The 2018 Region XI Championship Cross Country meet will be held this Friday, October 26th, 2018 in Bettendorf with Scott Community College as the host.
Address:
Crow Creek Park
4800 Devils Glen Rd
Bettendorf, IA 52722
The teams participating will be Iowa Central, Hawkeye, NIACC, Indian Hills, DMACC, Southwestern, Iowa Western, Southeastern, and Scott.
The women will start things off at 4PM, followed by the men at 5PM. The weather forecast for the start of the meet is 53 degrees, with a 15% chance of rain, winds coming from NNE at 6mph.
Teams to Watch:
Iowa Central – Iowa Central brings a tradition of excellence to the Region XI Championship meet on both the men's and women's side. They both are coming off national championships in the 2017-18 Season, and are looking to replicate that success this postseason.
The men are currently ranked No. 2 in the current USTFCCCA Poll. The Tritons are paced by Ezekiel Kipchirchir, who most recently won the Jim Drews/Tori Neubauer Invitational with a time of 24:56.2 in the 8000M race. Kipchirchir, along with other standouts Jhordan Ccope, and Awet Yohannes, all finished in the top 10 to help the Tritons claim the team title. Look for these Tritons to keep on rolling into the Region championship, barring injury.
In the current USTFCCCA Poll, and the Iowa Central women are ranked #1 in the nation. The women are being paced by Winrose Chesang, Lilian Busienei, Abeba Sullivan, Florance Uwajeneza, and Marion Bartilol this season. The trio of Chesang, Busienei, and Sullivan finished top 8 at the Jim Drews/Tori Neubauer Invitational, helping the Triton women to win the team title. Iowa Central will be seeking to win another region title this year and continue their recent domination.
Hawkeye – Hawkeye has enjoyed success so far in their young program history and will try and continue that into the Region XI Championships. If they want to win this meet, they'll have a tough task in taking down the dominant Tritons in a meet that they've largely owned for years. The men are are led by Peter Torkleson, David Thompson and Payton Bahl, who have all helped lead the RedTails to meet wins this season. The women have been led by Joanna Topham, these standouts will have to have some of their best times of the year if they want to defeat Iowa Central
NIACC- NIACC has been a consistent presence in ICCAC cross country competition in recent memory, and this year they will have tough competition like usual. The men are led by Gavin Connell, Abdiaziz Wako, Sam Pedelty, and Daniel Hennigar. The Women are paced by Emma Davison, Julia Dunlavey, and Caitlyn Regan. NIACC will have to overcome strong odds for the favorite Iowa Central, but are hungry for the opportunity to compete against some of the best competition in the country at the Region XI Championship.