No. 17 NIACC men place third at regional meet
OTTUMWA - The No. 17 NIACC men's cross country team placed third at the NJCAA Region XI meet on Friday at the Cedar Creek Golf Course with 87 points.
Iowa Central was the regional champion with 23 points and Iowa Western was second with 50 points.
Four NIACC men's runners earned all-region honors. Freshman Jorge Ruiz earned second-team all-region honors with an 11th place finish in a personal-best time of 25 minutes, 30 seconds in the 8-kilometer race.
Ruiz' time of 25:30 ranks fifth on the school's all-time list. The top four on the all-time list are Wal Khat (24:49 in 2016), Imad Amenzou (25:12 in 2015), Brian Jacques (25:13 in 2017) and Trey Simons (25:24 in 2014).
Earning honorable mention all-region honors for the Trojans were Janvier Irakoze (17th in 25:48), Jalen Petersen (21st in 26:00) and Aidan Bauermeister (23rd in 26:06).
Dawson Schmidt was 33rd in 26:29.
Irakoze's time of 25:48 is tied for 10th on the school's all-time 8K list. Petersen's time of 26:00 is 15th on the school's all-time list, Bauermeister's 26:06 ranks 17th and Schmidt's 26:29 ranks 22nd.
Also for the Trojans on Friday, Evan Wilson was 34th (26:38), Sam Pedelty was 40th (27:08), Ellis Regan was 44th (27:18), Mason Deeter was 50th (27:31), Matthew Dibbern was 55th (27:57) and Paul Roehr was 80th (30:07).
Team standings - Iowa Central 23, Iowa Western 50, NIACC 87, Hawkeye CC 125, Indian Hills 131, Southwestern 163, DMACC 172.
