Red Devils Finish Season Strong at Regional Meet

BATAVIA, Ill. – The Eureka cross country team finished the 2022 season strong on Saturday as the Red Devils competed in the NCAA Division III Midwest Regional Meet.

The meet was held at Northwestern Medicine XC Course, where Eureka previously ran in the Spartan Classic on Sept. 10. Two months ago, it was the hilly site of a warm and sunny meet, but on Saturday, the Red Devils took on cold, windy weather conditions for the first time this season. The high was 36 degrees and the winds ranged from 12-15 miles per hour.

In addition, on the women's side, the Red Devils had to compete without junior co-captain Sarah Kimbro (Peoria, Ill./Metamora) due to injury.

Despite the challenges, sophomore Karissa Heffernan (Metamora, Ill./Metamora) managed to record a personal record of 24:47.6 and finish 87th place overall, cutting 21 seconds off her previous best.

Freshman Rachel Fisher (Metamora, Ill./Metamora) followed, coming in 152nd-place in 27:49.7. Junior co-captain Riley Reuter (Henry, Ill./Heny-Senachwine) stepped into the No. 3 spot and recorded Eureka's second PR of the day, cutting 30 seconds to finish in 177th in 30:37.1

Jaden Randall (Secor, Ill./Roanoke-Benson) and Isabella Cabajal (Chicago, Ill./Shepard) came in 189th in 33:04.1 and 202nd in 36:28.1, respectively, and the Red Devils finished 24th out of 29 teams.

Although not having Kimbro in the lineup prevented the team from finishing higher in the team race, everyone on the women's team running cut significant time off their previous races at the course, ranging in decreases of 1:45 to almost seven minutes.

"Coach Ian (Cummings) and I were really proud of the performances today," EC head coach Chris Robinson said. "Seeing the women's team rally around Sarah was fantastic. We have a young, talented team and are really excited to see what the future holds."

On the men's side, the Red Devils didn't have enough runners to score in the team race, but they still had a slew of satisfying performances.

At the front of the team's pack, freshman Bailey Webster (East Peoria, Ill./East Peoria) and junior Tony DeLira (Chicago, Ill./Alcott/Lincoln) continued their friendly rivalry.

Webster opened a large lead early on, but Tony methodically reeled him in throughout the race. Going into the last 2k, DeLira had all but wiped out the lead. Webster took advantage of the long climb at the finish to hold off DeLira in the end. Webster ultimately finished 145th in 28:33.3 and DeLira came in 150th in 28:46.8.

"It has been fun watching Tony DeLira and Bailey Webster work together and battle each other for the top spot on the team," Robinson said. "They did not disappoint.

"They will continue to push each other, and pull the rest of their teammates along."

Freshman Jose Amador (Kempton, Ill./Tri-Point) was able to exact his revenge on a course that he previously exited early due to a calf injury, taking 213th in 33:02.5. Sophomore Hayden Skaggs (Mansfield, Texas/Mansfield) came in 230th in 46:06.6, cutting nearly eight minutes off his previous time on the course.

Saturday's meet was the end of the road for a season that has featured a slew of program-best results for the Red Devils, including the best finishes in program history at the SLIAC Championships last week.

"Overall, we are a young team in only our second full season," Robinson said at the end of the season." We have made great improvements, and are bringing back a lot of talent for next year. We are looking forward to some time off to finish the semester strong in the classroom."