Thunderbirds win Region VI titles
EL DORADO —The Cloud County Community College men's and women's cross country teams each placed first in the NJCAA Region VI Division I championships run on Friday.
Led by individual champion Awet Beraki, the Cloud County men won a second straight Region V title with 37 points. Hutchinson was second with 64 points and Butler Community College was third with 82.
“It's been a whirlwind day as we knew anything was possible in the men's race, and for the guys to be able to pull out a second straight Region VI and KJCCC West Division title is truly an amazing feat after losing five out of six runners from a year ago,” Cloud County coach Drew Mahin said.
Cloud County's Patricia Koma was the women's individual champion in leading the Thunderbirds to the team title with just 24 points. Colby Community College was a distant second with 71 points and Dodge City was third with 76 points.
“We knew the girls had a good chance to win the Region VI championship and make program history if they really made it a team effort to contribute towards that today,” Mahin said. “Having six girls posting personal records showed how amazing of a day it has been despite having only two girls from last year with postseason experience. But the bond the team has created to make this happen is quite special.”
Beraki, who did not find out that his eligibility hardship waiver had been approved to run until 30 minutes before the men's race started, turned in a time of 24:24.56 to place first.
Habtamu Geta finished behind Beraki in second place with a time of 24:53.38.
Michael Iyali crossed in sixth place for Cloud County in 25:41.29.
Linus Limo ran 27:09.89 to place 14th for the T-Birds.
Rylan Cheney rounded out the top five by finishing 17th.
Cloud County also had Ryder Amos finish 63rd in 31:40.49.
The Cloud County women had Koma run a personal best of 18:11.28 to finish first. That was more than 40 seconds ahead of runner-up Abigael Kemboi of Colby.
Maryse Mbenoun placed fourth for Cloud County with a time of 19:18.97.
Kya Johnson was right behind her in fifth place in 19:21.40 and Pamela Milano was sixth in 19:25.23.
Ludjenie Mondesir ran 19:39.77 to finish eighth.
The NJCAA Division I National Championships are scheduled for November 14 in Fort Dodge, Iowa.