National News

 November 10, 2012

INA, Ill. – Iowa Central Community College won its second-consecutive national championship in Division I women’s cross country Saturday in Ina, Ill. The Lady Tritons dominated the field with five runners finishing in the top 25, including three in the top five. Iowa Central finished with just 40 team points to win its fourth national title since 2007 (2011, 2008, 2007). Central Arizona College came in a distant second place with 145 team points. South Plains tallied 156 points for a third place showing.

Fiona McKenna paced the Lady Tritons with a second place finish, crossing the finish line in 18:04.7. Ebeissa Nyandwi came in fourth (18:28.7), Jodi Miller finished fifth overall (18:48.4), Jamie Neal was 13th (19:02.1) and Laura Condron was 24th overall (19:24.2).

Darroneshia Lott (bottom photo) of South Plains was the first to cross the finish line (17:48.4) to win the individual title. Lott finished third overall at last year’s championship meet and is the fifth South Plains runner since 2002 to win the individual cross country crown. Natoya Goule of South Plains took first place in 2011.

This year’s championship was hosted by Rend Lake College (Ill.) and featured 295 long-distance runners from 63 NJCAA member colleges.

Complete Results - For more on the 2012 NJCAA Division I Men's & Women's Cross Country Championship visit www.rlc.edu/xc-nationals.

NOTE: 1-5 finishers = NJCAA First-Team All-Americans; 6-10 = NJCAA Second-Team All-Americans; 11-15 =NJCAA Honorable Mention All-Americans

Photos courtesy of Rend Lake College.