Men's cross-country: Warriors sets new bar at regionals
Oct. 31—CRESTON — Led by a program-record five All-Region performances, the seventh-ranked Indian Hills men's cross-country team placed third overall at the 2023 National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) Division I Region XI championship on Friday at the Crestmoor Golf Club.
In the tightest finish in the history of the Iowa Community College Athletic Conference (ICCAC), Indian Hills tallied 43 points to place third overall behind top-ranked Iowa Western with 37 points and No. 2 Iowa Central Community College with 40 points. The 43 points is the lowest in school history for IHCC.
For just the second time in school history, the Warriors garnered a NJCAA Region XI runner-up as freshman standout Brandon Ford crossed the finish line in second place with a time of 24:55.36. Ford, the Indian Hills eight-kilometer school record holder, finished just nine seconds behind the top finisher while placing 14 seconds ahead of the third-place finisher.
Ford was joined by sophomore Keveroy Venson, who crossed the finish line in fifth place with a time of 25:38.81 to contribute to the Warriors' team scoring. In just his second collegiate cross country performance, Mohammed Al-Yafaee placed ninth overall with a time of 26:30.54 for IHCC.
Warrior sophomore Brody Lucas and freshman Nik Davis placed 14th and 15th overall, respectively, with times of 27:14.55 and 27:15.27 to round out the team scoring. Sophomore Logan Soedt placed 24th overall with a time of 27:31.97 followed by Keelan Aita in 34th place with a time of 28:33.33 and Jacchaeus Taylor in 38th place with a time of 28:55.19.
Ford and Venson each earned NJCAA All-Region XI and ICCAC All-Conference first-team honors, just the second time in school history and first since 2018 the Warriors saw two individuals take the first-team podium. The duo becomes the first set of Indian Hills teammates to place in the top-five at the Region championship in school history.
Al-Yafaee collected both NJCAA All-Region XI and ICCAC All-Conference second-team honors. Lucas was named to the ICCAC All-Conference second-team and to the NJCAA All-Region XI honorable mention team.
Davis was named to both the NJCAA All-Region 11 and ICCAC all-conference honorable mention squads. For his efforts guiding the Warriors to the program's best performance at the region championship in school history, head coach Brent Ewing was named the NJCAA Region XI Division I men's cross-country Coach of the Year.
Ford joins elite company in Indian Hills history, becoming just the second individual to place second overall at the Region championship, joining former standout Marcus Graham in 2018. The Warriors will now set their sights on the upcoming NJCAA National Championship at John Hunt Park on Nov. 11 in Huntsville, Alabama.
