Lake Michigan’s Ippel wins NJCAA Division II National Championship

Published 10:29 am Monday, November 13, 2023

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HUNTSVILLE, Ala. — Freshman Olivia Ippel, of Lake Michigan College, captured the National Junior College Athletic Association Division II Women’s National Championship on Saturday.

Ippel, of St. Joseph, ran a time of 17:56 to easily outdistance runner-up Nora Brady, of Heartland Community College, who finished with a time of 18:05.

Cowley Community College out of Kansas, was the team national champion with 66 points, while Heartland, of Illinois, was second with 71 points. Paradise Valley Community College (Arizona), Mesa Community College (Arizona) and Des Moines Area Community College (Iowa) rounded out the top five.

Heartland is coached by former Southwestern Michigan College All-American Ty Wolf.

The Roadrunners finished 12th overall with 414 points.

Former Brandywine High School standout Allison Lauri, a sophomore, led Southwestern Michigan with a 75th-place finish and a time of 20:41. Morgan Pieczynski (Lockport, Illinois) placed 78th (20:48), Kierstyn Thompson (Niles) was 99th (21:07), Taylor Meier (Paw Paw) was 113th (21:31), Esther Lopez (Bangor) was 132nd (22:16), Tori Yates (Niles) was 139th (22:21) Madison Siergiej (Lockport, Illinois) was 189th (23:21.4).

The Roadrunners’ men’s team finished 17th overall with 462 points. Lansing Community College won the national championship with 73 points, while Heartland was the runner-up with 78 points.

Ethan Glick (Constantine) led Southwestern Michigan with a 66th-place finish and time of 27:07. Micah Ordway (Delton) was 78th (27:24). Isaiah Beiter (Lawrence) was 110th (27:54), John Sanderson (Bridgman) was 116th (28:04), Evan Stacy (Portage/Portage Northern) was 136th (28:29), Donnell Chaney (Inkster/Robichaud) was 243rd (32:22) and Gabriel Gonzalez (Lawreance) was 263rd (33:48).

Lake Michigan College’s Tristan Ashley was 69th overall with a time of 27:16.