Mineral Area caps historic season with national title
Competing in the program's first-ever NJCAA DIII Cross Country Championship, the Mineral Area (MO) Cardinals ran to the title, ending Harper's (IL) eight-year streak run as national champions.
St. Charles (MO), also competing in its first NJCAA DIII Cross Country Championship, boasted the top overall individual finisher as sophomore Edwin Kipainoi crossed the finish line with a time of 26:30.96
The Cardinals immediate rise to national prominence came in the program's second year of existence, and first eligible year of national championship competition. Along with its first full year as an NJCAA cross country program, the Cardinals claimed a No. 1 rank in the USTFCCCA NJCAA DIII poll, an NJCAA Region XVI Championship, and the coveted national championship.
Paced by the tandem of Donovan Denslow and Wyatt Elliott who finished third and fourth overall, respectively, the Cardinals finished with a time of 2:17:14.30. Along with Denslow and Elliott, Jacob Arnold placed ninth overall at the meet.
Howard (MD) put together an all-around team effort to finish second overall behind Mineral Area. The NJCAA Region 20 champions, Howard placed four runners within the top 16 and finished with an overall time of 2:19:26.05.
Mineral Area Head Coach Steve Davis on the National Championship
"I'm really happy for our guys. They worked together as a team and I'm proud of the hard work they put in this year. It all paid off with the ultimate result today."
I felt like we had a good recruiting year, combining the new guys with the returners. Through the workouts in August and how things shaped up throughout the year, I thought we would have a good chance to do well at the national championship. As the regular season went along, we were fortunate enough to stay healthy, continued to get faster, and it all worked out for us. We were able to close it out today with a great result.
Edwin Kipainoi's stellar sophomore season was capped with an individual national championship for St. Charles. A three-time USTFCCCA National Athlete of the Week as well as the NJCAA Male Runner of the Week, Kipainoi finished three seconds ahead of the next top finisher, Sebastian Mills of Fulton Montgomery.
