Tritons to Chile Pepper
The Iowa Central men's and women's cross country squads face their toughest challenge yet this season as they travel to Fayetteville, AR to participate in the Chile Pepper Festival this Saturday. With over 80 collegiate teams competing from a mixture of NCAA Division I, II, NAIA and the NJCAA it should prove to be some stiff competition. Because of the large field size, the meet has been divided into two heats, with the Tritons competing in the fast heats in both the men's and women's meet. The men's 8 kilometer race will begin at 9:00 am while the women's 5 kilometer race gets underway at 10:40 am.
Women's Race
The women enter this week holding on to the #1 ranking in the NJCAA. Their nearest junior college competitor will be the #7 ranked team of Cowley Community College (KS). Eight other junior colleges will be represented in the slower heat, markedly NJCAA Region XI rivals North Iowa Area Community College (NIACC) of Mason City and Southwestern Community College of Creston. The biggest competition for the women will likely come from the host school, the University of Arkansas, who is ranked #2 among NCAA Division I programs. Other top ranked Division I programs include: #19 Oklahoma State, and Texas who received votes. Western Colorado is ranked #6 among NCAA Division II programs. From the NAIA, #24 ranked Oklahoma City and St. Mary (KS) who also received votes will be in the fast heat.
Men's Race
The #2 NJCAA ranked Iowa Central men moved up one spot in the polls and will look for a rematch versus #1 ranked Cloud County Community College (Kansas). Last time they squared off, two weeks ago at the Woody Greeno Invitational in Lincoln, NE, Cloud County placed fifth with 155 points to the Triton's sixth place finish with 174 points. Both teams will be competing in the fast heat of the Chile Pepper Invitational. Other top ranked teams include from NCAA Division 1: #8 Oklahoma State, #25 University of Arkansas and the University of Texas who received votes. Top NCAA Division II programs include the #1 ranked Colorado School of Mines, #3 Western Colorado and #15 Northwest Missouri State University. Top NAIA programs in the fast heat include: #1 Oklahoma City, #3 St. Mary (KS) and #24 Baker (KS).
2018 Results
The top returner for the Tritons from last year's competition is Awet Yohannes of Sweden. Last year Yohannes finished in 30th place with a time of 25:24.7. Teammate Milos Pendic finished in 64th at 25:56.7. Last year's men's team finished second overall only to the host Razorbacks by a score of 38 to 125.
Winrose Chesang is the top returner for the Triton's from last year's team. Chesang finished 16th overall in a time of 17:57.1, Florance Uwajeneza placed 28th in 18:05.0 and Lilian Busienei was 35th in 18:13.8. Last year the Tritons finished third overall with 175 points to host Arkansas (34 points) and Wichita State (116 points).
The Course
The Chile Pepper Festival is contested on the home course of the Arkansas Razorbacks at the University of Arkansas Experimental Farm. It is a relatively flat course compromised primarily of grass and cinder. Both the Iowa Central men's and women's 8 km and 5 km school records were established here. Andrew Ronoh ran a blistering time of 23:33 in 2015 before moving on to the University of Arkansas to continue his studies. The women's record was established in 2016 by multiple-time USTFCCCA athlete of the year Leanne Pompeani, who posted a mark of 16:27.
Alums to Watch
The 15th ranked Northwest Missouri State Bearcats boast two Triton alums. Junior, Jhordan Ccope of Peru and senior, Karim Achengli of Spain finished as the team's number one and three runners at their previous competition, the Southern Stampede in Joplin, MO. Ccope finished third overall in 24:22.8 while Achengli finished eighth in 24:57.9. At the 2018 Chile Pepper Festival, Ccope finished 14th overall in a time of 24:48.6 for the Tritons while Achengli was 12th in 24:46.2. The Bearcats will be racing in the fast heat with the Tritons.
Redshirt Junior, Aaliyah Regg Wajid, was named the Great American Conference Women's Cross Country Runner of the Week after her performance in her first competition for the East Central University Tigers. Last weekend at the Southern Stampede she finished 14th overall in a time of 18:01.21. The ECU Tigers, who are ranked fifth in the NCAA Division II Central Region poll, will be competing in the fast heat with the Tritons this weekend.
Live results will be posted at: http://www.flashresults.com/2019_Meets/xc/ChilePepper/
From Coach Dee Brown
"We look to put our best foot forward this weekend. This will be one of the toughest fields we have ever witnessed at the Chile Pepper Festival. If our men can finish among the top eight and our women among the top four, I will consider it a satisfactory weekend."
Men Split Squad
While the top nine Tritons travel to Arkansas, the remainder of the team will travel to Waverly, IA to compete in the 22nd Annual Dan Huston Invitational on the Max Championship Cross Country Course. Some of the top NCAA Division III talent of the Central Region will be competing in addition to NJCAA Region XI rivals #15 ranked Hawkeye Community College and Southeastern Community College.
Other top competitors include on the men's side: #3 Washington University (MO), #4 Wartburg and #33 St. Thomas.
From Coach Ekel
"Our coaching staff is looking forward to seeing how our student-athletes have improved over the past two weeks of training. We are excited to be able to compete on a historically fast course at Wartburg and in the process learn more about the identity of our team."