Trojans twelfth at nationals

The Colby Trojans placed twelfth out of 40 teams at the NJCAA Division I Cross Country Championships Nov. 11 in Fort Dodge, Iowa. All-American status was earned by Oscar Leyva.

Head Coach Cameron Rieth, named the 2017 Central Region Women's Coach of the Year, was pleased with the results.

"Words cannot express how proud I am of everyone and what we were able to accomplish this season as a collective group," Rieth said. "Some of us got out a little too hard, which I think we paid for in the end. We let our nerves and emotions get the best of us, but we will learn from it and apply it to the future."

Over the five mile race the Trojans finished with a team score of 380 points. Leyva ran well to earn 17th place in a time of 25:46. Emmanuel Kipngetich and Iley Bruce weren't far behind with times of 26:42 and 26:45. Other Trojan runners included Mauro Arancibia (27:26), Gibson Weydeveld (27:41), Caleb Carrasco (27:45), and Tito Gonzalez  (28:54). Overall, there were 320 runners.

"They all ran their hearts out and several of them came away with a personal best," Rieth said. "As a coach, that is all I can ever ask for. I am honored to have been able to coach this group. We need to keep this momentum going as we start to prepare for the track season."