Red Devils Persevere Through Elements at Greenville

GREENVILLE – The Eureka cross country and distance team took on strong competition and changing weather conditions at the Greenville Select Meet on Saturday.

The day started out with mild temperatures, overcast skies and a noticeable breeze, but midway through lightning halted the meet and delayed the rest of the events for an hour. When the action resumed, the Red Devils rallied and continued to run strong.

"It is always difficult to warm up for a race, have it postponed, and have to start the process again," EC head coach Chris Robinson said. "(Assistant) Coach Ian (Cummings) and I are proud of how the team came back from the delay, refocused, and turned in more PR efforts."

On the men's side, Bailey Webster (East Peoria, Ill./East Peoria) and Tony DeLira (Chicago, Ill./Alcott/Lincoln) opened the day with good showings in the 5,000-meter run. Webster finished 15th in a personal-best 16:49.67, cutting nearly 12 seconds off his previous mark, while DeLira came in 19th in 17:11.98.

Webster also paced the Red Devils in the 800 and contributed to the maroon and gold's 4x400 relay team.

In the former, Webster came in 32nd in 2:11.02. Khalil Alleyne (Diego Martin, Trinidad/Fatima College/Lincoln) and Brayton Strawkas (Buffalo, Ill./Tri-City) followed, taking 41st in 2:17.87 and 45th in 2:41.36, respectively. All three made their debut in the event.

In the latter, Strawkas, Webster, Alleyne and Jose Amador (Kempton, Ill./Tri-Point) were able to trim their best time by 10 seconds, turning in a 13th-place finish in 4:03.20.

Alleyne established a PR by almost a second in the 400, coming in 21st in 54.51. Strawkas followed, taking 28th in 1:05.83.

Amador also cut nine seconds off his previous best in the 1,500, taking 46th in 4:37.64.

The Red Devil women also continued to shine, with Rachel Fisher (Metamora, Ill./Metamora) cutting over a second off her previous best finish in the 400, placing seventh overall in 1:03.01. She currently holds the third-fastest time in the St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference.

Karissa Heffernan (Metamora, Ill./Metamora/Lewis) broke the 5-minute mark in the 1,500 with a 13th-place finish in a personal-best 4:59.84. She also took 21st in the 800 in 2:33.16, while Fisher followed with a 25th-place finish in 2:36.15. Fisher currently holds the second-fastest 800 in conference (2:26.54) and Heffernan has the fourth-fastest (2:30.90)

Sarah Kimbro (Peoria, Ill./Metamora) also set a new PR in the 1,500. She cut nearly 23 seconds off her previous best, taking 31st in 6:10.37. Later on, she came within .33 seconds of setting a new PR in the 3000-meter Steeplechase, taking seventh in 15:18.35.

Jaden Randall (Secor, Ill./Roanoke-Benson) and Alyssa Bryant (Peoria, Ill./Richwoods) made their season debuts in the 800, finishing 40th in 2:59.09 and 45th in 3:30.01, respectively.

Earlier in the day, Randall trimmed nearly three seconds off her previous best in the 400, taking 12th in 1:09.57, while Bryant came in 15th in 1:19.20.

Heffernan, Randall, Bryant and Fisher returned to compete in the 4x400 relay and finished ninth overall with a time of 4:54.97.

On Saturday, April 29, the Red Devils will be back at Greenville for the 2023 SLIAC Outdoor Championships. With the way the team has been competing, there are several runners well-positioned to bring home all-conference honors.

"We continue to be impressed with how this team has come together and competes," Robinson said. "The storm delay provided good team bonding and fun. We were happy to see how they came back from the interruption and ran hard. That type of mental toughness will serve them well at the conference championship in two weeks."