November 14, 2009
MALDONADO AND HERNANDEZ CONCLUDE PSC CAREERS AT NJCAA CHAMPIONSHIP
Sophomores Jolie Maldonado (Flossmoor, Ill.) and Jeremiah Hernandez (Bloom H.S.) couldn’t have picked a better venue to conclude their Prairie State College cross country careers - the NJCAA Championship, which was held Saturday in Peoria.
In the women’s 5.0-kilometer run, which consisted of the top 263 runners in the country, Maldonado placed 171st with a time of 22:09. She qualified to the national meet after finishing 11th at the Region IV Championship on Oct. 31 (top 15 runners qualify).
Hernandez completed the men’s 8-kilometer event in 32:20 to rank 240th out of 260 participants. Although he did not earn an automatic bid to the meet, he was able to secure a spot based on his strong performances throughout the season.
Both Maldonado and Hernandez are looking to continue their academic and athletic careers at four-year universities next year.
October 31, 2009
MALDONADO QUALIFIES TO NATIONALS AFTER STRONG REGION SHOWING
When the nation’s top runners converge on Detweiler Park in Peoria on Nov. 14 for the NJCAA Championship, sophomore Jolie Maldonado (Flossmoor, Ill.) of the Prairie State College women’s cross country team will be included among the elite group.
Maldonado punched her ticket to the nationals when she ran a 5-kilometer time of 23:10 at the Region IV Championship on Saturday in Sugar Grove to place No. 11. The top-15 region finishers advance to the national meet.
This marks the second consecutive year that the Pioneers are represented in the NJCAA Championship as Devin Horner and Keith Burke competed in the men’s event last fall.
In addition to becoming the first female in PSC’s five-year history to make it to the nationals, Maldonado also is Prairie State’s first cross country runner (male or female) to earn a spot on the All-Illinois Skyway Collegiate Conference team. She earned that honor last Saturday.
Joining Maldonado at the Region IV meet were sophomore Brittney Szykowny (Bloom Trail H.S.) and freshman Raven Jackson (Bloom Trail H.S.). Szykowny, who has improved on her 5- and 6-kilometer times in all seven races this year, ran a career-best 26:22, while Jackson finished in 29:21.
Freshman DeAndre Donaldson (Bloom Trail H.S.) led the Pioneers’ men’s team in the region venue, completing the 8-kilometer run in 31:49. Freshman Steve Tijerina (Covenant Christian H.S.) crossed the finish line in 32:30, and sophomore Perry Conwell (Bloom H.S.) ran the course in 33:44.
Sophomore Jeremiah Hernandez (Bloom H.S.) contributed a 33:51 showing to conclude the team scoring. Sophomore Edward Johnson (Rich East H.S.) and freshman Francisco Mendez (Bloom H.S.) compiled times of 34:21 and 36:26, respectively.
October 24, 2009
MALDONADO BECOMES FIRST PIONEER TO MAKE ALL-CONFERENCE TEAM
For the first time in the five-year history of the Prairie State College men’s and women’s cross country program, the Pioneers have a representative on the All-Illinois Skyway Collegiate Conference team.
Sophomore Jolie Maldonado (Flossmoor, Ill.) received All-ISCC accolades after finishing eighth at the league meet Saturday in Sugar Grove. The top 10 finishers comprise the all-conference team.
Maldonado posted a 5-kilometer time of 24:15 to lead a trio of PSC runners. Sophomore Brittney Szykowny (Bloom Trail H.S.) followed with a career-best 26:28, while freshmen Raven Jackson (Bloom Trail H.S.) finished in 27:08.
In the men’s 8-kilometer competition, freshman DeAndre Donaldson (Bloom Trail H.S.) missed his personal best by five seconds, clocking in at 31:26. Freshman Steve Tijerina (Covenant Christian H.S.) turned in a time of 32:41.
Sophomore Perry Conwell’s (Bloom H.S.) 33:34 effort was his career best, as was freshman Francisco Mendez’s (Bloom H.S.) 35:43. Sandwiched between those two was sophomore Jeremiah Hernandez (Bloom H.S.), who completed the course in 33:42.
Sophomore Edward Johnson (Rich East H.S.) (37:40) also competed for the Pioneers, who were seventh among eight schools.
October 17, 2009
PSC CLOSES OUT REGULAR SEASON AT SAUK VALLEY
In their final tune-ups before the conference and region meets, the Prairie State College men’s and women’s cross country teams competed at the Sauk Valley Community College Invitational on Saturday in Dixon.
The three PSC women’s runners each ran their career-best 5-kilometer times as sophomore Jolie Maldonado (Flossmoor, Ill.) finished in 22:15, sophomore Brittney Szykowny (Bloom Trail H.S.) in 26:30 and freshman Raven Jackson (Bloom Trail H.S.) in 27:00.
The men’s team, which placed seventh among eight schools, was led by sophomore Jeremiah Hernandez’s (Bloom H.S.) 8-kilometer time of 32:41. Freshman DeAndre Donaldson (Bloom Trail H.S.) followed with a 33:28 finish, and freshman Steve Tijerina (Covenant Christian H.S.) ranked third on the team with a time of 33:41.
Sophomore Perry Conwell (Bloom H.S.) (35:50), freshman Francisco Mendez (Bloom H.S.) (37:30) and sophomore Edward Johnson (Rich East H.S.) (37:50) also represented the Pioneers.
Prairie State will participate in the Illinois Skyway Collegiate Conference Championship on Oct. 24 and the Region IV Championship on Oct. 31. Both meets will be held at Waubonsee Community College in Sugar Grove.
October 9, 2009
PIONEERS SHOW SIGNS OF IMPROVEMENT AT BENEDICTINE
There were numerous highlights turned in by the Prairie State College men’s and women’s cross country teams Friday at the Benedictine University Invitational in Lisle.
In the women’s 6-kilometer run, sophomore Jolie Maldonado (Flossmoor, Ill.) led the Pioneers for the sixth time in as many meets as she finished in 27:38.
Sophomore Brittney Szykowny (Bloom Trail H.S.) and freshman Raven Jackson (Bloom Trail H.S.) each produced their season bests. Szykowny had a 33:33 showing, which is :04 shy of her personal record, while Jackson crossed the finish line in 33:49.
Sophomore Perry Conwell (Bloom H.S.) established his all-time best 8-kilometer time in the men’s race, clocking in at 33:39. Sophomore Jeremiah Hernandez (Bloom H.S.), whose 31:32 effort was :03 of matching his quickest time this fall, was tops among the Pioneers’ five-man contingent.
Freshmen DeAndre Donaldson (Bloom Trail H.S.) and Steve Tijerina (Covenant Christian H.S.) placed No. 2 and No. 3 on the team with times of 32:01 and 32:37, respectively.
Freshman Francisco Mendez (Bloom H.S.) registered his second-fastest performance of the campaign after coming in at 36:47.
October 3, 2009
PRAIRIE STATE JOINS NEARLY 800 RUNNERS AT LOYOLA
Nearly 800 collegiate cross country runners competed at the Loyola University Sean Earl Lakefront Invitational along the shores of Lake Michigan in Chicago on Saturday. Included in the group of participants were the Prairie State College men’s and women’s cross country teams.
In the men’s 8-kilometer event, which consisted of 408 runners, PSC was paced by freshman DeAndre Donaldson (Bloom Trail H.S.), who finished in 31:25. Sophomore Jeremiah Hernandez (Bloom H.S.) followed with a 31:40 effort.
Freshman Steve Tijerina (Covenant Christian H.S.) registered a time of 32:24, while sophomore Edward Johnson (Rich East H.S.) clocked in at 33:34, placing him 14 seconds ahead of sophomore Perry Conwell (Bloom H.S.).
Freshman Francisco Mendez (Bloom H.S.) (36:31) also ran for the Pioneers.
Sophomore Jolie Maldonado’s (Flossmoor H.S.) 5-kilometer time of 22:56 led the Prairie State’s women’s team. Also partaking in the in the 379-person event were sophomore Brittney Szykowny (Bloom Trail H.S.) and freshman Raven Jackson (Bloom Trail H.S.), who produced times of 27:41 and 27:44, respectively.
September 19, 2009
PSC FACES NCAA OPPONENTS AT CONCORDIA WISCONSIN
With two exceptions, the Prairie State College men’s and women’s cross country teams competed solely against NCAA schools Saturday at the Concordia University (Wis.) Invitational in Mequon, Wis.
PSC’s men’s team placed 12th among 13 schools, which also included Waubonsee Community College and Elgin Community College from the NJCAA.
Sophomore Jeremiah Hernandez (Bloom H.S.) had the Pioneers’ best 8-kilometer performance of the season as he produced a time of 30:17 to finish 55th among 119 runners. Freshman DeAndre Donaldson (Bloom Trail H.S.) completed the course in 31:21, while freshman Steve Tijerina (Covenant Christian H.S.) crossed the finish line nearly one minute later (32:20).
Sophomore Edward Johnson’s (Rich East H.S.) 32:48 effort was his top showing of the year, and sophomore Perry Conwell (Bloom H.S.) timed in at 34:38 to contribute to Prairie State’s scoring.
In the women’s 6-kilometer run, sophomore Jolie Maldonado (Flossmoor, Ill.) improved on her career best, which she established the previous Saturday, by 1 second when she posted a time of 27:12 to rank 34th among 90 competitors.
Sophomore Brittney Szykowny (Bloom Trail H.S.) and freshman Raven Jackson (Bloom Trail H.S.) had nearly identical times. Szykowny finished in 34:46 and Jackson in 34:56.
September 11, 2009
PIONEERS COMPETE AT AURORA INVITATIONAL
Following the same script as the first two meets of the season, freshman DeAndre Donaldson (Bloom Trail H.S.) of the Prairie State College men’s cross country team and sophomore Jolie Maldonado (Flossmoor, Ill.) of the women’s squad placed first among the Pioneers in their respective races Friday at the Aurora University Invitational in Aurora.
Donaldson turned in an 8-kilometer time of 30:46 to place 75th out of 110 participants. For the third time in as many events, freshman Steve Tijerina (Covenant Christian H.S.) was PSC’s runner up after finishing in 31:05.
Sophomore Jeremiah Hernandez’s (Bloom H.S.) 31:29 performance was identical to his 2008 Aurora showing. Sophomore Perry Conwell’s (Bloom H.S.) 33:40 time and sophomore Edward Johnson’s (Rich East H.S.) 36:36 rounded out the team scoring.
PSC was 11th among 11 teams in the final standings. Seven of those teams, however, were four-year universities.
Maldonado improved on her career-best 6-kilometer time by 2:59 as she timed in at 27:13 to take 53rd in a field of 114.
Freshman Raven Jackson (Bloom Trail H.S.) and sophomore Brittney Szykowny (Bloom Trail H.S.) crossed the finish line at the 35:41 and 35:46 marks, respectively.
September 5, 2009
MALDONADO RECORDS PERSONAL-BEST; DONALDSON LEADS MEN’S TEAM
One week after recording her first-ever top-10 finish, sophomore Jolie Maldonado (Flossmoor, Ill.) of the Prairie State College women's cross country team duplicated the feat, placing seventh among 42 runners at the Waubonsee Community College Chief Invitational on Saturday in Sugar
Grove.
Maldonado, who was ninth out of 46 competitors in the season opener at Harper College the previous Saturday, ran a personal-best 3.0-mile time of 21:48 at Waubonsee.
Also participating for PSC’s women’s team were sophomore Brittney Szykowny (Bloom Trail H.S.) (27:50) and freshman Raven Jackson (Bloom Trail H.S.) (28:24).
In the men’s 5.0-mile event, the Pioneers ended up eighth out of 10 teams.
For the second consecutive week, Prairie State was led by freshman DeAndre Donaldson (Bloom Trail H.S.). His time of 31:03 enabled him to rank 37th out of 66.
Coming in four slots behind Donaldson was freshman Steve Tijerina (Covenant Christian H.S.), who had a time of 31:49. Sophomores Edward Johnson (Rich East H.S.) (33:21), Perry Conwell (Bloom H.S.) (33:40) and Jeremiah Hernandez (Bloom H.S.) (33:59) rounded out PSC’s scoring.
August 29, 2009
MALDONADO HAS BEST-EVER FINISH; MEN PLACE 7TH
During her freshman season on the Prairie State College women’s cross country team last fall, Jolie Maldonado (Homewood, IL) finished in the upper half in just one of eight meets as she was in the top 46% at the Sauk Valley Community College Invitational. Maldonado, however, shattered that mark in the 2009 season opener at the Harper College Invitational in Palatine on Saturday after placing ninth in a field of 46.
Maldonado produced a 2.0-mile time of 14:27 to earn the top-10 showing. Freshman teammate Raven Jackson (Bloom Trail H.S.) completed the course in 18:07.
In the men’s 3.0-mile event, PSC was seventh in the team standings, which consisted of nine colleges. Freshman DeAndre Donaldson (Bloom Trail H.S.) paced the Pioneers with a time of 18:22 to occupy the No. 28 slot in a pool of 66 participants.
Freshman Steve Tijerina (Covenant Christian H.S.) and sophomore Jeremiah Hernandez (Bloom H.S.) were separated by eight seconds after the former clocked in at 19:16 and the latter at 19:24. Sophomore Perry Conwell (Bloom H.S.) followed with a 19:36 performance.
Sophomore Edward Johnson (Rich East H.S.) and freshmen Francisco Mendez (Bloom H.S.) contributed times of 20:00 and 22:59, respectively.
2009-2010 MEN’S/WOMEN'S CROSS COUNTRY LETTERS OF INTENT SIGNEES
The following student-athletes have signed NJCAA letters of intent to continue their academic and cross country careers at Prairie State College beginning in the Fall 2009 semester:
- Steve Tijerina (Covenant Christian H.S.)
- DeAndre Donaldson (Bloom Trail H.S.)
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