EC Cross Country and Distance Season Continues at Hilltop Invite

JACKSONVILLE, Ill. – The Eureka cross country and distance team took another step forward this weekend when it competed at the Hilltop Invite at Illinois College.

The Red Devils saw several new personal record performances and gained valuable experience.

On the women's side, freshman Karissa Heffernan (Metamora, Ill./Metamora) had another strong week. She placed in 14th in the mile in 5:53.08 and 19th in the 800 in 2:42.13, coming closed to her season PRs in both events.

In her second collegiate meet, Sophia Simonis (West Frankfurt, Ill./Frankfurt) improved her mile time by eight seconds, coming in 24th in 7:48.56.

Sophomore and women's team captain Riley Reuter (Henry, Ill./Henry-Senachwine) improved her 800-meter dash time by four seconds, posting a time of 3:06.83. Freshman Isabella Carbajal (Chicago, Ill./Shepard) improved by an impressive mark of two seconds in the 400 to take ninth in 1:15.20.

Junior transfer Sarah Kimbro (Peoria, Ill./Metamora), meanwhile, made the biggest gains of the night for the Red Devils. She smashed her previous best in the mile a more than 10 seconds, coming in 22nd in 6:59.93. She followed that up with a four-second improvement in the 800, taking 31st in 3:14.89.

On the men's side, junior captain Javy Garcia (Plainfield, Ill./Plainfield Central) placed 27thi n the mile in 5:11.65, while Hayden Skaggs (Mansfield, Texas/Mansfield) took 16th in 1:07.28.

"The team continues to run well, gain valuable racing experience, and post really strong times," EC cross country and distance coach Chris Robinson said. "Coach Cummings and I are proud of how hard they are working, and how well they all get along. hey are really fun to be around.

"We are looking forward to a solid week of practice, and then make some noise at the SLIAC Indoor Championship next week!"

The Red Devils will conclude indoor season with the SLIAC Indoor Championship on Saturday at Principia.