Dordt (Iowa) Men Captured First Red Banner at 2022 NAIA Cross Country Championship
Dordt (Iowa) captured its first red banner by claiming the 67th Annual NAIA Men’s Cross Country National Championship at Apalachee Regional Park in Tallahassee on Friday.
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (Results) – Dordt (Iowa) captured its first red banner by claiming the 67th Annual NAIA Men’s Cross Country National Championship at Apalachee Regional Park in Tallahassee on Friday.
The Defenders posted a team score of 97 points to beat out national runner-up Milligan (Tenn.) who finished with 115 points. The Masters (Calif.) took third with 151 points, while Indiana Wesleyan grabbed fourth (208 points) and St. Francis (Ill.) rounded out the top five with 208 points.
Oklahoma City’s Abraham Chelangam won the men’s 8k individual title with a time of 23 minutes, 41.9 seconds, beating out the field by 13 seconds. This is the fourth consecutive year a Star has won the individual title.
Chelangam’s teammate Shimales Abebe and Haile Stutzman of Huntington (Ind.) battled for second place, with Abebe putting in a final kick to edge out Hunt in the finish. Abebe completed the course in 24:03.96, while Hunt clocked in at 24:05. Aaron Jones of Milligan crossed the finish line in 24:05.3 and Bryan Hernandez-Rios of Grace (Kan.) rounded out the top-five finishers with a time of 24:05.6.
Following the race, Dordt head coach Nate Wolf was named the 2022 NAIA Men’s Cross Country Coach of the Year.
The top 40 individual finishers were named 2022 NAIA Men’s Cross Country All-Americans.
Photo credit: Don Juan Moore