EL DORADO, Kan. – Following a week off from competition, the Cloud County Community College men’s and women’s cross-country teams would place all nine of their runners in the top 15 of their respective races in their final tune-up at the Ollie Isom Invitational in El Dorado on Friday.
The T-Bird women would not post a team score due to having just three runners compete, but all three runners would post one of their best finishes of the year. Led by freshman Kya Johnson who would finish third with a time of 19:56.60, CCCC would also get a top-10 finish from Maryse Mbenoun who finished eighth with a time of 20:33.20. Tanya Harcum would take 13th overall by running a time of 21:26.60.
On the men’s side, Cloud County would run away with the team title in the four-team field, scoring a total of 15 points, well ahead of host and second place Butler Community College who had 53 total points. Individually, Dais Malebana would win the 5K race title with a time of 14:46.90 while Kwanele Mthembu took second with a time of 15:10.70. Saba Khvichava helped the T-Birds sweep the top-three spots in the field by taking third with at time of 15:25.0 as six of the top seven spots overall would be held by CCCC. Coming in fifth would be Gabriel Chinya (16:03.60) as the sophomore would be followed by Ablel Gebreselase (16:10.90) and Habtamu Geta (16:23.20).
What’s Next?
Postseason races officially begin next week for the T-Birds as Cloud County will compete in the NJCAA Region VI Championships on Saturday in Iola. The meet, which is being hosted by Allen County Community College, will bring together all the teams in the region for the first time this season to compete against each other. The meet will serve as the lead up to the NJCAA Championships on Saturday, November 9th in Albuquerque, New Mexico.