Iowa Western Women Claim First-Ever Indoor Championship

March 7, 2021

The Iowa Western Women's Track & Field team claimed their first-ever Indoor Championship on Saturday in Pittsburg, Kan. on Saturday. The Reivers won five events en route to the title and added three runner-up finishes to the performance.

The Iowa Central women finished in fifth place to give the ICCAC another top-5 team finish.

Crowning the Reivers

It was a tight race at the top with three women's teams breaking the 100 point threshold. The 2021 Champions, Iowa Western, scored 117 team points, ahead of South Plains (Texas) 108 and Barton (Kan.), 101.

Alliyah McNeil got things started for the Reivers by winning the high jump with a leap of 1.76m.

The sprinters took care of business with Nickisha Pryce taking the top spot in the 400-meter in 53.38 seconds.

The 4X400 meter relay team ran away from the competition with a 3:44.75 finish. Running the race for the Reivers was McNeil, Pryce, Tirecia Walcott, and Dyandra Gray.

Iowa Western's two-time individual NJCAA Cross Country National Champion, Faith Linga, proved she doesn't just win on the course, she wins on the track by claiming the title in the mile, 3000-meter, and 5000-meter with times of 5:03.42, 9:56.89, and 17:59.17.

Runner-up finishers happened all across the board as Pryce picked up another top-2 in the 200-meter with a narrow margin of defeat when she ran in 23.78.

Other second place performances were turned in by Gray in the 60-meter hurdles with an 8.42 and the Reiver's distance medley relay team finished second with a 12:15.39 to round out the best performances by the National Champions.

Iowa Central finished the NJCAA Championships in fifth place with 70 points and had three individual event champions.

Victoria Adu won the weight throw with a best toss of 19.01m.

Hannah Connell won the 60-meter hurdles in 8.30 seconds. She also took third in the 200m at 24.11.

Finally, Then the distance medley relay team (Rosalie Fish, Nadesha Wallace, Lilia Alvarez, Chloe Lenior) claimed the top spot with their performance of 12:06.58.

Lenoir completed her indoor nationals trip with two individual third place showings in the 3000 and mile. She finished the 3000 in 10:18.17 and the mile in 5:07.96.

Fish (3:02.83) also placed third in the 1000-meter one second behind first place and .02 ahead of Linga.

Hawkeye, who came in 10th place as a team, earned one third place finish in the 4x800. Emma Drake, Sophie Spargur, Kaylee Leicht, and Ryann Portch ran a 9:49.37 race.

Iowa Central Men Turn In Runner-Up Performance

In an attempt to defend their back-to-back National Championships, Iowa Central men finished second at the 2021 NJCAA Indoor Track & Field Championships.

The Tritons finished second to South Plains, who finished 138 team points. The Texans were the only team that scored north of 100 points. Iowa Central's 93 points for second place narrowly edged Cloud County (Kan.) who turned in 91.5 team points.

Triton Dashinelle Dyer claimed the 60-meter title with a time of 6.70 seconds to culminate a dominant season in the event.

Teammate Jaheem Hayles won the 60-meter hurdles with a time of 7.80 seconds. Dyer finished in third place at 7.88.

Sandwiched between the two was Iowa Western's Tajean Houston ran the 60-meter hurdle at 7.83.

Two additional athletes from Iowa Central were able to finish in second place in events.

Nicola Paletti nearly claimed victory, but fell just short in the heptathlon. David Bosquez-Grimaldo jumped to the same height as the eventual winner when he cleared 2.15m, but wasn't able to clear until his third attempt, so he came away with second place.

Numerous other top-3 finishes were turned in by two different ICCAC schools.

Indian Hills' Jackson Burnett finished second in the 1000-meter with his time of 2:29.35.

Warriors' Justin Swann placed third in the 800-meter (1:52.07).

Iowa Western had two more second place performances in addition to Houston. Michael Buchanan jumped 7.33m on his final attempt in the long jump.

Yonas Migos finished .08 seconds behind the champion and turned in the mile with a time of 4:16.59.

Iowa Central's Lee Eppie placed third in the 400-meter and a time of 47:07. Additionally, Nicola Paletti showed his versatility and claimed silver in the heptathlon.