N Vanee Anchike, Siyabonga Mokgothu Earn Top-10 Finishes for Cloud County at Gans Creek Classic

Led by two-time Kansas Jayhawk Community College women's cross country athlete of the week N Vanee Anchike and men's freshman Siyabonga Mokgothu, the Cloud County Community College cross country teams would have two individuals post top-10 finishes at the 2023 Gans Creek Classic hosted by the University of Missouri at the Gans Creek Cross Country Course in Columbia, Missouri in Friday, September 29th.

Running in the open division races alongside 16 other schools hailing from NCAA Division II, II, the NAIA, and NJCAA, the T-Birds would have four men's runners post individual finishes while five women's runners would account for a ninth-place team finish with 274 points to finish as the second-highest NJCAA school in the meet.

Highlighting the performances of the day would be Anchike in the 6,000 meter women's race as the Kumasi, Ghana native would come out on top of the 179 runner field by running a time of 22:10.40 to finish a full 12 seconds ahead of second-place finisher Katie Rector from Washington University (MO). Accounting for CCCC's other top-10 individual finish on the day would be men's freshman Siyabonga Mokgothu who would run a time of 25:30.90 in the men's 8,000 meter race to take 10th among a loaded field that would see six of the top-10 spots occupied by NJCAA runners.

The Cloud County women would also see a 50th place finish from Ozia Trujillo who would run a time of 24:31.90 and be followed by Jaelyn Rumback (25:51.60) in 82nd place for the T-Birds. CCCC's other two women's runners on Friday would finish in back-to-back spots with Joella Mathilda (28:11.80) edging out Nikola Prochazkova (28:19.2) with the two finishing in 120th and 121st, respectively.

As for the remaining three Cloud County men's athletes, Ethan Ochana would be the next-highest T-Bird finisher by placing 129th in a time of 29:09.60 while seeing Andres Young take 151st (29:47.60). Freshman Alan Garcia would compete for the first time this season on Friday, posting a time of 30:57.70 for 169th place in his collegiate debut for CCCC.

What's Next?
Just one meet remains in the regular season ahead of postseason competition as Cloud County will take part in the 2023 Emporia State University Hornet Invitational on Friday, October 6th. The meet, which will take place at Jones Park in Emporia, will begin at 4 PM with the women's 5,000 meter race and be followed by the men's 8,000 meter race at 4:45 PM.