Also finishing strong was Lucas Probst (Teutopolis) who took fifth with a time of 27:11.1. Jordan Love (Nashville) finished eighth with a time of 27:53.9.  Scott Isley (Teutopolis) was the fourth counter with a time of 29:30.8 and a 12th place finish. Zachary Mette (Teutopolis) finished 15th and was the fifth counter for KC with a time of 30:26.6. Ryan Hargis of Centralia finished with a time of 30:43 good for 17th place.

KC Coach Mike Hargis said of the men's performance, "The men stepped up and had a great race. All six had either career best or season best efforts. As a coach you can't ask for a better effort. Danville was the favorite going in and we battled them with all we had. I couldn't be prouder."

The Blue Angels came into the meet still dealing with injuries and illness. With Taylor Haskenhoff (Smithton) on the sidelines with a stress fracture, the ladies only lined up four for the race. Alexis Davidson (Newton) had a solid race, finishing fifth in 20:48.5 over the 5K distance. Abby Wrobleswski (Radom) ran a career best time of 23:29.9 and finished 16th. Sarah Faust (St. Rose) ran a time of 26:05.6 and Kerry Porter (Aviston) finished in 27:31.

Both teams will now travel to the NJCAA Nationals in El Dorado, Kansas November 12.