Iowa Central Men, Lansing (Mich.) Women Teams To Beat In NJCAA DI XC

NEW ORLEANS — Last year at the NJCAA Division I Cross Country Championships in Fort Dodge, Iowa, the Iowa Central men and Lansing (Mich.) women each rolled to a national title by a comfortable margin.

The Tritons, behind Andrew Ronoh (who is now at NCAA Division I Arkansas) and Cody Baele, outpointed Central Arizona 56-86 for their second consecutive NJCAA DI crown.

In the women’s race, the Stars used an incredibly tight spread of 38.9 seconds to upset pre-championship favorite Iowa Central. Lansing (Mich.) went 10-16-22-23-26 for a grand total of 92 points, which beat the runner-up Tritons by 43.

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Coaches who voted in the first NJCAA Division I National Coaches’ Poll of the season saw no reason to think it won’t happen again. In the poll, released Wednesday by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA), the Iowa Central men and Lansing (Mich.) women owned the top spots of their respective polls.

In the Tritons’ case, it appears as if they reloaded with talent. After losing Baele and Ronoh, Iowa Central is poised to make a run at its fourth consecutive NJCAA DI crown and the coaches rewarded Dee Brown’s team with seven of 10 first-place votes.

For the Stars, they were young last year which bodes well for 2016. Lansing (Mich.) returns four of the five runners from its scoring lineup from 2015 including 10th-place finisher Kaitlin Beyer. The Stars were close to unanimous with eight of 10 nods.

Let’s go back to the men’s poll, where South Plains and Lansing (Mich.) hope to make life difficult for Iowa Central. South Plains and Lansing (Mich.) are ranked second and third and each received at least one first-place vote. At last year’s championships, the former placed third behind Central Arizona while the latter fell in the middle at 14th.

Four other big gainers in the men’s poll were Butler (Kan.), Highland (Kan.), Grand Rapids and Cowley County. Butler (Kan.) is fifth after finishing 11th at NJCAAs, Highland (Kan.) finished 33rd and is now 10th, while both Grand Rapids and Cowley County weren’t ranked at the end of last season and are now in the top-15.

Looking at the women’s poll, last year’s runner-up Iowa Central and Mesa CC settled in behind Lansing (Mich.). The Tritons are once again going to be led by Leanne Pompeani, who won the 2015 individual title by 28 seconds. The Thunderbirds kept the Stars from being unanimous as they stole the other two first-place votes and have top-15 finisher Adeline Montgomery back for her sophomore season.

Five teams went from outside the top-10 last year at NJCAAs to inside in Week 1: Cowley County (unranked to No. 6), Allen CC (12th to 7th), Vincennes (17th to 8th), Iowa Western (19th to 9th) and South Plains (14th to 10th).

There is a lot of racing left between now and November 12 when the best of the best in NJCAA Division I meet in El Dorado, Kansas for the 2016 NJCAA Division I Cross Country Championships.