NIACC men set to compete in regional meet

NIACC's Owen Almelien runs at the Trent Smith Invitational earlier this season on the NIACC campus.
NIACC's Owen Almelien runs at the Trent Smith Invitational earlier this season on the NIACC campus.
October 27, 2023

CRESTON - The No. 14 (NJCAA Division II) NIACC men's cross country team will compete in the NJCAA Region 11 meet Friday at the Crestmoor Golf Club.

The men's 8-kilometer race starts at 4 p.m. The ICCAC Division I and Division II teams run together and results will be separated by division following the race.

NIACC last competed on Oct. 13 when the Trojans placed third at the Indian Hills Invitational in Ottumwa.

NIACC and No. 13 Southeastern tied 84 points but the Trojans earned the third-place finish in a tie-breaker over the Blackhawks. No. 8 DMACC was second with 62 points. No. 21 Hawkeye CC was eighth with 208 points.

NIACC, Southeastern, DMACC and Hawkeye CC will all compete in the NJCAA Region 11 Division II meet on Friday.

At the Indian Hills meet on Oct. 13, freshman Owen Almelien paced the Trojans with a sixth-place finish in a personal-best time of 26 minutes, 22 seconds in the 8-kilometer race. The 26:22 ranks 25th on NIACC's all-time 8K list.

Sophomore Breyden Christensen was 10th at the Indian Hills race in a personal-best time of 26:40, freshman Joey Ringo was 18th in a personal-best time of 27:09, Canton was 20th in 27:29 and sophomore Jacob Vais was 37th in 28:37.

NIACC freshman Eli Bergman was 39th (personal-best 28:56), sophomore Vlad Starrett was 41st (personal best 29:05), sophomore Hugo Massa was 43rd (personal best 29:16) and freshman Chris Marroquin was 45th (personal best 29:27).

NIACC placed third at last year's regional meet in Fort Dodge. Canton was a first-team all-region selection with a third-place finish and Christensen was a second-team all-region selection with a seventh-place finish.

Hawkeye CC was the 2022 NJCAA Region 11 champion with 62 points.