Kiana Brokaw earned a trip to the NJCAA National Cross Country championships for Sauk Valley College.

She just didn’t know it was going to come with challenges.

The runners in Sunday’s nationals in Fort Dodge, Iowa were greeted by blizzard conditions at the start of the day for the men’s race with three inches of snow that stuck on the ground by the time the women ran.

“The athletes knew that PRs weren’t going to be on the table but still went out there and ran. The women ran next in awful conditions with an equally determined performance,” Sauk coach Nick Hartz said.

Brokaw, a sophomore from Princeton, finished 160th in a field of 321 runners with a time of 23:10.7 in the 5-kilometer race. She placed eighth in last week’s regionals with a season-best 22:24.2 to qualify.

Addyson Mille

See Full Page