Region 4 crowns Carl Sandburg, DuPage with men's cross country titles
MALTA, ILL. - There was little doubt who the top runners and teams were at the 2021 Region 4 Division II & III Men's Cross Country Championship on October 30. When the final scores were tallied, Carl Sandburg College claimed the Division II title and the College of DuPage took home the Division III hardware. Individually, the Chargers' Calton Kibet and Joliet Junior College's Hunter Phillips earned Runner of the Year accolades as the first place finishers.
Carl Sandburg College placed the top three runners, as well as five of top ten, en route to an impressive team score of 21, half the team total of runners-up Moraine Valley Community College with 42. The rest of the team standings were complete by third place College of Lake County at 97 points, Waubonsee Community College with 102 points, and Bryant & Stratton College with 109 points. Kibet, a first year runner from Kenya, finished in 24:51, followed by teammate Emmanuel Kiprop at 25:07.
The team chase in Division III was much closer as the College of DuPage's 33 points was good enough to get past last year's national runners-up Joliet Junior College at 37 points. Harper College was third with 56 points. Phillips, a freshman from Shorewood, Illinois, was more than a minute ahead of the rest of the field with a time of 25:48. Caleb DeBoer from COD took runner-up honors with a 26:58 time.
Region 4 Coach of the Year honors went to Rodney Blue of Carl Sandburg College in Division II and Robert Cervenka of the College of DuPage in Division III.
2021 Region 4 Divisions II & III Men's Cross Country Final Results
Those who qualify will compete on November 13 at the 2021 NJCAA Division II Men's Cross Country Championship in Richmond, Virginia or in Milledgeville, Georgia, at the 2021 NJCAA Division III Men's Cross Country Championship.
2021 Region 4 Division II All-Region Teams
(All-Region team placements are listed in order of finish at Region IV Meet)
First Team
Calton Kibet - Carl Sandburg College
Emmanuel Kiprop - Carl Sandburg College
Josphat Langat - Carl Sandburg College
Brandon Armendarez - Moraine Valley Community College
Cody Arenas - College of Lake County
Second Team
Nick Janson - Carl Sandburg College
Jackson Sima - Moraine Valley Community College
Thomas Diaz - Moraine Valley Community College
Brian Kipchemis - Carl Sandburg College
Karabo Mothekhe - Bryant & Stratton College
Third Team
Luke Ferri - Oakton Community College
Gavin Hampton - Moraine Valley Community College
Juan Ramos - Moraine Valley Community College
Jonathan Garcia - Morton College
Jaden Aguino - Bryant & Stratton College
Runner of the Year
Calton Kibet - Carl Sandburg College
Coach of the Year
Rodney Blue - Carl Sandburg College
2021 Region 4 Division III All-Region Teams
(All-Region team placements are listed in order of finish at Region IV Meet)
First Team
Hunter Phillips - Joliet Junior College
Caleb DeBoer - College of DuPage
Owen Erickson - Joliet Junior College
Sebastian Esparza - College of DuPage
Anthony Eddy - College of DuPage
Runner of the Year
Hunter Phillips - Joliet Junior College
Coach of the Year
Robert Cervenka - College of DuPage