NIACC men place 3rd at Indian Hills Invite
OTTUMWA - The No. 9 (NJCAA Division II) NIACC men's cross country team placed third at the Indian Hills Invitational on Friday in a meet that featured six nationally ranked junior college teams.
NIACC, which was led by Melvin Kipkemboi's second-place finish, earned its third-place finish with 80 points. No. 6 (NJCAA Division I) Iowa Western was the team champion with 24 points and No. 10 (NJCAA Division I) Indian Hills was second with 49 points.
NIACC finished ahead of three nationally ranked NJCAA Division II teams. No. 12 Hawkeye CC was fifth with 121 points, No. 22 State Fair CC was sixth with 144 points and No. 25 Southeastern was ninth with 254 points.
Kipkemboi placed second in the 8-kilometer race on the Cedar Creek Golf Course in a time of 24 minutes, 50 seconds. Iowa Western freshman Nicholas Kiprotich was the individual champion in a time of 24:24.
Kipkemboi's personal best time of 24:50 was one second off the school record of 24:49 by Wal Khat in the 2016 season. Kipkemboi's previous personal best time was 24:58 at the 2020 NJCAA Division II national meet in Fort Dodge when he claimed the individual national title.
At last season's Indian Hills Invitational, Kipkemboi placed fourth in a time of 25:17.
Also for NIACC on Friday, Christian Rodriguez placed 18th in a personal best time of 27:53, Peyton Seiler was 19th in a personal best time of 28:07, Richard Marcoux was 22nd (28:26) and Pudens Kipkosgei was 23rd (28:27). The Trojans' Bryden Juelsgaard was 30th in a personal best time of 28:56 and Maxwell Deeter was 60th in a personal best time of 32:36.
NIACC returns to action Oct. 29 at the NJCAA Region XI Division II championships in Waterloo where the Trojans will defend their regional title.