Stars on Top! Lansing Wins NJCAA Division II Men’s Championship, Several Region 12 Competitors Earn All-America Honors
A (junior college cross country) tradition unlike any other… Lansing CC winning a National Championship! The Lansing Stars emerged victorious in the NJCAA Division II Men's Cross Country Championship with a team score of 73, edging Heartland by five points (78). Michael Dennis paced three Stars in the top seven in second place with an 8K time of 24:54. Liam Elder (25:14) and Gabriel Phillips (25:16) finished in sixth and seventh place, respectively, to round out the Stars on the All-America team. Quaid Schimetz (25:56) and Aaron Bowerman (26:36) checked in at 25th and 42nd place, respectively, as the fourth and fifth scoring Stars to help the team win the national title.
Muskegon CC's Kyler Dean culminated a highly-successful junior college career with a third place finish time of 24:58 to earn All-America honors, as did Mott CC's Parker Austin who crossed the finish line in 11th at 25:28.
Lansing head coach Jim Robinson earned National Coach of the Year honors after guiding the Stars to their latest national championship.
In the Division III race, Lorain County had a pair of All-America performances as Matthew Bowerman and Michael Couture both recorded top 10 finishes. Bowerman was sixth at 26:58, while Couture checked in ninth overall at 27:05.