By : Dana Becker
Messenger Sports Staff
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — It was another memorable nationals experience for Dee Brown and the Iowa Central cross country program.
The Triton men secured a runner-up finish led by All-American Aspel Kiprob, while the women placed fifth overall and had two runners earn All-American honors in Chloe Garcia Grafing and Taylor McCreedy.
Colby had no trouble securing the team title in the men's standings, finishing with just 38 total points. Iowa Central was second with 115 followed by Northwest Kansas Tech, El Paso and New Mexico JC. Southern Idaho held off New Mexico JC for the women's crown, with Salt Lake, Hutchinson and the Tritons rounding out the Top-5.
"It was a hard day to run," Brown said. "It was hot and very humid, and the course was damp and slow. The best way to describe both teams was gutsy and gritty. They fought.
"They out-performed. The men were without one of our Top-3 and still finished second in the nation in a very tight battle. We were down the entire way, moved up to third halfway through and tied for 2nd with 1k to go. Then they solidified it."
Sanele Masondo of Colby won the men's race by 0.4 seconds ahead of Rodgers Rotich from Butler. The Trojans had four in the Top-10 overall.
The Tritons were looking to secure a three-peat, but settled for their ninth gold and silver finish in the past 10 years. Kiprob, in his second year, was sixth overall with a time of 24:45.1.
Yared Kidane finished 19th, Jed Elmbarki was 24th, Will Sacay placed 29th, Zander Cobb was 40th, Brady Hogan finished 52nd and Ayenew Devany was 73rd.
Southern Idaho repeated in the women's standings with Faith Nyathi of El Paso winning her second individual title over Iowa Western's Mercy Biwott. The two also finished 1-2 last year.
Garcia Grafing, a sophomore, clocked a time of 18:38.5 to finish eighth with McCreedy, also a sophomore, placing 11th in 18:57.6. Zinash Valen was 44th, Britney Brown 50th, Kenzie Kaperka 108th, Brook Haley 133rd and Kate Miron 145th.
"We had several runners step up and pull us through," Brown said. "Kenzie was exceptional for the women and Jed, our alternate, proved to be our secret weapon.
"I'm so proud of each and every one of them."
The Tritons will run back here on Tuesday in the NJCAA Half Marathon Championships.