IOLA – With the opportunity to show off their talents against all of the other NJCAA cross country runners in the state of Kansas, the Cloud County Community College women’s cross country team would place all three of their runners inside the top-25 at the 2019 NJCAA Region VI Cross Country Championships at the Allen Country Club in Iola, Kansas on Saturday, October 26th.

Despite not posting a team score, the T-Birds would have two runners finish with All-Region VI distinction by placing in the top 15 of the meet and would mark the first time since 2015 that CCCC had a top-10 finisher and the first time since 2012 that multiple Cloud County runners finished in the top 25.

“I am extremely proud of all of our runners today” said head coach Drew Mahin in a post-race interview. “To have all of our runners in the top-25 of the regional meet is truly a special feeling.” “Kya Johnson ran her strongest race of the year when it mattered most, and it was great to see her earn a top-10 finish as a freshman.” “We also saw Maryse Mbenoun run a great race to earn all-region honors and Tanya Harcum continues to show improvement each week that she runs and it paid off today with a top-25 finish.”

Johnson would earn the top-10 finish by taking eighth overall in the 5K run with a season-best time of 20:01.27 while Mbenoun joined her in the top 15 by taking 15th with a time of 20:50.05. Harcum would also have one of her best showings of the year by running a time of 21:29.37 to take 23rd overall.

What’s Next?

All three T-Bird runners will have one more race to compete in this year, taking part in the 2019 NJCAA Championships on Nov 9. The meet is being held in Albuquerque, New Mexico, on the campus of the University of New Mexico.