Three Hesston College cross country runners ran in the NJCAA National Cross Country Championship Race in Hobbs, N.M. on Saturday Nov. 12. Representing the Larks were sophomores Krista Rittenhouse (Mt Pleasant, Pa.) and Robert Ketcher (Bunch, Okla.) and freshman Jacob Landis (Sterling, Ill.).

On the women’s side, Rittenhouse capped off a stellar Hesston career by Krista finishing 47th out of 268 runners with a time of 20:53.57.

For the men, Landis put an exclamation point on a terrific season by finishing 44th among 288 runners with a time of 28:05. Ketcher enjoyed a solid day as well, finishing 183rd with a time of 30:17.

71 Junior Colleges and approximately 550 runners participated in the meet.

“I was very proud of how our runners performed,” said Hesston coach Gerry Sieber. “All three ran very smart races and raced very close to their potential. It feels like we’re establishing something special with a young cross country program here at Hesston. It will be difficult to say goodbye to our nine sophomores who did a terrific job of kick starting a new program.”