Emilie Jenson
Public Information Coordinator
The run to defend regional championships and earn national titles is underway for the Iowa Central Cross Country Team.
The Tritons, who secured both the men's and women's regional titles on their home course last season and finished in second (men) and fifth places (women) at the NJCAA Nationals in Tallahassee, Florida, are looking to a young squad to continue where the 2022 sophomore dominated squad left off.
"We graduated a lot of runners from last year," said Dee Brown, director of cross country and track and field at Iowa Central. "This squad is young and untested with a lot of new faces."
The Tritons return just two sophomores, Housem Hrabi and Jed Elmbarki, for the men this season while the women are an entirely new squad in 2023. They run intersquad meets on Friday August 25 in preparation for opening the regular season at the Augustana Twilight in Sioux Falls, SD on September 1.
Brown said the young squads are slowly building into the season to acclimate to each other and collegiate meet distances and to prepare for meets later in the season.
"In Iowa, high schools run a 5K race," said Brown. "That changes to a collegiate 8K for the men, so they are training to learn a 5-mile race. We are gradually building into the season, one meet at a time, with our focus on nationals and our biggest meet in Arkansas in October. That's where we will run against all of the Division I schools and we are working hard to do good against them."
Joining Brown on the cross country staff this year is first year assistant coach and Iowa Central Alum Mackenzie Gaherty. Gaherty attended Iowa Central from 2018-2020, where she competed on the track and field and cross country teams. At Iowa Central she was part of two national champion half marathon teams and one national champion cross country team. In her final season as a Triton in 2020 she was a part of the All-American 4x800 relay team at the NJCAA Indoor Championships. Gaherty was a team captain for cross country in 2019.
"I am thrilled to have a former athlete like Coach Gaherty joining our staff. She brings youth, fresh ideas and energy to our programs," stated Coach Dee Brown, Director of Cross Country & Track and Field at Iowa Central. "Having been through our program, she knows how I like to run things and what my expectations are for our athletes and can help guide them in the proper direction. It is a bonus that she has been through two other successful programs after graduating from Iowa Central."