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Iowa Central Community College

Iowa Central chasing more hardware at nationals

Iowa Central chasing more hardware at nationals
Posted: Nov 10, 2021

RICHMOND, Va. - The Iowa Central cross country program enters Saturday's NJCAA Div. I Championships with high hopes.

Racing is set for 9:30 a.m. with the men's race and 11 a.m. for the women at Pole Green Park. The event is presented by The Marines. 

The Tritons enter the meet ranked No. 1 in both the latest men's and women's ratings, with the men out to defend their title that was claimed last fall in Fort Dodge. The women entered 2020 as the defending national champions but were forced to miss the event due to COVID-19. 

Kelvin Bungei is the reigning individual champion on the men's side, having claimed the first individual title for Iowa Central since 2012 with a time of 24:57. He is expected to be joined at the front of the pack by teammate Aspel Kiprob. 

Southern Idaho was the team runner-up last year followed by Iowa Western. 

Joining Bungei and Kiprob will be Zander Cobb, Hunter Klimek, Yared Kidane, Brady Hogan, Robin Aguilar Gonzalez and alternate Cassius Havis. 

"The men's team has been fortunate to be ranked first all season long," Iowa Central head coach Dee Brown said. "I feel if they continue to race and compete like they have every other weekend this season, we should expect the same results. This is an exceptional group of young men who have trained very hard together all fall. Whatever the outcome, each one of them will give their very best and we will be pleased with their performance.
 
"Kelvin and Aspel will have a pack of approximately 10 other men to compete with for the top individual honors. To be honest, it will likely be a very blistering pace on this flat course, and the strongest will survive. We need them both to continue to run intelligently and with confidence."

Ranger earned its first national title by winning the women's event last year. Cloud County was second followed by Southern Idaho. 

The women's lineup includes Chloe Garcia Grafing, Taylor McCreedy, Zinash Valen, Josie Stackis, Kate Miron, Mercy Jepngetich, Shaunti Longfellow with alternate Kirstyn Beaman. 

"Our women have looked better and gotten stronger every weekend," Brown said. "They jumped from third to first in the national rankings last week after an amazing performance at the Region XI Championships. The key to our success, much like at regionals, is the depth of our pack. If we can keep our pack of five to six ladies ahead of other team's fifth, sixth and seventh runners that will assist us in our goal of reaching the podium.

"There is a lot of parity in the women's field this year. I think the top three to four team places will be decided by a very narrow margin. Chloe has looked better each weekend as well and I expect to see her become an NJCAA All-American on Saturday."

All-American status is given to the Top-5 for first team, 6-10 make up the second team and 11-15 earn honorable mention.

Iowa Central has won four men's national team titles with the women capturing eight. The teams will also race on Tuesday in the NJCAA Half Marathon Championships where they have a combined 12 titles, including seven from the men.  

Last year, the Triton men finished first and the women second as Trinidad State captured team gold. 

Competing for the men in the half marathon will be Kiprob, Bungei, Cobb, Klimek, Hogan, Aguilar Gonzalez, Connor Kilgore, Isaiah Nebbe, Justin Nibaur, Brayan Silva, Levi Sullivan, Carter Theesfeld and Jacob Willson. The women's roster includes Garcia Grafing, McCreedy, Valen, Stackis, Miron, Jepngetich, Beaman, Mia Blodgett and Brook Haley. 

All-American honors are handed out to the Top-6 finishers. 

Live results can be found here: https://live.athletic.net/meets/10929.

The cross country race will be streamed live on the NJCAA Network.

-By Dana Becker