Pratt Community College cross country ended the season at the NJCAA national championship meet in Fort Dodge, IA. The six runners faced a cold and wet course, and finished the season with a strong showing.
"Racing in cold weather has different effects and some handle it well while others do not," said head coach Eric Larson. "I thought the team handled it pretty well as the results show."
The women's 5K was highlighted by the efforts of Aminata Kenyawani for the Blue and White. She finished her race with a time of 19:43.20. She was the highest place finisher for Pratt in either race securing the 61st place finish out of over 300 runners. Anastasia Graves finished with a time of 22:06. Leeasha Madison finished with a time of 22:14 to round out the women runners of PCC.
In the men's 8K race, every runner for the Beavers finished with their best times running for PCC. Izak Molterno ran a 28:49.20 race and improved his best time by 58 seconds. With a time of 30:03.90, Xavier Ortiz beat his best time by 11 seconds. Running a 30:11.80, Elijah Battle bested his fastest time by nine seconds.
"It was a solid way to end the season for these student athletes," Larson said. "The guys really left it out there, and had big time races. The girls competed well. Aminata finished right around where I thought she would and placed high in the race. The other two girls have shown vast improvement since the beginning of the season. All three girls are now running two minutes faster on average than what they were running when I brought them in. That is a real solid jump considering where they are now. Both the men and the women are setting themselves up for a great track season."