Biwott, Ramone Named 2022 Athletes of the Year

The Region 11 Championships were run last Sunday at Fort Dodge, with the outcome of the race determining this year's crop of All-Conference and All-Region performers, along with a coach vote determining the special awards. 

Mercy Biwott repeated as the ICCAC Division I Women's Cross Country champion -- and with that, earned the Division I Women's Cross Country Athlete to the Year honor for the second straight season. She ran a time of 18:04.17 finishing 31 seconds ahead of second place. 

Looking ahead, Biwott will compete for a national championship -- after finishing as the runner up in last year's race. 

Notable performers on the Division I All-Region list, four Tritons joined Biwott on First Team. Chloe Garcia Grafing was the runner up, and Taylor McCreedy finished in third. Both were First Team performers last year as well. 

On the Division II side, a new name burst onto the scene, Aisha Ramone of Southeastern. Ramone won the Region 11 Championship with a time of 19:04.69. Her championship performance, along with her year as a whole, earned her Division II Women's Cross Country Athlete of the Year honors. 

Her teammate Allie Simpson joined her on First Team -- which helped lead the Blackhawks to their first-ever Region 11 team championship for Division II. 

DMACC's Natalia Segura repeated as a First Team performer this season. 

The Coach of the Year awards went to Dee Brown of Iowa Central, and Lucas Keifer of Southeastern -- the head coaches of the team champions. Iowa Central won yet another championship, their 19th in a row, while Southeastern, as mentioned, took home their first Region 11 crown.