Three Commodores Earn All-American Honors at NJCAA Championships
November 11, 2023 - - The Lorain County Community College cross country teams both placed in the top ten in the National Junior College Athletic Association National Championships on Saturday, November 11, 2023. Three runners from LCCC earned NJCAA All-American honors for finishing in the top 15.
The men's team finished 6th out of 16 DIII schools competing in Huntsville, Alabama, an improvement on last year's finish of ninth.
The women's placed 10th out of 11, repeating their top ten finish from last year.
For the men's team, Matthew Bowman (North Ridgeville, Ohio/North Ridgeville HS) and Michael Couture (Elyria, Ohio/Open Door Christian HS) delivered top ten times for the Commodores, 6th and 9th respectively, to earn All-American status. Bowman capped off his LCCC running career with a 26:58.60 time while Couture clocked in a few seconds behind at 27:05.30. The All-American honor is Bowman's second as a LCCC Commodore.
Madison Palmer (Sheffield Village, Ohio/Brookside HS) came in fifth place overall to earn All-American honors with a time of 20:03.90 to lead the Commodores women's team to their sixth top ten finish in the last 11 years. The men's team had their highest ranking since 2014 where they came in sixth. It is the fifth top ten finish at nationals since 2013.
| Name | Place | Time |
|---|---|---|
| Matthew Bowman | 6th | 26:58.30 |
| Michael Couture | 9th | 27:05.30 |
| Ethan Zientarski (Lorain, Ohio/Elyria Catholic HS) | 50th | 30:04.20 |
| Scott Saksa (Columbia Station, Ohio/Columbia HS) | 75th | 32:09.50 |
| Noah Willard (Grafton, Ohio/Midview HS) | 86th | 32:45.60 |
| Andrew Hamilton (Elyria, Ohio/Elyria HS) | 89th | 32:58.60 |
| Rayan Zaidi (Amherst, Ohio/Marion L. Steele HS) | 92nd | 33:26.80 |
| Name | Place | Time |
|---|---|---|
| Madison Palmer | 5th | 20:03.90 |
| Leah Basci (Lagrange, Ohio/Keystone HS) | 62nd | 25:02.40 |
| Isabella Morales (Amherst, Ohio/Vermilion HS) | 66th | 25:20.00 |
| Ella Meszaros (Vermilion, Ohio/Firelands HS) | 74th | 26:00.90 |
| Ally Marszal (Elyria, Ohio/Avon HS) | 80th | 27:18.30 |