By Dana Becker
Messenger Sports Staff
It was another dominating performance by the Iowa Central cross country team here Sunday.
The Tritons, competing at home, swept the Region XI titles at Lakeside Golf Course and Kennedy Park. Iowa Central's Yared Kidane was also the individual men's winner, leading a sweep of the gold, silver and bronze medals.
Kidane captured the race in 24:54.19, some nine seconds ahead of teammate Aspel Kiprob. Zander Cobb was third, Will Sacay fifth, Brady Hogan sixth, Ayenew Devany seventh, Jed Elmbarki eighth, Baylor Bergren ninth and Joseph Asahi Wright 10th.
With that finish, there was little doubt when it came to team race, as the Tritons finished with just 17 points – one over the minimum. Iowa Western was a distant second followed by Hawkeye, Southeastern, Indian Hills, North Iowa Area, Des Moines Area, Southwestern and Scott.
"Our Top-3 groups of men were lights out running in their packs," ICCC head coach Dee Brown said. "We finished in 10 of the Top-11 positions overall in the conference. I knew our Top-2 packs of varsity guys were capable of that, but what really impressed me were guys like Baylor Bergren and Ander Julian outperforming their rank coming in.
"We had a few personal bests sprinkled throughout on a tough course, so that was also fun to see. This was a great tune-up for nationals in two weeks."
The lone gold to elude Iowa Central came in the women's race, as Mercy Biwott of Iowa Western was the winner in 18:04.17 to repeat as champion. The sophomore placed ahead of Triton runners Chloe Garcia Grafing, Taylor McCreedy and Zinash Valen.
Those three helped Iowa Central finish with 39 points, nine ahead of the Reivers. Southeastern, DMACC, Indian Hills and Hawkeye rounded out the team standings.
"This was one of our first opportunities all year we had to run our Top-7 in the same race," Brown said. "Our Top-3 did exactly what we knew they were capable of, and Britney (Brown), our No. 4, ha da huge race for herself and our team placing significantly higher than expected."
Team standings do get broken into two divisions, as the Tritons won the Div. I titles with Hawkeye claiming the men's Div. II crown and Southeastern the women's.
Iowa Central has won each of the past two Div. I team titles and nine in a row dating back to 2012. Kidane's victory marked the 11th straight men's race for the Tritons, as Kiprob won it last year.
The Iowa Central women have never lost a regional title dating back to 2004, while Biwot is the third straight champion from Iowa Western.
Brown extended his thanks to all those that helped put on a "first-class experience" for the runners.
"The support from Fort Dodge Parks and Rec, Lakeside Golf Course and the Iowa Central family were amazing to pull off a first-class race experience for all involved," he said.
Next action for the Tritons will be Saturday, Nov. 12 when they head to Tallahassee, Fla. for the NJCAA Championships.