Triton Women Three-Peat; Chepengat Wins Race
Iowa Central won its third straight NJCAA Division I Women's Cross Country National Championship in Albuquerque, N.M. on Saturday. The team victory was their eighth all-time.
The Tritons dominated with three runners in the top 7 and four in the top 15. Winrose Chesang (4th) 17:33.57, Eleonora Curtabbi (5th) 17:41.36, Florance Uwajeneza (7th) 17:59.07, and Lilian Busienei (11th) 18:40.01 all placed in the top 15 and earned All-American honors.
"Winning a title is always exciting for those involved," head coach Dee Brown said. "For the athletes, it is the validation of the hard work and sacrifices made throughout the season. I am excited for the sophomores to be able to say they contributed to two national cross country titles."
From Iowa Western, Faith Chepengat (16:48.41), took home the individual crown and had the best individual performance in Iowa Western history as she became the first national champion for the Reivers. It was just the second-ever in NJCAA Women's Cross Country seeing a sub-17 minute 5K effort. It was the second-fastest time in NJCAA history behind Rend' Lakes Rasca Cheruiyot who ran a 6:12 in 2007.
Chepengat won this year's race by 13 seconds.
Overall, two ICCAC teams placed in the top twelve in Iowa Central (1st, 60 points) and Iowa Western (11th, 403 points), while NIACC (16th, 507 points) placed in the top 20. DMACC (788 points) and Hawkeye (955 points) were also represented at Nationals.
2019 NJCAA All-Americans:
1st Team - Faith Chepengat - Iowa Western
1st Team - Winrose Chesang - Iowa Central
1st Team - Eleonora Curtabbi - Iowa Central
2nd Team - Florance Uwajeneza - Iowa Central
Honorable Mention - Lilian Busienei - Iowa Central