FORT DODGE, Iowa - Iowa Central laid claim to its second consecutive NJCAA Division I Men's Cross Country Championship Saturday on its home course in Fort Dodge. The Tritons topped the team standings thanks to five runners finishing in the top 20.
Freshman Andrew Ronoh crossed the finish line first for the Tritons with a time of 24 minutes, 11.7 seconds, which was good enough for fourth place overall. Coming in second for Iowa Central was sophomore Cody Baele in ninth place finish with a time of 25:24.0. Fellow sophomore Denzel Fogg followed Baele at 25:38.0, which put him 12th.
Rounding out the top five for the Tritons were Ashenafi Hatte and Alex Jackson. The freshmen duo posted times of 25:50.5 and 25:52.2, respectively, to place 15th and 16th.
Central Arizona freshman Golbert Kigen was the first harrier to finish the men's 8k race. Kigen's time of 23:55.20 is the best finish by an NJCAA runner at the national meet since 2010 when Central Arizona's Henry Leilei posted a time of 23:39.0 to top the leaderboard.
Iowa Western sophomore Slyvester Barus was the national runner-up with a time of 24:01.2. Finishing third overall was freshman Festus Lagat of Gillette (Wyo.) who clocked in at 24:05.1.
Iowa Central's dominating performance vaulted them 20 points in front of Central Arizona in the final team standings. The Tritons posted 56 team points to 86 from the Vaqueros. South Plains (Texas) came in third with 88.
About the NJCAA
Since 1938, the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) has served as the governing body of two-year college athletics, offering athletic and academic opportunities to college students. The NJCAA is the second-largest national intercollegiate athletic organization in the United States with over 500 member schools in 43 states. Each year nearly 60,000 student-athletes compete in one of 28 different sports and the organization sponsors 48 national championship events and seven football bowl games. NJCAA Headquarters has been located in Colorado Springs, Colorado, since 1985. For more information visitwww.njcaa.org.
