Tiger men place third as they return the program to national prominence
One year removed from not competing as a team at the national championships, the Cowley College men’s cross country team brought home a third place national trophy from the NJCAA Division II Cross Country National Championships held Saturday in Fort Dodge, IA.
One year removed from not competing as a team at the national championships, the Cowley College men's cross country team brought home a third place national trophy from the NJCAA Division II Cross Country National Championships held Saturday in Fort Dodge, IA.
North Iowa Area Community College out-paced the field to capture the Trojans' first cross country title in program history. Freshman Melvin Kipkemboi helped the Trojans secure the win with a first-place finish with a time of 24:58 in the five-mile run. North Iowa Area placed four runners on the NJCAA All-America team.
Allen Community College finished second behind North Iowa, only two points in front of the Tigers.
"The guys were right there, very close," Rieth said. "We went from eighth place in the region a year ago, to being outright region and conference champions and a third place national finish. These guys believed in what we are doing as a program and showed up every day ready to work."
Placing right behind individual national champion Melvin Kipkemboi were a pair of Tiger runners as freshmen Adrian Diaz-Lopez (25:01) and Amos Pkiach ((25:07) finished second and third, respectively to earn First-Team All-American honors.
Fellow freshmen Xoel Rodriguez-Abad (26.48, 19th place) and Joel Rodriguez (27:05, 23rd place) also ran well, while sophomore Edwin Olvera (27:11, 25th place), Javyn Contreras (27:12, 26th place), and Samuel Giles (27:26, 31st place) finished just behind the others.
"There will come a day when we win the cross country national championship and these will be the guys that established that precedent and resurrected our men's cross country distance program back to national prominence," Cowley College athletic director Shane Larson said during a celebration held for the team Sunday inside W.S. Scott Auditorium.
Team scores: (1) North Iowa, 57; (2) Allen, 68; (3) Cowley College, 70; (4) Daytona State College, 120; (5) Heartland, 146; (6) Hawkeye, 177; (7) Lake Sumter State College, 221; (8) Wallace State, 236; (9) Grand Rapids, 247; (10) Bryant & Stratton, 316; (11) Metropolitan, 325; (12) Tallahassee, 355; (13) FSCJ, 356; (14) Kaskaskia College, 378; (15) Marion Military Institute, 386; (16) UA Rich Mountain, 412; (17) Redlands, 425; (18) Mott, 454; (19) Muskegon, 459.