Posted: Oct 27, 2023
Last Friday, the Region 11 Men's Cross Country Championships determined the 2023 All-Region and Coach & Athlete of the awards.
Both Division I and Division II All-Region teams are made up of the race's top finishers, with 15 runners from Division I and 12 runners from Division II recognized. All-Conference honors went to top 21 runners in the entire race, as Division I & Division II run the event all together.
Division I's Athlete of the Year award went to Mohammed Kowa, the 2023 Division I Region 11 Champion. Kowa became the first Iowa Western individual champion to win the Region 11 race since Isaiahd Samoei did it back-to-back in 2009 and 2010. He posted a time of 24:46.1 -- which was his third fastest 8k time of the season. His top time of the season came on Oct. 13 when he ran a 24:21.5 at the Platte River Rumble. Kowa and the Reivers won the Region 11 Championship by three points over Iowa Central, their first in team history.
Other Division I First Team All-Region earners were Indian Hills' Brandon Ford and Keveroy Venson. Ford was the Region 11 runner up, and was the only other runner to finish under 25 minutes. He had one of the best times of any runners all season when he posted a season-best 23:40.9 at the Indian Hills Invitational on Oct. 13. Venson took fifth place for the final First Team spot with a time of 25:38.9.
Kowa's teammate Jacinto Gaspar took third place at the meet to earn First Team designation. The sophomore posted a 25:09.9.
Finishing out the top 5 was Iowa Central's Housem Hrabi, who finished in fourth.
Chase Oates of Southwestern was named the Athlete of the Year for Division II. The sophomore won the race on his home course finishing first among the 38 runners participating. Oates' time of 26:50.0 was the top on a cold windy day in Creston. He ran a time of 25:36.6 at the Indian Hills Invitational, which was his best of this season.
Southeastern placed one runner on the four-person First Team in Brooks Julian. Julian powered to a second place finish 25 seconds behind Oates. He and his fellow Blackhawks won the Region 11 Championship over DMACC by one point.
Breyden Christensen took third place to earn First Team. The NIACC Trojan ran a 27:21.49. Rounding out the top four was Alejandro Bernal of DMACC. He is the first DMACC runner in the four-year history of Division II to earn First Team status.
As for coaches of the year, Indian Hills' Brent Ewing and Southeastern's Lucas Keifer were voted, respectively.
Ewing led the Warriors to a third place finish, but greatly improved on their team score from year's past. Their two runners on the First team are most in team history, and Ford's runner up finish was just the second instance in school history. The Warriors are ranked No. 7 in the country to date.
Keifer wins the award in back-to-back seasons. The Blackhawks are the Region 11 Champions for the first time in school history and have a chance to make some noise at the NJCAA Championships on Nov. 11 in Alabama.
2023 ICCAC All-Conference (Division I & Division II Combined)
2023 First Team All-Conference
| Name | School | Year |
| Brandon Ford | Indian Hills | Fr. |
| Keveroy Venson | Indian Hills | Fr. |
| Housem Hrabi | Iowa Central | So. |
| Jadon Boots | Iowa Central | So. |
| Jacinto Gaspar | Iowa Western | So. |
| Mohammed Kowa | Iowa Western | Fr. |
| Tiago Sabino | Iowa Western | Fr. |
2023 Second Team All-Conference
| Name | School | Year |
| Brody Lucas | Indian Hills | So. |
| Mohammed Al-Yafaee | Indian Hills | So. |
| Hamza Mohamed | Iowa Central | Fr. |
| Jed Elmbarki | Iowa Central | So. |
| Joseph Asahi Wright | Iowa Central | So. |
| Magnus Herschbach | Iowa Western | Fr. |
| Chase Oates | Southwestern | So. |
2023 Honorable Mention All-Conference
| Name | School | Year |
| Alejandro Bernal | DMACC | Fr. |
| Nik Davis | Indian Hills | Fr. |
| Patrick Heffernan | Iowa Western | Fr. |
| Breyden Christensen | NIACC | So. |
| Owen Almelien | NIACC | Fr. |
| Brooks Julian | Southeastern | So. |
| Freddy Vergara | Southeastern | So. |
2023 ICCAC All-Region
Division I
2023 First Team All-Region
| Name | School | Year |
| Brandon Ford | Indian Hills | Fr. |
| Keveroy Venson | Indian Hills | Fr. |
| Housem Hrabi | Iowa Central | So. |
| Jacinto Gaspar | Iowa Western | So. |
| Mohammed Kowa | Iowa Western | Fr. |
2023 Second Team All-Region
| Name | School | Year |
| Mohammed Al-Yafaee | Indian Hills | So. |
| Hamza Mohamed | Iowa Central | Fr. |
| Jadon Boots | Iowa Central | So. |
| Jed Elmbarki | Iowa Central | So. |
| Tiago Sabino | Iowa Western | Fr. |
2023 Honorable Mention All-Region
| Name | School | Year |
| Brody Lucas | Indian Hills | So. |
| Nik Davis | Indian Hills | Fr. |
| Joseph Asahi Wright | Iowa Central | So. |
| Magnus Herschbach | Iowa Western | Fr. |
| Patrick Heffernan | Iowa Western | Fr. |
Division I - Athlete of the Year - Mohammed Kowa, Iowa Western
Division I - Coach of the Year - Brent Ewing, Indian Hills
Division II
2023 First Team All-Region
| Name | School | Year |
| Alejandro Bernal | DMACC | Fr. |
| Breyden Christensen | NIACC | So. |
| Brooks Julian | Southeastern | So. |
| Chase Oates | Southwestern | So. |
2023 Second Team All-Region
| Name | School | Year |
| Jordan King | DMACC | Fr. |
| Owen Almelien | NIACC | Fr. |
| Freddy Vergara | Southeastern | So. |
| Ryan Kuhlman | Southeastern | So. |
2023 Honorable Mention All-Region
| Name | School | Year |
| Ray Gearhart | DMACC | Fr. |
| Will Thompson | DMACC | Fr. |
| Zach Niderklopfer | DMACC | So. |
| Jess Cornick | Hawkeye | Fr. |
Division II Athlete of the Year - Chase Oates, Southwestern
Division II Coach of the Year - Lucas Keifer, Southeastern
