Cross Country News
Spartan Cross Country Team Ranked #16 In The Nation
In their second season of competition, the Southwestern Community College Spartans have cracked the top 20 for Division I NJCAA Colleges.
Rank Community College Points Butler Community College (2) South Plains College Iowa Central Community College (1) Rend Lake College (5) Cowley County Community College (1) Johnson County Community College (1) Pima Community College Cloud County Community College Garden City Community College Spartanburg Methodist College Allen County Community College North Iowa Area Community College Iowa Western Community College Morton College Vincennes University Mesa Community College Southwestern Community College El Paso Community College Illinois Central College Colby Community College Waubonsee Community College Gateway Community College Coffeyville Community College Glendale Community College Western Texas College
Southwestern Wins Region XI Cross Country Championship
With a temperature of 37 degrees and the wind out of the north. The Southwestern Cross Country team should have been freezing cold, but instead they were red hot as they raced to victory in the Men’s Region XI Cross Country Championships in Estherville, IA.
Southwestern edged a very tough NIACC squad to win the meet as they placed 6 in the top 11 while putting 5 harriers on the first and second All Region Teams. Bobby Soper who finished second overall in a time of 27:47 paced the Spartans. Following right behind him were James Kichwen and Kale Floyd who finished 3rd and 5th in times of 28:07 and 28:31. All three of the SWCC runners were selected to the first team All Region squad. The Spartans also had 2 selected to represent SWCC on the second team All Region squad. They were Andrew Zellweger and Justin Faught who finished 7th and 9th in the championship meet. Gerson Pineda just missed making All Region as he finished 11th in a time of 29:10. Brett Dowell (17th, 30:38) and Scott Cook (22nd, 32:30) rounded out the top eight for the Region XI Champion Spartans.
Coach Huntington felt that the key to the victory was the pack running displayed by the Spartans. “Bobby and Jimmy went out fast and Kale, Andrew, Justin, G and Brett packed up and stayed together for over three and half miles before they started to separate. There was only a 53 second spread in our top five and that is what took us over the top. I cannot begin to praise these young men enough for their races. We had a plan going in to stay together and finish the last mile tough and they did that. They had talked all week about how they wanted to bring the championship plaque back to Southwestern. They really wanted to share this with the college because of all of the support they get from everyone and they went out and got it done.”
Next up for the #15th ranked Spartans is the National Championships in El Paso, TX November 4, 2006.
Southwestern Places 5 Runners on the All Region Team
Based on their performances at the Region XI Cross Country Championships on October 21, 2006 Bobby Soper, James Kichwen, Kale Floyd, Andrew Zellweger and Justin Faught were named to the All Region Teams. Bobby, James and Kale were all members of the first team as they finished 2nd, 3rd and 5th . Andrew and Justin were selected to the second team after finishing 7th and 9th. Their efforts combined with the finishes of Gerson Pineda 11th, Brett Dowell 17th and Scott Cook 22nd allowed the Spartans to win the XI Cross Country Championships. The All Region runner received a medal and certificate to mark their accomplishments.
Spartans Run at 44th Les Duke Invitational Men's 8 km
The NJCAA Division I, 10th ranked Spartan Cross Country team ran their first 8k of the season at the Les Duke Invite hosted by Grinnell College on Saturday September 9, 2006. The Spartans had an outstanding placing as a team as they finished 5th in a strong field of four year colleges. The Spartans were paced by James Kichwen's 3rd place finish. James cruised through the course in a school record of 26:10. He was follwed by Bobby Soper (23), Gerson Pineda (29), Justin Faught (38), Andrew Zellweger (39), Kale Floyd (43), Brett Dowell (53), Scott Cook (106) and Travis West (107).
Coach Huntington was very pleased with the effort of the Spartan harriers. "I felt that the men ran some incredible races with some fantastic times. Six of our top 7 were down in the twenty's time wise and that was something that Coach Cari Stalker and I really wanted to see. James and Bobby looked very good. To have two freshmen as place winners in that strong of field says something about those two. But more importantly I was very impressed with the times and places of the rest of the team. To place 5th in such a strong field of Division III and NAIA four year colleges really says something about the efforts of all the guys."
For complete results http://www.grinnell.edu/athletics/mcross/includes/Les%20Duke%20Men.html
James Kichwen sets Spartan 8k Record
On an overcast day at the Les Duke Invite in Grinnell, IA James Kichwen set the new 8k record for the SWCC Spartans. James covered the course in a record setting time of 26:10 to finish third overall in a tough field comprised of DIII and NAIA runners. Coach Huntington was excited for James record.
James ran a very smart race. The pack started out slow covering the first mile in about 5:16 or so and James just ran with them and at about the 3.5 mile mark the top guys started pulling away and he went with them. When he passed me with about 1000 meters left he looked a little fatigued but he dug down deep and ran it out to finish third in a very tough field.
Spartan Cross Country Team Ranked #10
In their first season of competition the Southwestern Community College Spartans have cracked the top 10 for Division I NJCAA Colleges.
Head Coach: Bill Huntington - huntington@swcciowa.edu
Assistant Coach: Cari Stalker
Red Oak Center: 2300 N. 4th Street, Red Oak, IA 51566 ~ Phone: 712.623.2541
Osceola Center: 2520 College Dr., Osceola, IA 50213 ~ Phone: 641.342.3531