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2023-24 Women's Cross Country News

  • VU Cross Country takes seventh at Half Marathon Championships
    November 14, 2024
    RICHMOND, Va. – The Vincennes University Men’s and Women’s Cross Country teams closed out their 2024 season Tuesday morning with a strong performance at the 2024 NJCAA Half Marathon Championships. Both the VU men’s and women’s teams earned seventh place finishes as a team in the 13.1 mile race hosted at Dorey Park in Richmond, Va. The day began with the women’s race, which saw the Trailblazers again paced by freshman Sarra Belgacem (Tunis, Tunisia) who’s time of 1:32:10.2 placed her 27th overall.
  • Trailblazer Cross Country improves on ranking at NJCAA Nationals
    November 10, 2024
    RICHMOND, Va. – The Vincennes University Men’s and Women’s Cross Country teams had a great day Saturday afternoon at the 2024 NJCAA Division I National Championships hosted at Pole Green Park in Richmond, Va. Both of the VU men’s and women’s teams finished higher than their National ranking heading into the Championship race with the VU men’s team finishing 14th overall and the Vincennes women’s team placing 19th overall. The day began with the women’s 5k race where the Trailblazers were once again led by freshman Sarra Belgacem (Tunis, Tunisia) who placed 64th overall with a final time of 19:27.7.
  • Abdaoui, Trailblazers win Region 24 Championship
    October 30, 2024
    NORMAL, Ill. – The Vincennes University Men’s and Women’s Cross Country teams successfully defended their Region 24 crowns last week at the 2024 NJCAA Region 24 Championships at Maxwell Park in Normal, Ill. The Trailblazers were competing as the only NJCAA Division I team at the Championships but were boosted by freshman Anis Abdaoui (Kairouan, Tunisia) who paced the field in the Men’s 8K race with a final time of 25:52 to claim the men’s individual Region Championship. “The Regional meet is always very different from the other races during the season,” VU Head Cross Country Coach Tyler Steigenga said. “It was a much smaller field than we are used to and this year it was only six days after our last meet. With the short turnaround and our goal being to be at our best for the National meet, our top five guys played things a little more conservative today. They were instructed to go out easy and keep things very relaxed through the first three miles and then speed up the last two if they were feeling good or maintain their pace into the finish.”
  • Trailblazer Cross Country ends regular season with great showing at Angel Mounds
    October 18, 2024
    EVANSVILLE, Ind. – The Vincennes University Men’s and Women’s Cross Country teams closed out the 2024 regular season Friday morning at the 2024 Angel Mounds Invitational hosted by the University of Southern Indiana in Evansville. The Trailblazers ended the regular season on a high note in a large field of four-year schools, including many NCAA Division I teams competing. The morning began with the Men’s 8k race, where VU freshman Anis Abdaoui (Kairouan, Tunisia) led the way for the Blue and Gold, finishing with a time of 25:18.2 and taking 31st place overall.
  • VU Cross Country divide and conquer big split weekend meets
    October 05, 2024
    Terre Haute, Ind. and Louisville, Ky. – The Vincennes University men’s and women’s Cross Country teams pulled double duty this weekend as members of the VU men’s team took part in the Nike XC Town Twilight at the LaVern Gibson Championship Course in Terre Haute Friday night, while the rest of the men’s and women’s teams headed to Louisville for the 2024 Live in Lou Classic Saturday. The weekend started with members of the men’s team taking the short trip to Terre Haute for a unique cross country race, racing under the lights at the LaVern Gibson Championship Course. Vincennes was paced on the day by freshman Stephen Hershberger (Fowler, Ind.) who finished with a time of 29:04.25 to place 148th overall.
  • VU Cross Country back in action at John McNichols Invitational
    September 21, 2024
    TERRE HAUTE, Ind. – The Vincennes University Cross Country teams were eager to get back on the course Saturday morning, competing for the first time in over three weeks at the 2024 John McNichols Invitational at the LaVern Gibson Championship Course in Terre Haute. The Trailblazers were part of a very large field of four-year schools, being one of only two two-year programs to compete in the event. “The team was looking forward to getting back to racing after three weeks off of competition,” VU Head Cross Country Coach Tyler Steigenga said. “This was the first 8k for a lot of the men and 6k for the women.”
  • VU Cross Country battles tough conditions and hot weather at EIU Walt Crawford Open
    August 31, 2024
    CHARLESTON, Ill. – The Vincennes University Cross Country season got off to an interesting start Friday afternoon at the 2024 Walt Crawford Open hosted by Eastern Illinois University. High temperatures and a lightning delay forced changes to the schedule, which caused the men’s and women’s races to be run at the same time and the men’s race to be changed to a 5K race instead of the usual 8K. “The meet got pushed back an hour on Thursday due to the hot weather,” VU Head Cross Country Coach Tyler Steigenga said. “An hour before the women’s race on Friday, there was lightning in the area, so we had to take shelter inside. We waited about an hour and then all of the coaches got told that we were going to run the men and women together with both doing a 5K. It got a little chaotic as that gave everyone less than 20 minutes to get to the line in order to get the race in before more potential storms. To add to the chaos it was 90 degrees at the start, with a real feel of 98 degrees.”
  • VU welcomes new Director of Athletics John Meeks
    August 21, 2024
    VINCENNES, Ind. - John Meeks, an experienced athletics administrator with an academic ethos, is the new Vincennes University Director of Athletics. VU President Dr. Chuck Johnson proudly announced the appointment of Meeks on Wednesday, August 21, during a VU Board of Trustees meeting.  Meeks is a former college basketball coach currently serving as the Director of Athletics at Big Bend Community College in Moses Lake, Washington. He will begin his role leading VU Athletics on Monday, Sept. 9.
  • VU Golf and Volleyball honored as 31 Blazers earn NJCAA All-Academic honors
    July 18, 2024
    CHARLOTTE, N.C. – The 2023-24 National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) Academic awards were announced Thursday, with Vincennes University well represented. First came the announcement of the 2023-24 Academic Teams of the Year, with teams needing to hold a cumulative GPA of 3.0 or better to be honored. Nearly 1,200 teams were named across the NJCAA members colleges and sports, with Vincennes University being named twice.