Cross Country
Posted 11/14/2011
DMACC Cross Country Team Finishes 14th at NJCAA Division National Championships
The DMACC cross country team scored 419 points and finished 14th at the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) Division I National Championships Nov. 12 at Hobbs, N.M.
“I couldn’t be more pleased with the performance of our team on Saturday,” DMACC cross country coach Jim Dose said. “The conditions were difficult which kept them from posting their best times, but they competed hard. For us to finish #14 in the country is absolutely outstanding. This group steadily improved as the season went along, they were great teammates to each other, and a pure joy to coach.”
Freshman Allana Lauck of Algona and sophomore Katie Clark paced the Bears with 27th- and 29th-place finishes respectively in the team scoring. Overall, Lauck was 38th and Clark was 40th. Both ran the 5K (3.1-mile) course in 20 minutes, 44 seconds.
“Allana and Katie again set the pace for us and had remarkable finishes,” Dose said. “Last year Katie finished 113th in the nation and this year she finished 40th and Allana 38th. Those are great accomplishments.”
Other DMACC results in team competition saw freshman Brooke Schweikert of Ames finish 106th in 22:25, freshman Kirstin Angus of West Des Moines was 127th in 22:41, sophomore Christine Allen of Knoxville placed 130th in 22:44, and freshman Anna-Kate Bruns of Cedar Rapids finished in 155th place with a time of 23:32.
“We couldn’t have finished as high as we did without strong showings from Brooke, Kirstin, Christine, and Anna-Kate,” Dose said. “They have worked extremely hard to give us a balanced team that can compete at a high level.
“This has been the most successful season that DMACC cross country has ever enjoyed. While we will miss Katie and Christine greatly, we have a nice nucleus returning next year to hopefully improve on our national finish.”
Iowa Central Community College (ICCC) of Fort Dodge won the team championship with 84 points. The Tritons and DMACC were two of four NJCAA Region XI teams to
place 19th or better in the meet. North Iowa Area Community College (NIACC) finished 15th with 461 points and Southwestern Community College (SWCC) was 19th with 507 points.
“We are also proud of the fact that our region produced the national champions (Iowa Central) and three other teams, along with us, that finished in the top 25,” Dose said.
Natoya Goule of South Plains College in Loveland, Texas, was the individual winner. Her time was 18:45.
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