RICHMOND, Va. — Both Carl Sandburg College cross country teams staged historic performances at the NJCAA Division II Championships on Saturday at Pole Green Park.
The Chargers men’s team took a program-best sixth place — highlighted by All-American performances by Calton Kibet (Kenya/Poiywek Secondary) and Josphat Langat (Kenya/Alliance) — while the women’s team finished 22nd, also the best finish in program history.
Kibet, the Region IV individual champion, finished fourth overall at nationals to become the first First-Team All-American in Chargers cross country history. Kibet completed the 8-kilometer course in 25 minutes, 16.8 seconds. Langat was just behind in sixth place in 25:31.3, giving him Second-Team All-America honors.
The Chargers’ Emmanuel Kiprop (Kenya/Kericho TEA Boys’ Secondary) finished one spot away from earning Honorable Mention All-America, placing 16th in 26:06.5. Sandburg’s final two scorers on the men’s side were Nicholas Janson (Cambridge, Ill./Cambridge) in 79th in 28:27.5 and Brian Kipchemis (Kenya/Segero Adventist) in 88th place in 28:38.1.
The Chargers totaled 184 points in the meet. Cowley won the national championship with 82 points and had the top two individual finishers in Adrian Diaz-Lopez and Amos Pkiach, respectively.
Sandburg’s women’s team was led by Barbra Jepkirui’s (Kenya/St. Teresa Girls’ Secondary) 59th-place showing in the 5K race with a time of 20:55.6. Mary Njuguna (Kenya/Turbo Girls Secondary) also posted a top-100 time for the Chargers, coming in 87th place in 21:38.4.
Faith Kiprop (Kenya/ AIC Kessup Girls) was 139th in 23:11.5, Lily Sharum (Trivoli, Ill./Farmington) was 166th in 24:13.0 and Kelynn Boyle (Amboy, Ill./Amboy) was 182nd in 25:59.2 for the Chargers.
Sandburg finished with 516 points while taking 22nd to beat the Chargers’ previous best showing at nationals, 24th place in 2005.
RESULTS
Get text/email notifications of Sandburg Athletics results
Follow @SandburgNJCAA on Twitter