ICCAC's Top Men's Indoor Performers Earn All-Region Status & Awards
Iowa Western claimed the throne for the second time in three years as the Region 11 Indoor Champions. The Reivers ended with a team score of 253 which was 69 more points than Indian Hills, who finished second. Iowa Western won seven of the 20 events and had an all Iowa Western top three finish in the 5000 Meter Run. On top of their top place finishes, the Reivers had at least one top three finisher in all but four events during the Region 11 Indoor Championships.
The top awards of Indoor Track & Field went to Iowa Western's Geoffry Ronoh and Tate Joens of Indian Hills.
Ronoh, the ICCAC Indoor Track Athlete of the Year had an excellent Region 11 Championship appearance. He finished top three in both the 5000 Meter Run and the Mile. During the Mile, he finished in second place, failing to reach first by just 1.46 seconds. While competing in the 5000-Meter Run, Ronoh finished in third, losing to two of his teammates by one minute.
In the NJCAA rankings, Geoffry Ronoh is one of the best long distance runners in all of the NJCAA. He leads the ICCAC with the best times this season in the Mile, the 3000 Meter Run, and the 5000 Meter Run, while ranking inside the top three in the NJCAA in all those events.
The ICCAC Indoor Field Athlete of the Year, Tate Joens, was able to put together really nice throws in both the Shot Put and Weight Throw. Joens' won the Weight Throw with a mark of 18.56 meters which was 1.65 meters more than the next thrower. In Shot Put, Joens placed third with a throw of 16.62 meters, just 0.79 meters from first. In the NJCAA ranks,
Joens does in fact lead the Weight Throw with a mark of 18.56 meter that he accomplished in the Region 11 Indoor Championships. While he ranks first in that category, Joens is ranked eighth in the Shot Put in all of NJCAA and third in the ICCAC.
First Team All-Region finisher, Zion Campbell took home the gold in the 60 Meter Dash and finished second in the 200-Meter Dash by just 0.10 seconds. Campbell's teammates at Iowa Central, Housem Hrabi and Bongumusa Nkosi also won their respective races while Cooper Spurgeon and Canyon Jones won their events in the field.
Hrabi won the Mile by over two seconds and Nkosi won the 200-Meter Dash by just 0.10 seconds. Both Jones and Spurgeon won their events comfortably, Jones in the Pole Vault and Spurgeon in the Heptathlon.
Brandon Ford of Indian Hills won the 3000 Meter Run by over 10 seconds, while his teammate, Keveroy Venson won the 1000 Meter Run with a time of 2:28.16, just 0.09 seconds ahead of Housem Hrabi in second.
In the relays, three different teams won the three different events. Indian Hills took home the 4x400 Relay by six seconds, Iowa Western won the 4x800 Relaywith four seconds to spare, and then Iowa Central won the Distance Medley with a time of 10:34.18, a little under seven seconds ahead of Iowa Western.
In the Field Events, Yekini Bowen earned All-Region Honors with second place finishes in both the Shot Put and Weight Throw. It took Joens' personal record to beat Bowen in the Weight Throw, while in the Shot Put, Bowen missed a first place opportunity by 0.10 meters.
Lastly, Iowa Western's David Burnett was named the 2023-24 Indoor Track & Field Coach of the Year. As mentioned, the Reivers won their second Region 11 title in the last three seasons -- now two all-time. Twenty two Reiver athletes earned All-Region status this season.
Men's Indoor Track Coach-Athlete of the Year
Men's 60-Meter Dash
1. Zion Campbell, Iowa Central - 6.60
2. Traunard Folson, Indian Hills - 6.64
HM. Youssef Hamed, Iowa Central - 6.78
Men's 60-Meter Hurdles
1. Triston Miller, Indian Hills - 7.93
2. Cyrus Ways, Indian Hills - 8.05
HM. Nikkolia Kennedy, Iowa Western - 8.18
Men's 200-Meter Dash
1. Bongumusa Nkosi, Iowa Central - 21.70
2. Zion Campbell, Iowa Central - 21.80
HM. Wallace Aflamah, Iowa Western - 21.87
Men's 400-Meter Dash
1. Michael Francois, Iowa Western - 48.55
2. Chris Johnson, Indian Hills - 48.59
HM. Bongumusa Nkosi, Iowa Central - 49.20
Men's 600-Meter Run
1. Terrick Johnson, Indian Hills - 1:19.85
2. Trevon Prince, Iowa Central - 1:20.64
HM. Tray'Quan Francis, Indian Hills - 1:20.66
Men's 800-Meter Run
1. Mohammed Kowa, Iowa Western - 1:54.23
2. Cole Reinders, Indian Hills - 1:54.97
HM. Tiago Sabino, Iowa Western - 1:56.30
Men's 1000-Meter Run
1. Keveroy Venson, Indian Hills - 2:28.16
2. Housem Hrabi, Iowa Central - 2:28.25
HM. Jed Elmbarki, Iowa Central - 2:29.89
Men's 1-Mile Run
1. Housem Hrabi, Iowa Central - 4:12.71
2. Geoffry Ronoh, Iowa Western - 4:14.17
HM. Jed Elmbarki, Iowa Central - 4:16.84
Men's 3000-Meter Run
1. Brandon Ford, Indian Hills - 8:40.42
2. Seth Cheney, Iowa Central - 8:50.58
HM. Patrick Heffernan, Iowa Western - 8:52.39
Men's 5000-Meter Run
1. Barnabas Ndiwa, Iowa Western - 14:44.49
2. Victor Kemboi, Iowa Western - 14:44.84
HM. Geoffry Ronoh, Iowa Western - 14:45.57
Men's 4x400 Meter Relay
1. Indian Hills - 3:15.83
(Jah'Vauni Wheeler, Terrick Johnson, Mohammed Al-Yafaee, Chris Johnson)
2. Iowa Central - 3:21.91
(Zion Campbell, Bongumusa Nkosi, Seon Booker, Trevon Prince)
HM. NIACC 3:24.63
(Demario Cleare, Tyreese James, Bruce Huggins, Hugo Massa)
Men's 4x800 Meter Relay
1. Iowa Western - 8:04.10
(Kyler Chappell, Magnus Herschbach, Patrick Heffernan, Angelo Baez-Mahr)
2. Iowa Central - 8:08.47
(Chase Deiter, Andrew Boyum, Jadon Boots, Caleb Crystal)
HM. NIACC - 8:35.75
(Bryson Canton, Joey Ringo, Eli Bergman, Quinton Ellis)
Men's Distance Medley
1. Iowa Central - 10:34.18
(Jed Elmbarki, Trevon Prince, Seon Booker, Joseph Asahi Wright)
2. Iowa Western - 10:41.03
(Tiago Sabino, Ben Huber Jr., Jacinto Gaspar, Joel Solomon)
HM. NIACC - 11:36.37
(Ryan Kelly, Quinton Ellis, Hugo Massa, Joey Ringo)
Men's High Jump
1. Paul Rowden, Iowa Western - 2.10m
2. Triston Miller, Indian Hills - 2.05m
HM. Otenidi Omot, Iowa Western - 2.00m
Men's Long Jump
1. Troy Johnson, Indian Hills - 7.23m
2. Terrence Thomas, NIACC - 7.21m
HM. Paul Rowden, Iowa Western - 7.16m
Men's Triple Jump
1. Cory Vaughan, Jr., Iowa Western - 14.57m
2. Anthony Ward, Indian Hills - 14.54m
HM. Terrence Thomas, NIACC - 14.31m
Men's Shot Put
1. Denzs Simmonds, Iowa Western - 17.41m
2. Yekini Bowen, Iowa Western - 17.31m
HM. Tate Joens, Indian Hills - 16.62m
Men's Weight Throw
1. Tate Joens, Indian Hills - 18.56m
2. Yekini Bowen, Iowa Western - 16.91m
HM. Michael Etuma, Indian Hills - 16.65m
Men's Pole Vault
1. Canyon Jones, Iowa Central - 3.95m
2. Cooper Spurgeon, Iowa Central - 3.50m
HM. Brandon Calmese, Iowa Western - 3.20m
Men's Heptathlon
1. Cooper Spurgeon, Iowa Central - 4692
2. Brandon Calmese, Iowa Western - 4400
HM. Marenono Opiew, Iowa Western - 4168