The 3rd ranked Iowa Central men started their first 8-kilometer race of the season under cloud cover but that didn't stop the temperatures from heating up midway through the race. It was hot and humid, with soft ground after an overnight shower. The men were without their #3 runner, Hamza Mohamed today for cautionary reasons. Mohamed Dahmouch led the Tritons in scoring again with a ninth-place finish overall out of 326 runners. The field was comprised of many NCAA Division I, II, III, NAIA and Junior College teams. Dahmouch's time of 24:57.0 is the 24th fastest time in school history for the Tritons. Brian Kirwa was next for the men with a 20th place finish and a time of 25:32.4. Kirwa's time was also among the top 50 in school history. Sophomore transfer, Yasser Soualah finished in 85th place with a time of 26:59.9. The final four scoring runners for the Tritons were Evan Paplow (126th – 27:41.8), Ala Elmbarki (130th – 27:45.6), Ben Reyes (201st – 28:54.4) and Rodney Maracle (203rd – 29:02.4).
"Overall I saw more competing, but some need to stay focused late in the race," said assistant xc/tf coach, Mark Bennett.
The men finished 11th overall as a team out of 26 scoring teams. NCAA Division I teams were removed from the results and scored separately in a red division. Therefore, the Tritons finished 8th of 21 teams in the Gold Division, among all NCAA Division II & III, NAIA, and Junior College programs.
In three meets, the women have been led by three different runners. This week, freshman Abbi Hutchinson filled that role with her 32nd place finish out of 230 finishers. Her 5-kilometer time was 18:49.6. Marie Garret (19:03.2) and Imane Jourji (19:06.7) ran stride for stride to finish in 42nd and 44th places, respectively. Juliette Gavois ran a personal best time of 19:27.2 to finish in 58th. Next for Iowa Central was Maud Lambotte in 87th with a time of 20:01.7. The final two scorers for the Tritons were Aliva Edens (135th – 20:54.7) and Natalie Bogdanova Kirilova (156th – 21:23.8). The final runner for Iowa Central was Darylinn Cook in 26:27.6. The women's team finished 4th of 16 teams in the Gold Division and 9th of 22 teams overall. The Tritons were the highest finishing junior college program.
"We ran without our top runner today, but I knew the strength of our pack and the fight in our women's team would be enough to finish ahead of the other ranked junior college programs. We were really pleased with how they competed," said Director of XC/TF, Dee Brown.
The Tritons will compete next weekend at the Chile Pepper Invitational hosted by the University of Arkansas on Saturday, September 28th.