Red Devils Win Three Races, Make History at SLIAC Indoor Championships

ELSAH, Ill. – The Eureka cross country and distance team knew that it had a chance to make history at the St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Indoor Championships on Saturday.

Coming in with the top times in three events, the Red Devils could very well come home with its first-ever individual women's conference titles in program history. The question was just how many?

On Saturday, Karissa Heffernan (Metamora, Ill./Metamora) and Rachel Fisher (Metamora, Ill./Metamora) provided an emphatic answer, capturing victory in all three events that they were favored to win to lead the Red Devils to a program-best fourth-place finish overall.

"The team has worked hard all winter, and it all came together yesterday," EC cross country and distance coach Chris Robinson said the day after the meet. "The emotions are still running high … all I want to do is give my best Rick Flair 'Woooo!'"

Heffernan became Eureka's first-ever individual champion with a first-place finish in the mile in 5:33.84. After getting boxed in at the start, the sophomore recovered quickly, and by lap two, had established nearly a full second lead. At the halfway point she had increased her lead to nearly three seconds and never looked back, closing out with her fastest split of the race for a dominant 8+ second win.

Later, she returned for the 3000-meter run to see if she could go for 2-for-2 on the day. Like the mile, she entered as the favorite. Unlike the mile, she was matched lap for lap by Carie Gretchen of Greenville. Heffernan led the first 13 laps with Gretchen on her heels the entire way matching her split-for-split. Gretchen made her move in Lap 14, running her fastest split of the race to take the lead, but it didn't last long. Heffernan answered and surpassed her on the 15th and final lap, cruising to a 3+ second with a time of 11:10.55. Her final lap was five seconds faster than her previous-fastest lap.

"It was fun to see her tested and respond so emphatically," Robinson said.

Fisher, a freshman, entered the 800 as the conference leader, and she proved it on the track. She got off the line fast and led the race wire-to-wire. Greenville's Olivia Mansfield went with her early, but she couldn't stay with her. Fisher held and won by nearly four seconds with a personal-record time of 2:26.10 and became the first Red Devil to be voted SLIAC Women's Track Newcomer of the Year for the indoor season.

Sarah Kimbro (Peoria, Ill./Metamora) also competed in the mile despite not being at 100-percent. The junior team captain came in 12th in 7:18.59.

"She personifies our team," Robinson said of Kimbro. "They love to compete and there is no quit."

Freshman Jaden Randall (Secor, Ill./Roanoke-Benson) won her heat and placed eighth in the 400 in a personal-best 1:10.07.

She did it in spite of facing an unusual degree of difficulty; at one point, a spectator wandered onto the track, forcing Randall to bounce into lane two on the curve, but she still managed to maintain her speed and composure.

On the men's side, the Red Devils finished eighth overall with one point scored by way of a sixth-place finish in the 3000 by Tony DeLira (Chicago, Ill./Alcott/Lincoln) went out the lead pack, aside from eventual champion Gianni Estrada of Greenville. Though he couldn't stay with the pack for the whole race, he kept his pace and turned in a new personal-best time of 9:40.95, taking nearly five seconds off his previous PR.

Freshmen Jose Amador (Kempton, Ill./Tri-Point) and Bailey Webster (East Peoria, Ill./East Peoria) came into the race seeded seventh and eighth, respectively. They ended up switching spots, with Webster surging at the finish to edge his teammate, 5:01.03 to 5:01.79.

"It was great to see the two freshmen work together the whole race, and then battle at the end," Robinson said. "We are looking for the two of them to continue to push each other in the outdoor season."

Webster later returned to make his debut in the 3000. After battling with a fast field, he came in 11th in a personal-best time of 10:32.11.

Khalil Alleyne (Diego Martin, Trinidad/Fatima College/Lincoln) and Hayden Skaggs (Mansfield, Texas/Mansfield) both competed in the 400. Alleyne, a First Team All-SLIAC honoree for the men's soccer team, took second in his heat and 11th overall in a personal-best time of 56.94. while Skaggs ran a season-best 1:06.71, taking 14th and just missing his personal record of 1:06.08.

"It's been a blast working with Khalil, and we are learning how to turn his soccer speed into track speed," Robinson said.

At the end of the indoor season, Robinson and his coaching staff were thrilled with what their squad achieved this winter and eager to take on the spring outdoor distance season.

"Coach Ian (Cummings), Coach Zach (Sancken), and I are thrilled with this team," Robinson said. "They work hard, support each other, love to compete, and don't know how to quit.

"I love the fact we train as one unit. We don't split into a separate men's and women's team for practice. They are all in this together, pushing each other to be the best they can. We have accomplished a lot in 2.5 years and we want more."