CHARLESTON, Ill. – The Vincennes University men’s and women’s Cross Country teams took part in the NJCAA Region 24 Championships Thursday afternoon hosted by Eastern Illinois University.
The day ended with a bang for the Trailblazers as sophomore runner Mathew Keitany (Kenya) completed a late race comeback to edge out the individual Region 24 Championship by one-tenth of a second.
VU’s men’s and women’s teams each were named the NJCAA Division Region 24 Champions, as Vincennes was the only Division I program competing, while Heartland Community College, Kaskaskia College and Danville Area Community College all had races competing for the Division II title.
The day began with the Women’s 5K race. The Trailblazers were quickly fighting an uphill battle after the Heartland CC racers got off to a quick start.
Sophomore Brittany Page (Freelandville, Ind.) paced the VU runners to come away with the Division I Individual Championship after crossing the line at 20:59.9.
Freshman Ada Peterman (Clay, Ill.) and sophomore Daisie Kinnett (Wheatland, Ind.) were the next across the line after a tough back-and-forth race with Peterman ending at 21:12.4 and Kinnett following closely behind at 21:14.7.
Sophomore Hope Laughlin (Olney, Ill.) and freshman Makenna Pruett (Montgomery, Ind.) rounded out the Trailblazers women’s race with Laughlin finishing with a time of 21:58.2 and Pruett ending at 22:54.8.
The Men’s 8K race closed out the day at Eastern Illinois with a fantastic photo finish with Trailblazer Mathew Keitany taking the top spot with a time of 25:42.8.
Freshman Isaac Stanford (Flora, Ill.) was the second Blazer across the line at 26:18.5.
Sophomores Ernest Momodu (Indianapolis, Ind.) and Ian Boit (Kimilili, Kenya) were the next VU runners to finish, with Momodu posting a time of 26:42.6 and Boit ending at 27:32.3.
Sophomore Reed Lawless (Kouts, Ind.) rounds out the VU top five with a time of 27:39.2.
Freshmen Elijah McCartney (Darlington, Ind.) and Sol O’Blenis (Amboy, Ind.) were close behind with a time of 28:20.5 for McCartney and 28:23.3 for O’Blenis.
Sophomore Trenton Faulkner (Wheatland, Ind.) and freshman Matthew Gray (Washington, Ind.) were next across the line with Faulkner ending at 28:42.2 and 29:04.9 for Gray.
Freshmen Brayden Green (Sumner, Ill.), Griffin Worzella (Martinsville, Ind.) and sophomore Kyle Baugh (Portage, Ind.) closed out the day for the Trailblazers with Green ending at 29:42.9, Worzella ending at 30:33.5 and Baugh finishing at 33:03.6.
