2024 All-Region | Men's Cross Country

The ICCAC released the 2024 award winners for the Men's Cross Country season on Tuesday, headlined by those from the two Region 11 Champions from both Division I and Division II. 

Iowa Western won the Division I Men's Cross Country Championship for the second year in a row and did so convincingly. The Reivers had five of the top seven finishers at the event, which earned each of them First Team All-Conference honors which are awarded to the top 7 finishers in both Division I and Division II. Of the 15 All-Region spots up for grabs in Division I, Iowa Western had nine of them. 

Leading the way was 2024 Division Champion & 2024 Division I Athlete of the Year, Geofrey Ronoh. The Iowa Western sophomore powered to a Region 11 record time of 23:18.2, 35 seconds faster than the previous best 8k time set at the meet by Iowa Central's Aspel Kiprob in 2021 (23:53.) Ronoh has won every meet this season he has participated in (four meets) this season. 

Notably, three others would have beaten the Region 11 record time in this year's race. Iowa Western's Barnabas Ndiwa (23:28.9) and Mohammed Kowa (23:36.8) each ran faster than the previous record -- as did Iowa Central's Mohamed Dahmouch (23:34.8). Those three, along with MackDonald Songok of Iowa Western rounded out the Division I's First Team All-Region performances. 

Division II's Athlete of the Year award went to the 2024 Division II Champion, Eli Page of DMACC. The freshman boasted the top time of the 39 Division II runners in the race with a time of 25:13.5. Page took fifth place in every event this season, but beat out his best 8k time (26:11.0) by nearly one minute at the Region 11 Championships. Page was the front runner of a DMACC team that owned the top six finishes of this year's regional meet. 

Joining Page on the Division II First Team All-Region were Caden Brown, Will Thompson and Jordan King. Brown was the runner up while Thompson and King each upped their standing from a season-ago where they were Second Team (King) and Honorable Mention (Thompson) performers. 

Other notable finishers were Iowa Western's Victor Kemboi and Indian Hills' Cayde de Waal, who rounded out the top seven on the First Team All-Conference list. 

This year's Coach of the Year awards went to Iowa Western's Marc Bierbaun for Division I and DMACC's Michael Melchert in Division II. 

Bierbaum led Iowa Western to their second-straight Region 11 Champions and has the Reivers primed to make a push at the NJCAA Division I National Title.

Melchert, in his fifth season as head coach, led the Bears to their first ever Division II crown. The Bears dominated the field occupying nine of the 12 All-Region spots available.

2024 ICCAC All-Conference (Division I & Division II Combined)