Wako, Connell pace NIACC men
BETTENDORF - NIACC's Abdiaziz Wako and Gavin Connell both earned second-team all-region honors as the No. 23 Trojans placed third at Friday's NJCAA Region XI meet at Crow Creek Park.
NIACC was third with 85 points. No. 2 Iowa Central was the regional champion with 20 points, No. 17 Hawkeye CC was second with 74 points and No. 19 Indian Hills was fourth with 91 points.
Wako was eighth with a personal-best time of 26 minutes, 19 seconds on the 8-kilometer course. Wako's time moved him into a tie for 16th on NIACC's all-time best list.
Connell was 11th in a personal-best time of 26:42.
Also earning all-region honors for the Trojans were honorable mention performers Sam Pedelty, who was 23rd in a personal-best time of 27:16, and Isaac Branstad, who was 24th in a personal-best time of 27:21.
The other counting score for the Trojans was Daniel Hennigar's 33rd place time of 27:57.
Also for NIACC, Zane Miller was 43rd in 28:27, Grant Dieken was 45th in 28:37 and Tyler Crawford was 59th in 30:07.
The men's regional individual champion was Iowa Central's Ezekiel Kipchirchir in a time of 24:16.
The NIACC men will compete in the NJCAA Division I national meet on Nov. 10 in Garden City, Kan.
Team standings - Iowa Central 20, Hawkeye CC 74, NIACC 85, Indian Hills 91, Southwestern 113, Scott CC 179, Southeastern 186.
