Macnider, Ramirez guide Harper to national title

It’s not suprising that when Jim Macnider was hired as the Harper College men’s and women’s cross country coach expectations would rise for the program.

Macnider coached the Schaumburg High School boys cross country program to three state championships.

“He’s a legend — to have him at Harper was a shock,” said Lake Zurich grad Cisco Soto of the Macnider hire.

“He has the credentials,” said Pablo Ramirez, a standout this season at Harper and Conant grad.

Those credentials increased in Macnider’s first season in charge of the Harper program as the men’s team won its first NJCAA Division III national title Saturday in Springfield, Mass.

“These are really competitive kids,” Macnider said of his title-winning squad.

The Hawks’ 60 points were 33 points better than the second-place finisher, seven-time defending champion SUNY-Delhi.

“It’s kind of cool,” Macnider said of stopping yet another title run, which is something he’s had a little bit of experience with. While directing the Saxons, they stopped a York streak of five straight state championships.

Despite the score differential, coaches at the meet believed that it was “a more competitive meet than last year,” said Macnider, who ran at Harper in the 1970s. “It shows what kind of depth we have.”

Leading the way was Ramirez, who finished fourth in 26:02 to earn NJCAA All-America honors.

“You knew darn well he was going to be one of the top guys,” Jim Macnider said.

“I did it exactly how I like to race,” said Ramirez, who believes he could have won the individual title. “I never doubted I could win.”

Ramirez is attracting attention from several four-year schools. Chicago State and St. Francis have already made scholarship offers to Ramirez, and UIC and Texas A&M Commerce have also shown interest.

His junior college career isn’t yet over, though. Ramirez would like the spring track season to be as memorable as the cross country season.

“I want to make a statement (during track season),” he said.

Soto and Ryan Wojdyla (Palatine) also earned All-America status with top-20 cross country finishes.

“Cisco ran the best race of the season at nationals,” Macnider said.

Next season, Macnider believes his Hawks will have to adjusted to becoming the hunted, rather than being the hunter. That, too, is something he’s comfortable with.

“I don’t see why we can’t string together national titles,” he said.