It was another banner fall for the Iowa Central cross country program, as the men claimed another national title competing on their home course.
The Tritons added the 2020 title to the one they claimed in 2017 at Lakeside Golf Course, besting College of Southern Idaho and 20 other programs. It marked the seventh consecutive time they have finished in the Top-3 since 2013.
Kelvin Bungei led the charge, winning the race by 13 seconds to earn USTFCCA National Male Athlete of the Year honors. Pur Biel was 13th and Hunter Klimek 15th to earn All-American status.
"I couldn't be happier for our men's program. This is the pinnacle – when you have the opportunity to win an individual national championship and a team title in front of your home crowd, there is nothing more exciting," said Dee Brown, Iowa Central Director of Cross Country. "It gets people talking. Students, staff, administrators, volunteers are all now interested in cross country. They got to see first hand what these kids work for all year.
"It was a great team effort. After Kelvin and Pur our three through seven runners have been interchangeable all season. If one guy isn't feeling it, his teammate has picked up the slack. That is exactly what they did today. They banded together and picked each other up to achieve this unifying goal they have had since August 1."
The Iowa Central women were pegged as the favorites going into nationals, but the team was sidelined due to COVID-19.
Just a few days later, though, both programs returned to Lakeside and earned gold and silver at the half-marathon championships.
The Triton men, led by runner-up Bungei, completed the fall distance double with a second team title while the women were runners-up. Biel earned All-American honors with Klimek, Noah Friske and Mohamed Mohamud being named by the coaches association.
Eleonora Curtabbi was the half-marathon race winner with Rosalie Fish placing second and Lilia Alvarez seventh and Kirstyn Beaman 16th to also earn All-American honors.
-By Dana Becker