Iowa Central, South Plains dominate CTC-hosted half-marathon national championships at Silver Comet Trail

Chattahoochee Tech hosted the NJCAA half-marathon national championships on Saturday at the Silver Comet Trail in Dallas, welcoming 23 schools and hundreds of long-distance runners from around the country. Powerhouse Iowa Central Community College won the men’s title outright and shared the women’s title with South Plains College. Stanley Kebenei of Iowa Central broke the NJCAA national half-marathon record with his time of 1:06:17.70.

“I think it is really great,” Kebenei said of the individual and team championship. “We are doing big things at Iowa Central, and this is a great honor.”

Darroneshia Lott and Kirsten Taylor of South Plains finished first and second, respectively, in the women’s race, and Lott’s time of 1:25:30.96 was the fourth fastest in NJCAA history. Lott and Taylor ran neck-and-neck for much of the race before Lott pulled away with several miles to go.

“We really pushed each other,” said Lott, who had never run a half-marathon before Saturday’s championship.

Johnson County Community College and South Plains rounded out the top three teams for the men, and El Paso Community College took third in the women’s race.

The top six finishers for the half-marathon were dubbed All-Americans. On the men’s side, Viktors Slesarenoks of Cloud County Community College took second and Jamal Boma of Iowa Central took third. Edwin Sitienei (El Paso), Devvin Hayden (Gillette College) and Austin Steagall (Spartanburg Methodist College) completed the top six. For the women, Iowa Central took places three through five with Fiona McKenna, Jodi Miller and Aden Alemu, and Angelica Palomino of El Paso placed sixth.

It was Chattahoochee Tech’s first time hosting an NJCAA national championship event.

“I think it all went pretty well,” said Chattahoochee Tech head cross country coach Steve Prettyman. “Overall, everyone was really happy with the event and really happy with the course.”

Along with Chattahoochee Tech, local teams Darton College from Albany, Ga., and South Georgia College from Douglas, Ga., also competed in the championships.

Saturday’s 13.1-mile race began at the school’s Paulding County campus and finished at Tara Drummond Park along the Silver Comet Trail. Runners benefited from temperatures in the 40s at race time and the relatively flat stretch of trail.

The half-marathon has been held as an NJCAA championship event since 2003.