Iowa Central Men Take Silver in Half Marathon Nationals
Just three days after an epic victory in a freak blizzard for the NJCAA Division I Cross Country Championships, the Iowa Central men and women lined up for the 13.1 mile NJCAA Half Marathon Championships. The route was run on roads and bike trails throughout Fort Dodge and finished in Kennedy Park near Lakeside Golf Course.
At the 2024 championships, the women were unable to field a scoring three-person team, while the men finished 17th of 27 scoring teams. This year, on their home turf, expectations were much higher and neither squad would disappoint.
The women's team was able to finish among the top third of the race by placing seventh of 22 teams. They were led by sophomore Abbigail Hutchinson of International Falls, MN who placed seventh overall to earn NJCAA All-America honors. Hutchinson's time of 1:19:47.1 is second fastest in school history only behind Australian great, Leanne Pompeani who owns a school record time of 1:17:41.7 from 2015.
Next for the Tritons was Hafsa Oukadou in nineth place. Oukadou earned her second NJCAA All-American honor of the week after completing the same feat days earlier in the Cross Country Championships. She ran a time of 1:21:08.8, which is fifth fastest in school history.
Fanny den Uyl was the third and final scorer for the Tritons with a 58th place finish. She was followed by Dari Cook (74th), Kyle Melchi (94th), and Alivia Edens (95th). There were 131 female finishers in the largest field ever at this event.
"We lacked depth at our third position today; a mere seventeen points kept us from the podium. Abbi and Hafsa were outstanding, running some of the fastest times ever by a Triton. We ran very well as a whole and I was pleased with the performances of all six ladies," stated Director of Cross Country & Track and Field, Dee Brown.
The men's field was also the largest ever at the NJCAA Half Marathon Championships with 32 scoring teams toeing the line and 196 total athletes completing the 13.1 mile route. Iowa Western took home the crown with nine points while the Tritons finished second with 30 points and New Mexico Junior College was third with 36 points.
"Our men's squad consists primarily of mid-distance runners. To see them win Cross Country Nationals was absolutely amazing. I am equally impressed to see them give an honest effort and stretch themselves out over this much longer distance and finish as National Runners Up," said Brown.
Like the women, the men also had a pair of NJCAA All-Americans. Chakib Cherkaoui Rhazouani and Saad Rifi Loutfi finished sixth and 12th places, respectively. Their times of 1:06:10 and 1:07:38 rank fifth and ninth best in school history. The current school record is held by Aspel Kiprob at 1:04:03.6, run in Richmond, VA in 2021.
The National runners-up also had three men earn NJCAA Coaches Association All-America honors. Said Rifi Loutfi (15th place - 1:08:44), Emmanuel Kiplagat (18th place - 1:09:09) and Soufyane Laaziz (23rd place - 1:09:55) each placed among the top fifteen percent of all finishers.
Also competing for the Tritons were Brian Kirwa (42nd), Jonah Jahnke (81st), Liam Shannon (125th) and Brennan Boden (130th).
The Iowa Central men own multiple records in the NJCAA Half Marathon. Twice, the Tritons earned a perfect score (6 points) in 2016 and 2017. Iowa Central has also won the most men's team titles with eight, most recently in 2021. The men also boast the most individual champions from any one school with nine, most recently Kiprob in both 2021 and 2022. The Iowa Central women are tied for the NJCAA record for most team titles, with six. Their most recent win came in 2022.
"A lot of time, effort and sacrifice went into hosting each of these NJCAA National Championships this past week. We have a very supportive college community to thank as well as the many volunteers from the Fort Dodge area. We could not have hosted such an amazing celebration of these fine athletes without the assistance of so many. Thank you to everyone who helped in any way!" - Coach Dee Brown