Red Devils Keep It Up at Hilltop Classic

JACKSONVILLE, Ill. – After strong showings at the Principia Relays and the Titan Opener this winter, the Eureka cross country and distance team kept it up at the Hillltop Classic this weekend.

The Red Devils notched 12 personal records between the women's and men's sides in the team's last indoor meet before the St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Indoor Championships.

Karissa Heffernan (Metamora, Ill./Metamora/Lewis) fell short of a personal record in the mile, but she recorded the Red Devils' best placing of the night, taking eighth in 5:32.59. The sophomore held her own against a stacked field and now has the top three fastest miles recorded in the SLIAC this season.

Freshman Rachel Fisher (Metamora, Ill./Metamora) recorded impressive personal records in both the 400 and the 800.

She turned in the second-fastest time in the SLIAC this season in the 400, taking ninth in 1:04.42. Then, an hour later, she took second in her heat in the 800 and 11th overall in a personal-best 2:28.72, improving on her SLIAC-leading mark.

Junior Sarah Kimbro (Peoria, Ill./Metamora) cut six seconds off her personal best in the mile, taking 23rd in 6:42.56. Later, she came in 32nd in the 800 in 3:10.80.

Jaden Randall (Secor, Ill./Roanoke-Benson) also competed in two events. The freshman set a new PR in the 400 in dramatic fashion, battling down the final straightaway to edge Greenville's Peyten Geppert and win her heat in 1:12.06. She finished 18th overall, then turned around and recorded her second PR of the day, taking 30th in the 800 in 3:07.44.

On the men's side, freshmen Jose Amador (Kempton, Ill./Tri-Point) and Bailey Webster (East Peoria, Ill./East Peoria) finished back-to-back in the mile.

Amador met his goal of going sub five minutes for the first time, setting a new personal record and taking 31st overall in 4:59.47. It was his first of two PRs on the night. He later came in 30th in the 800 in a personal-best 2:16.23.

Webster came close, cutting 11 seconds off his previous PR to finish 32nd in 5:00.04. He held off Greenville's Jalen Franz down the stretch. 

Khalil Alleyne (Diego Martin, Trinidad/Fatima College/Lincoln) also turned in a pair of personal records. He won his heat and took 10th overall in the 400 in 57.45, and later, came in 34th in a personal-best 2:21.19 in the 800.

Hayden Skaggs (Mansfield, Texas/Mansfield) also recorded a personal-record in the 800, coming in 39th with a time of 2:59.61. Earlier in the night, he took 16th in the 400 in 1:10.36.

At the very end of the night, Tony DeLira (Chicago, Ill./Alcott/Lincoln) competed in the 3,000 cut nearly 10 seconds off his personal-best time set at the Principia Relays earlier this season. His 9:45.61 time was good for 13th overall and fifth in the SLIAC this season.

"The team as a whole ran very well," EC coach Chris Robinson said. "We have been putting in strong workouts on the track, and the efforts are paying off. It has been exciting to see the athletes progress each weekend, and see so many PRs set week-in and week-out.

"We are well positioned going into the SLIAC Indoor Championship next weekend. The goal is to make some program history."