College track and field: Harper teams place third at nationals

It was a succesful weekend for the Harper College men's and women's track and field teams at the NJCAA national meet in Westfield, Mass., where both squads finished third in the team standings.

Suffolk Community College won the women's crown; the Hawks finished 10 points behind runner-up Prince George's Community College.

Schaumburg alum Ali Gutt set the pace for the Hawks women, winning at both 1,500 (4:52.91) and 800 (2:18.69) meters.

Harper throwers took home a pair of national championships, as Leah Kloss won the hammer (141-8) and Mary Saitta (Hoffman Estates) won discus (104-3).

Kloss was also the runner-up in the javelin, and Ashley Proksa (Palatine) won the long jump crown with a leap of 17-1.25.

In the men's meet, Suffolk Community College was the winner and Gloucester Community College edged Harper by half a point for second place.

It was a big weekend for Palatine alum Laith Kanan, who achieved a hammer throw/shot put double national title. Kanan won the hammer with 161-5, and the shot with 46-11.5. Sophomore Adam Brauer also was a double national champion, in the 5K (16:44.3) and 10K (34:33.03).

Harper's T.J. Paton (Hersey) was second in the 10k, and freshman Will Troman was second in the 5K. Another Palatine grad, Eric Theis, was second in the 400 hurdles.

Softball bows out: Harper's softball season is over after an exit from the NJCAA Region IV tournament in Joliet last weekend.

The Hawks first fell 13-0 to Rock Valley as pitcher Olivia Fluehr tossed a 3-hitter and helped her own cause by hitting a grand slam in the fourth inning. Hersey alum Emily butler went 2-for-2 for Harper.

Next, playing in an elimination game against Joliet, the Hawks came up short 4-3.

Harper rallied in the seventh inning as leadoff hitter Courtney Russ and Nicole Soderholm reached base. A triple by Jordan Dallmann plated them, but a strikeout ended the game.

Russ was selected to the Region IV all-tournament team after finishing 2-for-6 in the two games with a walk and playing stellar first base.

N4C coaching news: Rock Valley College will be looking for a new men's basketball coach after Craig Doty announced he's leaving for NAIA school Graceland University in Lamoni, Iowa. He guided the Golden Eagles to a 113-28 record over the past four seasons, during which Rock Valley made the NJCAA national tourney each time.