NEW ORLEANS, La. - Strong results from both the Cloud County women's and men's cross country teams at their first meet of the year have put both T-Bird teams into the top-five of the first United States Track and Field Cross Country Coaches Associations Polls of the year which were released on Wednesday.
The polls, which are released bi-weekly following a vote from NJCAA Coaches, saw the T-Bird women enter the first poll of the year ranked number three in the nation while the defending National Champion Cloud County men enter the first poll of the year ranked fifth.
After not recording a team finish at the NJCAA Championships last year, the Cloud County women burst onto the scene in 2020 with a big victory at the Terry Masterson Twilight Classic with Patricia Koma earning a runner-up finish while three other athletes finished in the top 10. The CCCC women trailed only four-time defending National Champion Iowa Central and New Mexico Junior College in the first poll of the year that saw 10 teams ranked in the poll.
Over on the men's side, Cloud County is the second-highest ranked school among Kansas Jayhawk Community College Conference schools and are looking to build off a fourth-place finish at last Friday's Terry Masterson Twilight Classic which saw lone returner Habtamu Geta win the individual title and freshman Michael Iyali finish third. Iowa Central claimed the top spot in the poll that saw a total of 13 teams earn a ranking while New Mexico Junior College (second) and Hutchinson (third) rounded out the top three.
CCCC will have both the men and women back in action this Friday as the T-Birds take part in the 2020 Ollie Isom Invitational which is being put on by Butler Community College in El Dorado. The meet will officially get underway at 4 p.m. with the women taking part in a 5K race while the men's 8K race is scheduled to follow at 4:30 p.m.
--cloudtbirds.com--