Grand Rapids Community College issued the following announcement on Sept. 26.
The Grand Rapids Community College cross country teams continue to dominate, with both the men’s and women’s teams taking individual and team victories at Saturday’s meet at Jackson College.
The Raiders entered the meet ranked among the best in the nation, with the women’s team ranked fifth and the men’s team ranked 10th in the 2020 National Junior Athletic Associations Division II coaches’ poll.
With the wins at Jackson, the Raiders have finished on top on each of the team’s meets this season. Josh Kipoech and Kiah Becker won races in both of this year’s events
The men’s 8k was a double-looped course with challenging hills landscaping the first and fourth miles. In the first mile, Kipkoech immediately jumped into the lead, building a 15-second gap at the mile mark on second place.
Jack Kehoe and Wilson Ishimwe were a short gap behind, running shoulder to shoulder in fourth and fifth place. Another 15 seconds back was the pack of Gabe Sanchez, Noah Peterson, Lance Jourdan and Devin Simon, all sitting between 20th-25th Place. The Raiders trailed the host Jackson Jets overall early in the race.
In the middle miles, Kipkoech only widened his lead while Kehoe maintained his position and Ishimwe began to fade just a little. Jourdan and Sanchez started to move up and were just outside the top 10 at the halfway mark, while Peterson and Simon held their positions.
In the final mile, the Raiders pulled away in dominating fashion as the competition faded. Kipkoech won by more than a minute and a half in a time of 27:39. Kehoe held on for fourth in 30:03, while Ishimwe regrouped and had a late charge to finish eighth in 30:47.
Sanchez and Lance Jourdan out the scoring positions in 12th and 16th place. Peterson was one spot out of the medals in 21st and Simon crossed the line in 24th out of 66 finishers.
The Raiders ran away with the team title with 38 points to outpoint runner up Jackson (99 points), with Oakland (103), Macomb (110) and St. Clair (127) rounding out the top five teams.
The Women’s 5k started an hour after with temperatures in the 80s. The Raiders were looking for another strong showing after narrowly defeating St. Clair in the first MCCAA race three weeks ago.
Unlike the Raider men who started a little conservatively, the women started more aggressively with Audrey Meyering and Becker holding the top two positions overall. Carolanne Merlington and Kate De Leeuw were about 10 seconds back - both inside the top 10 - with Allison Hoop about five seconds back. Elizabeth Meyering and Paige Bodine were another 10 seconds back -- all in the top 20.
Original source can be found here.
Source: Grand Rapids Community College
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