Three runners represented Waubonsee Community College at the 2020 NJCAA Division II National meet on Saturday in Fort Dodge, Iowa. Following the full-scholarship NJCAA Division I and non-scholarship Division III women’s and men’s events, the first Division II run was held.
Waubonsee freshman Tony LoPresti paced the trio of competitors, by finishing 73rd out of 145 in the men’s 8K run. LoPresti, who played golf for Waubonsee this Fall, covered the course at the Lakeside Municipal Golf Course in 28:56, a 5:49 average per mile.
The Chiefs’ Dalton Klingensmith placed 92nd overall in 29:28.
Rounding out Waubonsee’s trio was sophomore Daphne Kolody who finished 91st in the women’s 5K run, in 22:50.
North Iowa Area College (NIAC) won the men’s National championship with a team score of 57, ahead of second place Allen (Iowa) College with 68 points. NIAC’s Melvin Kipkemboi earned the individual championship in 24:58, ahead of Cowley (Kan.) College’s Adrian Diaz-Lopez by three seconds.
Cowley captured the women’s team championship by edging Heartland (Champaign, Ill.) College by just three points, 68-71. Cowley placed three runners in the top-10 to offset Heartland’s pack of competitors, all of whom finished within 0:37 of each other. Cowley’s Lubna Suied won the individual championship in 18:30. NIAC’s Sarah Bertry took second place in less than three seconds later.
— Waubonsee Community College