Ranger College men finish 19th at national meet
Ranger College men finish 19th at national meet
The Ranger College men’s cross country team had every reason to not do well at the NJCAA Division I Cross Country Championships on Nov. 14. The team endured a long ride to Fort Dodge, Iowa, and faced the daunting task of competing in the national meet with a freshman-oriented squad and without their top runner.
Much to their credit, they team didn’t just go through the motions. In fact, they exceeded everyone’s expectations by running their way to 19th in the final team standings. The squad finished with a score of 531 – a mark that left them just 61 points shy of a top 15 effort. Iowa Central Community College won the 2015 national title, edging out Central Arizona and South Plains for the top spot.
We competed with a team that had just one sophomore and was missing its No. 1 runner,” said RC head cross country coach Kathy Graham. “It was a tough race that was 1,000 miles from Ranger, but they did well. We had a good showing from all but one freshman.”
Sophomore Nicholas Wittkopp paced the Rangers on the 4.97-mile trail, which was on the Lakeside Municipal Golf Course. He finished 66th in the individual standings with a time of 27 minutes and 18 seconds.
Central Arizona’s Gilbert Kigen claimed the national title. The freshman finished the 8-kilometer course in a time of 23:55. Iowa Western sophomore Sylvester Baris was second, checking in 6 seconds later at 24:01.
South Plains’ standout Hassan Abdi was the top Region V-based runner, finishing fifth at 24:58.
Moises Montanez and Sydney Leverett also did extremely well for Ranger College. Montanez legged out a time of 27:21 and finished 71st overall, while Leverett raced his way to 85th with a mark of 27:43.
Montanez and Leverett are both freshmen.
James Ramos, Carlos Colon, Isaac Gafishi and Ruben Sandoval also competed in the race for the Rangers. Ramos and Colon placed 152nd and 157th, respectively, while Gafishi and Sandoval checked in at 166 and 235.
Overall, 287 runners from throughout the nation competed in the men’s race.
Like the men’s team, the Ranger College women’s cross country squad turned in a spirited effort at the national meet. The RC women finished with a score of 568 and then edged out Dodge City Community College in a tie-breaker to place 23rd overall.
More than 40 women’s teams participated in the women’s 3.11-mile event. Lansing Community College finished atop the final team standings with 92 points. Iowa Central and Central Arizona were second and third, respectively.
Freshman Barbara Uribe led at RC runners in the women’s race. A native of Cherokee, Texas, she finished 63rd in the individual standings with a time of 20:19.55.
Sarah Hillman, one of five freshmen on the Lady Rangers’ national-qualifiers’ roster, finished 76th with a time of 20:32.59.
Sophomore Benisse Inamahoro and Angok Tac, a freshman from Dallas, also did well. Inamahorto was 114th at 21:08.08, while Tac was 136th overall at 21:25.32.
Lourdes Gonzalez, Amarantha Gamboa and Jayden Whitzel placed 179th, 187th and 224th, respectively.
“They did a very nice job at the national meet,” said Graham. “They stepped up their game as they were largely not in the national Top 25 for much of the season.”