Men's Cross Country Takes 25th at NJCAA Nationals

FORT DODGE- The Hawkeye Community College Men's Cross Country team wrapped up their fall season with an impressive showing at the NJCAA Nationals held on November 11 in Fort Dodge.

Lakeside Golf Course in Fort Dodge was the sight of the 2017 NJCAA Nationals, in which over 44 of the best Junior College cross country teams, and more than 300 total runners from all across the country competed for the right to be champion.

The RedTails were lead by Peosta, IA native Isaac Connolly who finished the 8k course in a time of 27:21.6 to finish 107th overall. Hot on the heels of Connolly would be Landon Boomsma, who finished with a time of 27:25.3, finishing 112th. Malcolm Myers would be the next RedTail to cross the finish line, as he finished with a time of 27:29.7. David Thompson (27:39.7) and Grant Baker (28:10.2) would finish 133 and 175 respectively to round out the 648 team points for the RedTails. Ryan Millikin (184) and Peter Torkelson (193) finished not far behind Baker with times of 28:22.4 and 28:28.8 to wrap up the times for the all-freshman RedTail squad.

Eric Fitzpatrick of Southern Idaho finished as the top overall finisher with a time of 24:44.0 on the 8k course. Iowa Central's Ezekiel Kipchirchir and Karim Achengli finished second and third, respectively, to guide the Tritons to the team title. The hosting Tritons won the meet with a team score of 65.

The Hawkeye Community College RedTail men's cross country team returns all 13 runners for their 2018 campaign, and will look to improve on several individual, as well as team accomplishments from this fall 2017 season.