Cross Country Hosts, Sweeps Region; Men Claim Fifth Straight Title
NWACC's men's cross country team has won all five Region 2 titles in its existence, and the men's and women's teams swept the region for the third time in five years.
BENTONVILLE - The NorthWest Arkansas Community College Women's and Men's Cross Country programs won their respective NJCAA Region 2 titles Saturday at the NWACC Cross Country Course.
For the men's program, the victory upheld a perfect record of region titles in all five years of the program's history, a Region 2 record for consecutive titles by one program. The women's program won its third championship in five years.
Women's 5K
Ranked seventh in the nation coming in, the women's team was buoyed by a group effort at the top. Four Eagles finished third through sixth consecutively, paced by sophomore Judy Kiproto. Kiproto's finishing time was 19:31.9, marking an average mile of 6:17.2.
Sophomore Cindy Soto placed fourth with a time of 19:48.6, while freshmen Gloria Kurgat and Litzy Garcia rounded out the team's top four, respectively.
The Eagles finished with 25 points, 18 ahead of second-placed Carl Albert State.
The win marks NWACC's second first-place finish in 2025, both coming in home events.
The Eagles kicked off their season with a win in the NWACC Opener and now boast top-three finishes in consecutive meets. Last time out, NWACC placed third at the John Brown Invitational in Siloam Springs, Ark.
Men's 8K
Both the top two individual spots were filled by Eagles sophomores. Pedro Morales won the event with a time of 26:41.9, closely followed by a 26:50.3 posting from Kriz Perez.
Also landing in the top 20 finishers were freshmen Kevin Perez (11th, 29:07.8), Benjamin Venter (16th, 29:28.1) and Javier Bravo (18th, 29:33.9).
NWACC's total score of 45 fought off four region opponents and beat out top challenger Carl Albert State by nine.
The cross country teams have combined to sweep both events at the NWACC Cross Country Course in 2025.
Bird's Eye View
Next up for both programs is the NJCAA National Championship meet Nov. 8 at Lakeside Municipal Golf Course in Fort Dodge, Iowa, hosted by Iowa Central Community College. Live results will be available on NWACCEagles.com under the Men's and Women's Cross Country schedule pages, and the events will be streamed live for a subscription fee via RunnerSpace.
For up-to-date coverage of the NJCAA National Championship, follow @NWACCAthletics and @NWACCxctf on Instagram.
