The Tritons swept both the men’s and women’s team titles while capturing gold in 17 total events. They also set six Buena Vista University venue records and two Region 11 marks in the process.

Taha Ouchene and Chadrak Belinda Bula Bula were three-time regional champions, with Ouchene winning the 800, 600 and running on the 4×800 relay while Bula claimed the 600, 400 and was on the 4×400. She also finished seventh in the high jump.

Abbigail Hutchinson scored the most points for Iowa Central with 30 on her own. Hutchinson won the 3,000, was second in the mile, and earned bronze in both the pole vault and 5,000.

For the men, Robert Cooley scored 26 points himself to lead the way after winning the heptathlon while finishing third in the 60 hurdles, fourth in the pole vault, fifth in the long jump and eighth in the high jump.

Photo by Iowa Central Athletics: The Iowa Central women pose together after capturing the Region 11 indoor track and field championship at Storm Lake.

Mechak Linda Bula Bula (200), Kira Messerly (pole vault), Amarion Bradley (pole vault), Haydn Stockdale (weight throw), Ella Homawoo (pentathlon), Soufyane Laaziz (3,000), Unitee Brown (shot put) and Lance Quiah (triple jump) were other individual winners. The Tritons won the women’s 4×400, to go along with the other two relay golds.

“We knew our men had a fair shot at winning the title as long as we executed everything correctly,” Iowa Central Director of Track and Field Dee Brown said. “On the other hand, we knew our women would really need to buckle down and hope the other teams didn’t perform as well as expected.

“We ended up winning the women’s title due to a disqualification in the last event (4×400 meter relay). This was not the way we wanted to get the win, but in track and field, there are many rules to be conscious of. We had a long meeting on Thursday going through many of these scenarios to not get jammed up.”

Brown was pleased with both the quality versatility and balance Iowa Central showed in its lineup.

“We had so many great individual performances in addition to a number of athletes that truly exemplified what a team player is. Robert Cooley and Abbigail Hutchinson are two of those individuals. Abbi scored 30 points across three running events and one field event. Robert scored 26 points in five events, technically 11 events since 10 of his points were in the seven-event heptathlon.”

Ouchene (600), Saad Rifi Loutfi (600), Said Rifi Loutfi (600) and Janae Dawes (60 hurdles, long jump) were new national qualifiers.

The Triton men have won 18 of the last 21 regional titles, while the women have finished first in 17 of the last 21.

Up next for Iowa Central will be the NJCAA Indoor National Championships on March 6-7.