Council Bluffs, IA – Justin Walden (Miami, FL/North Miami) and Rivaldo Marshall (Kingston, Jamaica/Calabar) starred for the Indian Hills Men's Track & Field team on Sunday to lead the Warriors to a third-place team finish at the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) Region XI Outdoor Track & Field Championship at the Reiver Athletic Complex.
Walden brought home three first-place finishes for the Warriors in the 100-meter and 200-meter dash events along with the men's 4x100-meter relay team. Marshall outran the competition in the men's 800-meter run for a first-place finish and was also a member of the first-place men's 4x400-meter relay squad to lead the Warriors.
The Warriors brought home five first-place finishes in total to score 127 team points and finish third overall. Iowa Western Community College took the team title with 280 points followed by Iowa Central Community College's 212 points. Of the seven teams competing, only the top three accumulated more than 100 points on the weekend.
The two-day meet opened up Saturday with the Warrior sprinters making their mark in the 100m and 200m prelim rounds, including a pair of impressive performances from Walden to set the stage for Sunday's finals. Walden took home top honors in the 100m dash with a 10.37. Teammate Isiah Thomas (Milwaukee, WI/Destiny High School) placed third overall at 10.42 followed by Aurel Tchanbi's (Abidjan, Cote d'Ivoire/College Heleis) fourth-place finish at 10.44.
In the 200m, Walden entered the final stretch in fourth place before bursting towards the finish line to become a two-time NJCAA Region XI Champion with a time of 21.00. Walden finished just 0.03 seconds ahead of the second-place finisher in a tight race. The Warriors also took home third-place in the event with Kendrick Winfield's 21.07 mark and Damoy Allen's (Utica, NY/Utica Proctor) fourth-place finish at 21.14.
Marshall completed the season sweep in the 800m after the freshman won the indoor region title back in February. Marshall, the indoor runner-up at the NJCAA National Championship, posted a time of 1:50.72 on Sunday, nearly three seconds ahead of the second-place finisher to claim medalist honors for the Warriors.
Nick O'Connor (Tiffin, IA/Clear Creek Amana) hit a national qualifying mark in the 800m with a time of 1:54.40 to place third while Jerry Harper (Rantoul, IL/Rantoul High School) finished fourth overall and Roneldo Rock (St. Joseph, Barbados/Grantley Adams Memorial) placed sixth.
Walden, Winfield, Allen, and Tchanbi, the quartet that won the Drake Relays on April 30, claimed first place at the region championship on Sunday with a time of 40.49. The Warriors have now won back-to-back 4x100m relay events at the region championships while both Allen and Tchanbi have been members of the championship relay squads in each of the last two seasons.
The Warriors closed out the region championship in style by winning the final event, the men's 4x400m relay to sweep the relay events on Sunday. Sydney Peal (Crofton, MD/Bullis), Dorian Craven (Dallas, TX/Duncanville), Marshall, and Winfield carried the Warriors to victory with a time of 3:14.10, over four seconds faster than the second-place finisher.
O'Connor put together a strong showing in the men's 1,500-meter run, placing third overall while teammates Brady Millikin (Hedrick, IA/Pekin) and Jorge Becerra (Lawrenceville, GA/Mountain) all scored for the Warriors with top-10 finishes. Peal placed fourth overall in the men's 400-meter dash with a time of 47.55, the fifth-best mark in school history.
Damien Lewis (Brenham, TX/Brenham) set a new school record in the men's 400-met hurdles with a time of 54.31 to place second overall for the Warriors. JC Ramirez (Odessa, TX/Odessa) finished third overall in the men's triple jump to score for the Warriors with a mark of 14.25-meters.
In the distance events, Isaac Bryant (Grinnell, IA/Grinnell-Newburg) placed fifth overall in the men's 10,000-meter run while Chris Metz (Freeport, IL/Freeport High School) hit a national qualifying mark in the men's 5,000-meter run and placed seventh overall.
The region meet served as the final tuneup for the Warriors before the NJCAA National Championships in Hutchinson, KS. Action gets underway May 19 at Gowans Stadium.
Region XI Championship Recap
— Indian Hills XC/TF (@IHCCrunning) May 9, 2022
1️⃣ Region Record
4️⃣ School Records
4️⃣ National Qualifiers
7️⃣ Region Champions
1️⃣4️⃣ Top 5 All-Time IHCC Marks pic.twitter.com/Iqwy9TEy88
