HUNTSVILLE, Ala. – The 2023 Vincennes University Cross Country season came to a close Tuesday with the running of the 2023 NJCAA Half Marathon National Championships at John Hunt Park.
Members of the VU men’s and women’s Cross Country teams took part in the grueling 13.1 mile run and came away with an 18th place finish for the men’s team and an outstanding 10th place finish for the VU women’s team.
The VU men’s team was led by freshman Cody Noel (Hebron, Ind.) who finished with a time of 1:16:45.9, finishing 56th overall out of 155 runners.
HUNTSVILLE, Ala. – The Vincennes University Men’s and Women’s Cross Country teams entered the NJCAA Division I National Championship meet Saturday morning ranked No. 24 and No. 21 respectively.
Both teams were able to place ahead of these rankings Saturday morning at John Hunt Park in Alabama, with VU women’s team taking home 18th overall and the VU men’s team placing 23rd overall.
The No. 24 VU men’s team got the day started with the Men’s 8K and were led by a very strong finish by freshman Cody Noel (Hebron, Ind.) who finished with a time of 26:22.5 to place 71st overall out of 208 runners.
CHARLESTON, Ill. – The No. 21-ranked Vincennes University Men’s and Women’s Cross Country teams began their 2023 postseason Thursday afternoon with the 2023 NJCAA Region 24 Championships hosted at Eastern Illinois University.
The Blazers were one of three teams competing Thursday but were again in a unique situation, being the only Division I team competing, with Heartland CC and Kaskaskia College both being Division II in Cross Country.
The day began with the women’s 5k and the No. 21 VU women’s team more than held their own, with four of the Blazers’ six runners posting season best times.
EVANSVILLE, Ind. – The No. 20-ranked Vincennes University Men’s and Women’s Cross Country teams bounced back after a tough meet two weeks ago in Louisville with a solid performance Friday morning at the Angel Mounds Invitational hosted by the University of Evansville.
The day began with the women’s race, which was one kilometer longer than the usual cross country races on VU’s schedule this season, running a 6k race Friday morning.
The Trailblazers women’s team was led by freshman Adi Fuller (Evansville, Ind.) who put together a really good race in front of her hometown crowd.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – The Nationally ranked Vincennes University Men’s and Women’s Cross Country teams were back in action Saturday afternoon at the Live in Lou Classic at Tom Sawyer State Park.
The No. 12-ranked VU men’s team and No. 24-ranked VU women’s team were part of two massive races, including about 400 runners each.
The Trailblazers men’s team got the day started and quickly suffered a setback with sophomore Isaac Stanford (Flora, Ill.) suffering an injury at the first start of the race and was unable to continue when the race was restarted.
TERRE HAUTE, Ind. – The Vincennes University men’s and women’s Cross Country teams looked to take advantage of near perfect conditions Saturday morning when the Blazers took part in the John McNichols Invitational hosted by Indiana State University at the LaVern Gibson Championship Course.
VU was one of 18 teams participating in a very stacked field, which included 14 NCAA Division I teams, one NCAA Division II team and two NCAA Division III teams, with the Blazers being the only two-year team running.
The No. 24-ranked VU men’s team got the morning started off in a big way with eight of VU’s 10 runners setting new PRs.
CHARLESTON, Ill. – The Vincennes University men’s and women’s Cross Country teams began their 2023 season Friday afternoon, taking part in the annual Walt Crawford Open hosted by Eastern Illinois University.
The day began with the women’s 5k race, where VU more than held their own against a field of two NCAA Division I programs in Eastern Illinois and Indiana State.
The Trailblazers women’s team was led by freshman Emily Barbosa (Sao Paulo, Brazil), who paced the VU runners to take 26th overall with a time of 21:21.3.
VINCENNES, Ind. – The National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) announced their 2022-23 All-Academic Teams Monday morning and the list of over 10,000 student-athletes featured 21 Vincennes University Trailblazers.
VU had six student-athletes named to the All-Academic First Team, earning a GPA of 4.00 during the 2022-23 academic year. Eight student-athletes were named to the Second Team with a GPA between 3.80 and 3.99 and seven named to the Third Team with a GPA between 3.60 and 3.79.
Vincennes University and the VU Athletic Department are proud of the hard work and dedication these student-athletes have shown not only on the competition field, but in the classroom as well.
VINCENNES, Ind. – 30 Vincennes University student athletes were recognized Friday morning with the release of the Vincennes University Dean’s List for the Spring 2023 semester.
To be recognized on this list, each student must be enrolled in at least 21 credit hours and earn a grade point average of 3.50 or high during the Spring semester.
The Vincennes University Athletic Department is proud to recognize the following student-athletes named to the Spring 2023 Dean’s List.
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – Six members of the Vincennes University men’s Cross Country team competed Tuesday morning in the 2022 NJCAA Men’s Half Marathon Championships at Miller’s Landing Road in Tallahassee.
Vincennes as a team finished seventh out of 21 teams competing in the 13.1 mile race, more than double the normal cross country distance of eight kilometers, which is just under five miles.
The Blazers were led by very strong showings from sophomores Mathew Keitany (Kenya) and Ian Boit (Kimilili, Kenya).
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – The Vincennes University men’s and women’s Cross Country teams took part in the NJCAA Division I National Championships Saturday morning at Apalachee Regional Park in Tallahassee.
The No.16-ranked VU women’s team kicked off the day with the 5k and came away with a 16th place finish as a team.
The Trailblazer women were led by sophomore Daisie Kinnett (Wheatland, Ind.) who placed 47th overall with a time of 20:18.6.
CHARLESTON, Ill. – The Vincennes University men’s and women’s Cross Country teams took part in the NJCAA Region 24 Championships Thursday afternoon hosted by Eastern Illinois University.
The day ended with a bang for the Trailblazers as sophomore runner Mathew Keitany (Kenya) completed a late race comeback to edge out the individual Region 24 Championship by one-tenth of a second.
VU’s men’s and women’s teams each were named the NJCAA Division Region 24 Champions, as Vincennes was the only Division I program competing, while Heartland Community College, Kaskaskia College and Danville Area Community College all had races competing for the Division II title.
PEORIA, Ill. – The Vincennes University Men’s and Women’s Cross Country teams took part in their final tune up before postseason competition begins at the Bradley Pink Classic Friday afternoon.
Several Trailblazers set new personal best times as the VU teams look to really be rounding into shape at the right time.
The day began with the VU women’s team running a 6k race instead of their normal 5k that they have been running all season.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – The Vincennes University Men’s and Women’s Cross Country teams competed in a packed field at Tom Sawyer State Park for the annual Live in Lou Cross Country Classic Saturday afternoon.
The VU men’s team competed in a field of 412 runners from 59 different schools and 45 teams.
The Trailblazers men’s team got the day started with their 8k race and were paced by sophomore Mathew Keitany (Kenya) who finished with a time of 26:15.2.
TERRE HAUTE, Ind. – The Vincennes University Men’s and Women’s Cross Country teams continue to show improvement after competing in the John McNichols Invitational hosted by Indiana State University at the LaVern Gibson Course Saturday morning.
The VU men’s team was led by freshman Mathew Keitany (Kenya) who led the Trailblazers again with a time of 27:16.6.
Freshman Isaac Stanford (Flora, Ill.) and sophomore Ernest Momodu (Indianapolis, Ind.) followed closely behind with Stanford crossing the line at 27:30.5 and Momodu finishing at 27:37.0.
CHARLESTON, Ill. – The Vincennes University Men’s and Women’s Cross Country teams began their 2022 season Friday afternoon with the Walt Crawford Open hosted by Eastern Illinois University.
The Trailblazers faced some tough competition out of the gates, going up against four NCAA Division I programs in their first meet of the year.
The VU women’s team got the day started and Vincennes was led by sophomore Daisie Kinnett (Wheatland, Ind.), who came in as the 30th-place finisher with a solid time of 20:19.8.
VINCENNES, Ind. – The Vincennes University Cross Country and Track and Field coaches have had a very busy summer hitting the road, looking to sign the next great VU runner for next season.
Assistant Cross Country/Distance Running Coach Tyler Steigenga has helped sign nine middle and distance runners for the 2022-23 season.
“We are bringing in a lot of talent with this year’s recruiting class, especially on the middle distance side,” VU Assistant Track and Field/Distance Coach Tyler Steigenga said. “It will give us a lot more flexibility with different events on the track. This fall in Cross Country we are looking forward to finishing a lot higher at the National meet than we did last year. Our depth is tremendously better and our frontrunners will allow us to be a lot more competitive this fall. I am very excited to see what we can do.”
VINCENNES, Ind. – The National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) announced their 2021-22 All-Academic Teams Monday afternoon and the list of nearly 10,000 student-athletes featured 18 Vincennes University Trailblazers.
VU had five student-athletes named to the All-Academic First Team, earning a GPA of 4.00 during the 2021-22 academic year. Four student-athletes named to the Second Team, with a GPA between 3.80 and 3.99 and nine named to the Third Team with a GPA between 3.60 and 3.79.
Vincennes University and the VU Athletic Department are proud of the hard work and dedication these student-athletes have shown not only on the competition field, but in the classroom as well.
VINCENNES, Ind. – Vincennes University sophomore Cross Country/Track and Field runner Walter Tanui (Eldoret, Kenya) signed his letter of intent Wednesday afternoon to continue his academic and athletic careers at Cumberland University in Lebanon, Tenn.
“I chose Cumberland because they have a really great athletics program,” Tanui said. “That is one of the things that really attracted me to that school. The academics at Cumberland are also very highly ranked, especially their nursing program, which I plan to join. The student community and the student life in general also seems to be really nice, which led me to choose to sign with them.”
Tanui has been a member of the Vincennes University Cross Country and Track and Field teams for the past three years.
RICHMOND, Va. – The VU Men’s and Women’s Cross Country teams both placed above their respective rankings at the 2021 NJCAA Cross Country National Championships in Richmond Saturday morning.
The Trailblazer men’s team, ranked 23rd, placed 19th and the women’s team, ranked 19th, placed 17th.
The VU men’s team was paced by Ian Boit who came away with a 75th place finish with a time of 27:15.4.
Charleston, Ill. – The Vincennes University Trailblazer Cross Country teams finally took part in a race where the majority of the runners were from other junior colleges in the 2021 Region 24 Cross Country Championships hosted by Eastern Illinois University.
VU sophomores Kyra Young and Manamanya Opiew each took home the NJCAA Division I Region 24 Individual Championships, with Young finishing with a time of 20:49.2 and Opiew ending at 27:41.3 in muddy conditions at Tom Woodall Panther Trail.
Vincennes as a team finished behind Division II Heartland, with the Hawks having five of the first six finishers in the Men’s 8k race.
NEWBURGH, Ind. – The Vincennes University Men’s and Women’s Cross Country teams closed out their 2021 regular seasons at the University of Evansville Invitational at Angel Mounds in Newburgh Saturday morning.
The Trailblazer Men’s team came away with a second-place finish and three Top-15 finishes, while the VU Women’s team was again unable to post a team score for the second event in a row, but did manage to come away with one Top-15 finisher as an individual.
“The women’s team wasn’t able to finish as a team, but we are hoping to be able to by the Region Meet in two weeks,” VU Assistant Cross Country coach Tyler Steigenga said. “It was a different experience for the women, as they ran a 6k, which none of them have done before.”
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – The Vincennes University Cross Country team hit the course Saturday morning to take part in the Greater Louisville Classic at Tom Sawyer State Park.
While the VU men’s team placed 46th out of 62 teams competing, the Trailblazers were once again one of only a few two-year schools competing in this race. Including going up against many NCAA Division I programs.
Ian Boit was the pace setter for the Blazers Saturday morning, finishing the race with a time of 27:26.0.
TERRE HAUTE, Ind. – The Trailblazer Cross Country teams hit the course again this weekend as VU took part in the John McNichols Invitational at Lavern Gibson in Terre Haute Saturday morning.
Vincennes was again one of only two-year schools competing in the event, facing off with many NCAA Division I teams such as Indiana University, Purdue University, Ball State, Western Michigan and host Indiana State University.
“I thought we ran well today,” VU Interim Cross Country head coach Marty Rogier said. “It is a very challenging course but really amazing to have that venue so close.”
NEWBURGH, Ind. – In a field consisting mostly of top-level NCAA Division I programs, the Vincennes University Trailblazer Cross Country team held their own and came away with a pair of strong finishes at Friday’s Evansville Opener at Angel Mounds.
The VU men’s team came away with a fourth-place finish, trailing only Division I teams Ohio State, Indiana State and Marquette.
The Trailblazer women’s team placed sixth, trailing behind Ohio State, Marquette, Indiana State, Kentucky Wesleyan and Evansville.
VINCENNES, Ind. – The Vincennes University Cross Country and Track and Field 2021 recruiting class was kicked off with the signing of Reed Lawless from Morgan Township High School in Valparaiso.
Following a pair of runner-up finishes at the Region 24 meet on Oct. 31, the Vincennes University Cross Country teams have quickly shifted their focus to the NJCAA Division I Cross Country Championships in Fort Dodge, IA.
The Vincennes University men’s and women’s Cross Country teams are coming off of excellent showings at the NJCAA Region 24 meet this past Saturday, with each team finishing as the Regional runner-up, with sophomore Meagan Moreno and freshman Trenton Faulkner taking home the Division I individual championships.
The Vincennes University Men’s and Women’s Cross Country teams hosted the NJCAA Regional 24 Championships Saturday afternoon at South Knox High School and did not disappoint, capturing both Division I Individual Championships, while finishing in second place as a team.
One would be hard pressed to final a more loaded Region this cross country season than Region 24, with seven of the eight men’s and women’s teams ranked in the top 25 of their division and four of the eight ranked in the top 10.
VU Cross Country ends season with a bang at Half Marathon Championships
November 15, 2023HUNTSVILLE, Ala. – The 2023 Vincennes University Cross Country season came to a close Tuesday with the running of the 2023 NJCAA Half Marathon National Championships at John Hunt Park. Members of the VU men’s and women’s Cross Country teams took part in the grueling 13.1 mile run and came away with an 18th place finish for the men’s team and an outstanding 10th place finish for the VU women’s team. The VU men’s team was led by freshman Cody Noel (Hebron, Ind.) who finished with a time of 1:16:45.9, finishing 56th overall out of 155 runners.
