Abdaoui, Trailblazers win Region 24 Championship

NORMAL, Ill. – The Vincennes University Men’s and Women’s Cross Country teams successfully defended their Region 24 crowns last week at the 2024 NJCAA Region 24 Championships at Maxwell Park in Normal, Ill.

The Trailblazers were competing as the only NJCAA Division I team at the Championships but were boosted by freshman Anis Abdaoui (Kairouan, Tunisia) who paced the field in the Men’s 8K race with a final time of 25:52 to claim the men’s individual Region Championship.

“The Regional meet is always very different from the other races during the season,” VU Head Cross Country Coach Tyler Steigenga said. “It was a much smaller field than we are used to and this year it was only six days after our last meet. With the short turnaround and our goal being to be at our best for the National meet, our top five guys played things a little more conservative today. They were instructed to go out easy and keep things very relaxed through the first three miles and then speed up the last two if they were feeling good or maintain their pace into the finish.”

The Blue and Gold took the top two spots in the men’s race with sophomore Cody Noel (Hebron, Ind.) finishing just behind Abdaoui with a time of 26:10.

Vincennes then had a string of runners closing out the final six spots of the top 10, led by freshman Kelvin Kipsang (Kapsabet, Kenya) at 26:45, followed by sophomores Tanner Spence (Carmi, Ill.) and Caden Hostetler (LaGrange, Ind.) with time of 27:12 and 27:30 respectively.

Freshmen Lane Connaway (Carmi, Ill.), Stephen Hershberger (Fowler, Ind.) and Rylan Mullins (Greenwood, Ind.) closed out the Vincennes top 10 finishers with Connaway posting a time of 27:31, 27:45 for Hershberger and 27:47 for Mullins.

Sophomores Nathan Whitehead (Vincennes, Ind.), Bryaun Manuel (East St. Louis, Ill.) and freshman Alexis Kwizera (Indianapolis, Ind.) were the next group of VU runners across the line with Whitehead posting a time of 28:18 and Manuel and Kwizera each posting a time of 28:20.

Freshman Jeremy Mendez (Velpen, Ind.) crossed the finish line with a time of 28:48, while fellow freshmen Dakoda Greci (Danville, Ind.) and Kayden Kler (Hillsboro, Ind.) finished just inside the 30 minute mark at 29:20 for Greci and 29:35 for Kler.

The men’s race was rounded out by sophomores Max Pendley (French Lick, Ind.) and Tucker Henson (Louisville, Ky.) who finished with a time of 30:25 for Pendley and 30:42 for Henson.

“Cody and Anis did great working together,” Steigenga added. “Before the final mile of the race, they broke away and finished strong to take the top two spots. They both got faster each mile of the race, with Cody ending up with a new PR, running twelve seconds faster than at Nationals last year.”

“Kelvin, Tanner and Caden rounded out the top five and maintained their pace going into the finish,” Steigenga said. “Lane equaled his PR from last week and Stephen ran a one second PR. Rylan closed hard and finished two seconds behind with a new PR. Alexis, Jeremy and Dakoda also got new PRs.”

The Trailblazers obviously clinched first place as the only Division I program racing but were able to best the other teams competing for the Division II title to win the overall Region 24 Championship.

The VU women’s race was led by freshman Sarra Belgacem (Tunis, Tunisia) who finished second overall with a final time of 19:32.

Sophomore Adi Fuller (Evansville, Ind.) was the next Vincennes runner across the line with a time of 20:29 in fifth place overall.

Freshman Allie Black (Lynn, Ind.) was just behind Fuller with a time of 20:36 to take sixth overall, while sophomore Jasmyn Self (Casey, Ill.) rounded out the VU top 10 finishers with a time of 20:55 in ninth place overall.

The VU women’s team scorers were rounded out by freshman Alexis Hale (Evansville, Ind.) who took home 14th overall with a time of 21:50.

The Trailblazers day on the course was rounded out by freshman Melina Loudermilk (Bridgeport, Ill.) who posted a time of 22:24 to finish 17th overall in the race.

“The women raced great as well,” Steigenga said. “It was a little easier for them to bounce back from last week with the shorter races. Five of the six ran their fastest times of the season, with Allie just missing her hers by three seconds.”

“Sarra and Jasmyn had the biggest PRs, which were 41 and 44 seconds respectively,” Steigenga added. “Alexis and Melina were able to sneak under their old PRs by a few seconds. Adi ran her second fastest time as a Trailblazer and set herself up well to break the 20 minute barrier at Nationals.”

The Trailblazers will look to rest up and be at 100-percent as VU now sets their sites on the 2024 NJCAA Division I Men’s and Women’s Cross Country National Championships Saturday, Nov. 9 at Pole Greek Park in Richmond, Va.

The VU Cross Country season will then conclude Tuesday, Nov. 12 with the running of the NJCAA Half Marathon Championships, also in Richmond, Va.

“The last two races have been great for both teams,” Steigenga said. “We are running and competing very well right now and most are running their fastest of the season. We’ll look to recover a bit and maintain fitness before Nationals in two weeks. Both teams have the potential to do some big things at Nationals.”

MEET RESULTS

MEN’S RESULTS

VU (1) – 15 points

Anis Abdaoui (1) – 25:52

Cody Noel (2) – 26:10

Kelvin Kipsang (5) – 26:45

Tanner Spence (6) – 27:12

Caden Hostetler (7) – 27:30

Lane Connaway (8) – 27:31

Stephen Hershberger (9) – 27:45

Rylan Mullins (10) – 27:47

Nathan Whitehead (12) – 28:18

Bryaun Manuel (13) – 28:20

Alexis Kwizera (14) – 28:20

Jeremy Mendez (17) – 28:48

Dakoda Greci (19) – 29:20

Hayden Kler (22) – 29:35

Max Pendley (26) – 30:25

Tucker Henson (27) – 30:42

WOMEN’S RESULTS

VU (1) – 15 points

Sarra Belgacem (2) – 19:32

Adi Fuller (5) – 20:29

Allie Black (6) – 29:36

Jasmyn Self (9) – 20:55

Alexis Hale (14) – 21:50

Melina Loudermilk (17) – 22:24