Photo courtesy Heartland Hawks
NORMAL, Ill. – The Heartland Hawks went from not having a cross country team to placing at nationals in less than a year.
There was no cross country program at Heartland Community College last season. But over the weekend, their men’s and women’s teams had strong performances at the NJCAA Cross Country Championships. The men’s team placed 5th and the women’s team placed 2nd, capping off a magical inaugural season.
The Heartland cross country program also had 7 All-Americans in total. 5 members of the women’s team and 2 members of the men’s team achieved this honor. Freshman runner Brooke Evans said a big reason for the team’s success was to stay optimistic.
“Overall, we’ve stuck to a lot of positivity, and focused on big meets like regionals and nationals,” said Evans.
This eager, yet focused attitude has given the Hawks the spark they needed to continuously perform well throughout the season, a feat they hope to build upon next season.