Personal Records Fall for Red Devils at Greenville

 GREENVILLE, Ill. – The Eureka cross country and distance team piled up personal records at the Greenville Select Meet on Friday.

Leading the way for the Red Devils was Karissa Heffernan (Metamora, Ill./Metamora), who returned from injury and took 25th in the 1,500 in a personal-best 5:28.53.

She was joined in the race by teammates Riley Reuter (Henry, Ill./Henry-Senachwine), Odessa Grove (Lewistown, Ill./Lewistown), Sophia Simonis (West Frankfurt, Ill./Frankfurt) and Nikki Tye (Kewanee, Ill./Wethersfield).

Reuter came in 30th in 6:14.06. Grove was behind her, taking 31st in 6:49.47. Simonis finished 33rd in 6:52.87 and Tye was 34th in 7:43.86. All four Red Devils set new personal records.

In the 800, Reuter paced the maroon and gold, taking 31st in 3:07.28. Sarah Kimbro ( ) came in 34th in 3:13.26, Isabella Carbajal (Chicago, Ill./Shepard) finished 35th in 3:18.68, Grove was 36th in 3:25.97 and Simonis was 37th in a personal-best 3:28.12.

Carbajal also competed in the 400-meter dash and took 12th in 1:16.85, setting an outdoor personal record.

After the Red Devils broke new ground with a 4x800-meter relay appearance last week, Kimbro competed in what is believed to be the first-ever Steeplechase for a Eureka College athlete. She placed sixth in 16:30.37.

"It was a gutsy performance," EC cross country and distance coach Chris Robinson said, "and she was definitely a crowd favorite, gaining support and loud cheers from student-athletes from multiple schools."

The Red Devils scored three points and finished tied for 10th in the event out of 14 teams.

On the men's side, Javy Garcia (Plainfield, Ill./Plainfield Central) finished a team-best 39th in the 1,500 with a time of 4:52.55. Hayden Skaggs (Mansfield, Texas/Mansfield) came in 43rd in a personal-best 6:18.29, and also set a personal record in the 800, taking 34th in 2:56.34.

"It was a great day with a lot of smiles," Robinson said. "We are looking forward to the long weekend for well-deserved rest and recovery."

The Red Devils will be back at it next Saturday when they compete in the Olivet-Nazarene Open.