SPC Women 4th, Men 7th at NJCAA Nationals

IRA, Ill. – The South Plains College women's cross country team placed fourth and the SPC men were seventh at the NJCAA National Cross Country Championships Saturday at Rend Lake College in Ira, Illinois.

Iowa Central won the women's championship with 111 points, while Butler County was second (145), El Paso was third (150) and SPC finished fourth (166).

South Plains sophomore Lillian Badaru finished second in the women's 5K race with a time of 16:27, while freshman Florence Jepchirchir was fifth (17:13) and freshman Crystal Dickinson was 11th (17:49). Also for the Lady Texans, freshman Meagan Willingham was 66th (19:33), freshman Melinda Burrola was 82nd (19:51), freshman Jessica Kirchner was 119th (20:37) and freshman Megan Erickson was 177th (22:18).

On the men's side, Lansing CC finished first with 111 points, Iowa Central was second (120), Central Arizona was third (129), Rend Lake was fourth (133), Cowley County was fifth (136), Paradise Valley was sixth (176) and SPC finished seventh (207).

For the Texans, sophomore John Kosgei led the way in the 8K race with a fourth-place finish thanks to a time of 23:43, while freshman Fred Samoei placed seventh (24:09), freshman Javier Perez was 58th (26:48), sophomore T.K. Revis was 62nd (26:52), freshman Jorge Castillo was 76th (27:10), sophomore Michael Hernandez was 98th (27:38) and freshman Chris Salazar was 136th (28:27).