FORT DODGE, Iowa - This Sunday, Oct. 29th, the men's and women's Region XI Cross Country Championships are being hosted by Iowa Central Community College in Fort Dodge.
The men will start off the day running an 8K at 11:00 a.m. with the women following, starting at noon runninng a 5K.
Region XI teams have been preparing for this weekend since August when the 2017 Region XI Time Trials took place in Council Bluffs. Back on Aug. 26, Iowa Central dominated the field with three of their men finishing in the top five as well as the women filling all top five spots.
(To revisit the 2017 Time Trail results, click here.)
The NIACC men were not far behind the Tritons during the time trials, placing second. Earlier this month, NIACC men were ranked No. 12 in the second USTFCCA NJCAA Division I rankings on Oct. 18. NIACC was not the only ICCAC team ranked this season. There are three ICCAC mens teams ranked in the top 25 and two teams receiving votes. Iowa Central is ranked No. 1 and Southwestern No. 24 while Hawkeye and Iowa Western are receiving votes.
Iowa Central's Jhordan Ccope finished first individually in the time trials. Teammates Ezekiel Kipchirchir, Innocent Murwanashyaka, Abdinasir Abdi, and Gemechu Meskele rounded out the top 10. NIACC had three top ten runners: Brian Jacques, Blake Keller, and John Kraft finished 3rd, 7th, and 8th respectively. Iowa Western's Brian Kitur and Dennis Kibowen finished 5th and 6th.
For the women there are also four teams ranked, Iowa Central women are also ranked No. 1, Iowa Western is ranked No. 17, Indian Hills is ranked No. 22 and NIACC is not too far behind at No. 23. The Iowa Western Reviers had a great ending to their season at the Trent Smith Invitational hosted by NIACC. The Revier men and women set many personal bests. The women won the invitational as the men placed third.
In the August time trials, Iowa Central had a perfect score of 15. Adya Cohen, Agnes Mansaray, Aaliyah Regg Wajid, Abeba Sullivan, and Marta Lukijaniuk in order finished first through fifth to give the Tritons their team score. Teammates Katy Pfile and Sierra Stucky finished in 7th and 8th. The only non- Iowa Central runners in the top 10 were Hawkeye's Joanna Topham and Iowa Western's Oliva Russo and Asshanni Robb.
On both sides, Iowa Central is the team to beat. Both Triton teams have gone to several NCAA Division I meets this season and defeated the majority of teams there.
The Hawkeye Invitational was on September 1st. In dual scoring, the Triton women defeated Drake and Illinois State but fell to Iowa, Iowa State, and narrowly to UNI [Northern Iowa]. The men, however, defeated Iowa, UNI, Creighton, Drake, and Illinois State before falling to Iowa State by 17.
At Oklahoma State's Cowboy Jamboree, Iowa Central men finished fourth-- only behind Oklahoma State [whose best runner is former Iowa Western standout Sylvester Barus], Ole Miss, and Penn State while finishing ahead of Tulsa, Missouri, Kansas State, Oklahoma, Stephen F. Austin, Oral Roberts and Wichita State.
Following the Regional Championships, Iowa Central will host the NJCAA National Cross Country Championships on Saturday, Nov. 11.