Men's & Women's Results

Fort Dodge, IOWA – GRCC's cross country runners finished strong at the NJCAA Division I National Championship as the men took 24^th overall led by Chris Santana with a 82^nd place overall finish (27:04.0), while GRCC's Stephanie Thomas finished 35 overall (19:20.0) in the women's championship race.

Trailing Santana in the men's event was Sam Borisch who finished 102 overall with a time of 27:14.7 followed by Bruce Buurstra who's 134^th place finish was earned in 27:35.4.  Trystan Thayer earned 157^th overall running a 27:53.8 while Nathanael Edwards finished in 173^rd with a 28:01.1.  Daniel Santana earned 192^nd running a 28:24.1.  Isaac Arp finished in 30:17.2. 

Iowa Central's score of 65 earned them the 2017 NJCAA DI Men's Championship behind Ezekiel Kipchirchir and Karim Achengli who finished in second and third ahead of Southern Idaho's Eric Fitzpatrick, the individual champion, who finished in a cool 24:45.0.

Central Arizona took second place as a team with a score of 112.  South Plains' 147 earned 3^rd.  The MCCAA's Lansing Community College took 8^th overall with a score of 280.  Region XII's Vincennes took 9^th with a 304.  Macomb earned 17^th with 451 points.

In the women's 5k Iowa Central bested the field with a first place 52-point finish to earn their NJCAA DI Title.  Central Arizona took second with a 135 while Cowley County earned 3^rd with a 175.  Iowa Central's Adva Cohen blazed her way to first with a 17:24.4 to beat out Garden City's Sandra Szpott (17:43.9) and Colby's Winnie Kibet (17:54.8).

Lansing earned the highest team finish from Region XII finishing in 8^th with a score of 292. Vincennes' Anais Da Silva earned the highest individual score from Region XII taking 6^th overall in 18:10.9.

Leading the way for the Raiders again was Stephanie Thomas.  Thomas finished in 35^th running a 19:20.0.  Jessica Sluiter's 20:20.0 earned her 108^th overall.  Cierra Ensign ran a 20:25.6 for 119^th.

Stephanie Thomas finishes her season as an All-Region XII First Team Award Winner while also taking home All-MCCAA, MCCAA All-Freshman, and MCCAA Freshman of the Year honors.  Her 35th place finish also makes her cross country's first ever All-American as she was named to the NJCAA Coaches Association's All-American Team.

Jessica Sluiter's performances earned her All-Region XII Second Team honors as well as All-MCCAA and MCCAA All-Freshman Team Honors.

Cierra Ensign finished earning All-Region XII Third Team, All-MCCAA and MCCAA All-Freshman Team honors.

Chris Santana's season also delivered him some well-deserved recognition as his earned All-Region XII Second Team and All-MCCAA honors. Sam Borisch was named All-Region XII Third Team, All-MCCAA and MCCAA All-Freshman Team.

Check out the full list of MCCAA award winners for the men and women.  Congratulations to all the runners for their outstanding efforts this season.