By:Patrick Hall Tuesday, 7 November, 2006

PCC sophomore Ande Jorgenson ran a near perfect race at the NJCAA National Championships on Nov. 4th in El Paso, Texas. Jorgenson’s season best effort earned him recognition as a Coaches’ All-American for his 30th place finish out of 215 runners.

After having finished 27th in the Region only two weeks ago, Jorgenson improved 16 positions by moving up to 11th in the Region at Nationals.

“This felt great,” said Jorgenson. “In the past I’ve run well in some meets, but not when it counted. The way I ran this race gives me a lot of confidence heading into spring track season. My goal is to run a sub 14:50 in the 5K at Nationals.”

“Ande ran a brilliant race,” said Head Coach Ben Sigle. “He went out at 5:11 for the first mile, and then 5:15 for the second. That put him somewhere in the middle of the pack, right where we wanted him. After the third mile he just started rolling people up. Had the race gone on for another 200 meters, he would have reeled in another 4-5 runners.”

Dylan Motta (SO, Miami, FL) also entered the race, but had to pull out with a hip injury after only two miles.

It will now be a lot of long, slow mileage for Jorgenson as he rests a little before beginning his pursuit of outdoor goals.