FORT DODGE – The No. 12 NIACC men’s cross country team placed second with 74 points at the NJCAA Region XI meet on Sunday at the Lakeside Municipal Golf Course.
Iowa Central won the team title for the fifth straight season with 19 points. Hawkeye CC was third with 92 points.
NIACC’s Brian Jacques earned first-team all-region honors with a third-place finish in a time of 25 minutes, 38.6 seconds on the 8-kilometer course. Iowa Central’s Karim Achengli was the individual champion in a time of 24:48.
It is the seventh straight season that the NIACC men have had a first-team all-region runner (top five). Jacques is the 17th runner in NIACC men’s history to earn first-team all-region honors.
Also for the Trojans on Sunday, sophomore Blake Keller earned second-team all-region honors with a ninth-place finish (27:08). It was the second straight season that Keller earned all-region honors as he was an honorable mention selection as a freshman.
NIACC sophomore David Carter was 16th in 27:39 (honorable mention all-region) and sophomore John Kraft was 24th in 28:05 (honorable mention all-region). Kraft was also an honorable mention all-region selection as a freshman.
NIACC’s fifth counting score came from freshman Daniel Hennigar, who was 30th in 28:33.
Also for NIACC, Jacob Hansen was 31st (28:36), Canyon Kuhlmann was 37th (28:49), Akahnni Delgado was 40th (29:12), Tyler Crawford was 41st (29:13), Grant Dieken was 45th (29:28), Hunter Filloon was 51st (29:51), Samuel Dean was 52nd (30:05) and Derek Carpenter was 74th (41:14).
In the women’s 5K regional race, No. 23 NIACC placed fourth with 109 points.
No. 1 Iowa Central won the team title for the 14th straight season with 15 points. No. 17 Iowa Western was second with 65 points and unranked Hawkeye CC was third with 91 points.
Freshman Julia Dunlavey was one of three NIACC runners to earn honorable mention all-region honors with a 14th place finish in 20 minutes, 19 seconds on the 5-kilometer course. Sophomores Keisha Gonzague (20th in 20:56) and Amy Fullerton (21st in 20:57) also earned honorable mention all-region honors for the second straight seasons for the Lady Trojans.
Since starting cross country in 2004, the NIACC women have had a total of 52 all-region selections.
Other counting scores for the Lady Trojans were Rebekah Larson (32nd in 22:28) and Allison Steahr (37th in 23:05).
Also for the Lady Trojans, Ally Trager was 40th in 23:18 and Tiffany Meyer was 41st in 23:46.
Iowa Central’s Adva Cohen was the individual champion in 17:19, which was a regional meet record and Lakeside course women’s 5K record. The old meet record was 17:25 by Iowa Central’s Viola Kebenei in 2014 in Emmetsburg and the old course mark was 17:21 by Iowa Central’s Leanne Pompeani at the 2015 national meet.
NIACC returns to action Nov. 11 at the NJCAA Division I national championships in Fort Dodge. The NIACC men have placed in the top 10 at the national meet in four of the last six seasons, including a ninth-place finish in 2016.
The Lady Trojans were 28th at last year’s national meet.
Men’s results
Team standings – Iowa Central 19, NIACC 74, Hawkeye CC 92, Southwestern 92, Iowa Western 97, Indian Hills 146, Scott CC 273, Iowa Lakes 345.
Individual champion – Karim Achengli (Iowa Central) 24:48.
Coach of the year – Iowa Central’s Dee Brown.
Women’s results
Team standings – Iowa Central 15, Iowa Western 65, Hawkeye CC 91, NIACC 109, Indian Hills 116, Southwestern 159, DMACC 192, Iowa Lakes 245.
Individual champion – Iowa Central’s Adva Cohen (17:19).
Coach of the year – Iowa Central’s Dee Brown.
