Muskegon, MI - The men's cross country team continued to shine, running phenomenal times at the Jayhawk Invitational hosted by Muskegon Community College this past weekend. The team placed 6th out of 13 teams and placed 2nd out of the 6 junior college teams. All team members set personal records or season bests covering the 8k course.
Leding the team were freshman, Acer Campbell and sophomore and team captain, Ethan McCombs. Campbell and McCombs ran near the front of the field the entire race. Campbell surged ahead near the race's end to be the Skippers' top finisher, placing 6th overall in 25:57. Campbell's time in a personal record by 1 minute and 22 seconds and ranks him the second fastest Skipper in school history. McCombs finished just seconds behind, crossing the line in 26:02, placing 12th overall. McCombs' time is a personal record by 46 seconds, ranking him 3rd on the Skippers Top Ten List. Vinny Schweihofer was the third Skipper to cross the line, placing 54th in a personal record time of 27:06. Schweihofer's time beats his previous best by 1 minute and 49 seconds and ranks him 9th overall on the Skippers Top Ten List. Running as the team's fourth runner was Lance Kowalski. Kowalski posted a personal record time of 27:39, shaving 9 seconds off his previous best. Rounding out the team's scoring runners was Trent Glass. Glass pushed his limits, finishing in a personal record time of 27:55 and crushing his previous best by 1 minute and 38 seconds. Gunnar Wessel and Dylan Schumann each set personal records, posting times of 28:08 and 29:29, respectively. Wessel's time shattered his previous best by 1 minute and 48 seconds, while Schumann's time knocked 22 seconds off his previous best. Joe Edgemon ran a season best of 30:51, coming within just 23 seconds of his personal record.
Lance's Take:
"Our team knew this meet would be our last chance to make a big statement before regionals. From the moment the gun went off, we all used this mindset to grind away at each mile and ended up placing 2nd out of all the junior college teams, with huge PRs all around. The course was by no means flat or easy and I think all of us having a positive attitude led to this success. Personally, it meant a lot to set a new PR after an injury last year ended my season early. I'm looking forward to competing at Goodells with nationals on the line and carrying that attitude with us."
The Skippers are taking the next week off from racing to gear up for the NJCAA Region XII/MCCAA Championship on Friday, October 25th. The meet is hosted by St. Clair County Community College and is located at Goodells County Park. The women compete at 1:00pm.
