Men's Track & Field

WARRIORS CAPTURE SIX EVENTS, PLACE 3RD OVERALL

WARRIORS CAPTURE SIX EVENTS, PLACE 3RD OVERALL
Posted: Feb 20, 2022

Storm Lake, IA – The No. 3 nationally ranked Indian Hills Men's Track & Field squad took home a third-place finish at the 2022 National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) Region XI Indoor Championship. The Warriors scored 140 team points and claimed six first-place finishes to place behind first-place Iowa Western Community College and second-place Iowa Central Community College.

The Warriors were powered by the stellar sprint group that has helped the program climb to new heights throughout the 2021-22 season. Sophomore Aurel Tchanbi (Abidjan, Cote d'Ivoire/College Heleis) captured two individual region titles for the second consecutive year. Tchanbi repeated as the 60-meter dash and 200-meter dash champion after claiming both events a year ago. Tchanbi posted a time of 6.74 in the 60-meter dash, a new personal best, and a time of 21.52 in the 200-meter dash.

Along with Tchanbi, the Warriors swept the top three places in the 200-meter event as Damoy Allen (Utica, NY/Utica Proctor) placed second at 21.65 and Isiah Thomas (Milwaukee, WI/Destiny High School) placed third with a mark of 21.79. Thomas medaled in the 60-meter dash as well with a second-place showing at 6.82. In total, eight different Warriors broke the 7.00 mark in the 60-meter dash preliminary round.

Rivaldo Marshall's (Kingston, Jamaica/Calabar) impressive freshman campaign added another achievement to the list by claiming the 800-meter run title with a time of 1:55.73, nearly five seconds ahead of the second-place finisher. Freshman Keegan Simms (Miami, FL/Miami Southridge) placed third overall in the event for the Warriors with a time of 2:00.20 to earn medalist honors.

Sophomore Nick O'Connor (Tiffin, IA/Clear Creek Amana) was crowned region champion in the men's one mile run with a time of 4:23.69. O'Connor, along with teammates Brady Millikin (Hedrick, IA/Pekin), Sydney Peal (Crofton, MD/Bullis), and Jerry Harper (Rantoul, IL/Rantoul High School) earned first-place honors in the men's Distance Medley Relay after breaking the NJCAA Region XI meet record with a time of 10:17.85.

The men's 4x400-meter relay squad of Justin Walden (Miami, FL/North Miami), Woyn Chatman (Miami, FL/North Miami), Peal, and Kendrick Winfield (Louisville, KY/Louisville Male) captured the region title with a time of 3:17.87, missing the meet record by just .40 seconds.

Walden and Chatman placed second and third, respectively in the 400-meter dash. Dean Clarke (Kingston, Jamaica/Calabar) medaled in the men's 60-meter hurdles event with a time of 8.61. Dorian Craven (Dallas, TX/Duncanville) earned a national qualifying mark time in the men's 600-meter run with a third-place finish at 1:22.58.

Millikin earned a national qualifying mark in the men's 1,000-meter run, finishing fourth overall with a time of 2:34.23.

The Warriors will now set their sights on the upcoming NJCAA Indoor National Championships set for March 4-5 in the Pittsburg, KS at the Robert W. Plaster Center.