Male harriers primed for regionals

By Brodee Gillam

Sports Editor

Even though the LCC men's cross country team has not won back-to-back championships in the past two years, like the women have, the men have had two successful seasons nonetheless.

With a 14th-place finish in the NJCAA National Championships in 2015 and an eighth-place finish last year, the men are not as far behind as it may seem.

After finishing second (behind Siena Heights University) in the Lansing Invitational 8K on Oct. 6, then winning the Jayhawk Invitational 8K (beating Siena Heights) on Oct. 13, the LCC squad looks poised for the postseason.

Coach Jim Robinson said his Stars have established their consistent top three finishers in freshmen Alex McCormick and sophomores Shawn Bell and Blake Watson. McCormick finished first at Lansing in 25:30, with Watson on his trail at 25:31 and Bell not far behind in 25:55.

Even with the talent at the top, LCC's real strength is its depth. With sophomores Deion Feldpausch and Max Pasche and freshman Jacob Ferguson rounding out the usual top six finishers, the team is looking strong heading into the regional and national championships.

Pasche, who finished with a time of 28:22 at Lansing, said flipping the loss to Siena Heights into a win against them the next week felt great.

"It was pretty cool to go from losing to them (by) a little bit to kind of taking it to them," Pasche said. "It felt good. It's a good sign that we're getting a lot faster and getting better as a team."

Ferguson has been a solid freshman presence in the top finishers this season. He finished in 38th place at Lansing with a time of 27:21.

Ferguson said the sophomores have helped his, and his fellow freshmen's, development tremendously.

"A lot of the freshmen have just kind of looked up to them (Watson and Bell)," Ferguson said. "They've been there. They've done it. We just watch them and see what they're doing in practice.

"I've really watched those guys and it's helped me a lot. They know where to push on courses or what you're supposed to do in workouts … it's helped me a lot because I'm not very familiar with the 8K, this is my first year of it."

The Stars' next meet is the NJCAA Region XII Championships on Saturday, Oct. 28, starting at 1 p.m.