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CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa --- The Wartburg College women and Central College men claimed team titles, while Wartburg College sophomore Alana Enabnit and Central College sophomore Eli Horton won individual crowns Saturday at the 2012 Iowa Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (IIAC) Cross Country Championships at Noelridge Park.
 
In the women’s race, Wartburg placed four in the top-5 and had all seven scoring runners in the top-13 to outdistance runner-up Luther, 21-38, and surpass the Norse with a league-record 13th title. Loras finished third (87 points), just ahead of Central (96). Dubuque (159) finished fifth, marking the program’s best finish and lowest point total.
 
In the men’s race, Central swept the top three spots on the podium, place a fourth in the top-10 and a fifth inside the top 20 for 33 points and a 17-point win over defending champion Loras. Luther (70 points) took third while Wartburg (108) edged Simpson (113) for fourth place. Amazingly, it is the first IIAC men’s cross country title for the Dutch. The last time a school swept the top three spots in the men’s race was 1999 when Wartburg’s Adam Sundall, Nick Betts, and Tom Zirbel accomplished the feat.
 
Wartburg and Luther dominated the top-10 in the women’s race. Enabnit stopped the clock in 21 minutes, 24.6 seconds for her third individual victory in six races this season. Teammates Sammi Bruett (21:32.0), Erin Sawyers (22:34.0) and Haddie Vawter (22:37.3) finished second, fourth and fifth, respectively, while Kirsten Youngberg (23:03.5) took ninth. Luther freshman Tricia Serres took third (21:45.2) and led four Norse in the top-8. Senior Christina Storlie (22:46.8) took sixth followed by juniors Maggie Pierson (22:59.0) and Jayne Cole (23:00.5). Loras junior Kellie Wagner (23:04.4) rounded out the top-10. Bruett and Storlie earned all-IIAC honors for the third time while Enabnit, Vawter and Pierson all captured honors for the second time.
 
Enabnit is the fourth Wartburg runner to win the IIAC women’s individual title, joining Robyn Olson (1991-92-93-94), Missy Buttry (2002-03-04) and Anna Kraayenbrink (2009) to give the Knights a total of nine individual crowns.
 
Horton, who finished 11th a year ago, led the men’s race virtually from start to finish and stopped the clock in 25:21.5, just ahead of teammates Cole Decker (25:36.6) and Drew Jackson (25:43.1). Junior Austin O’Brien finished ninth (25:53.5) to give the Dutch four in the top 10. Loras’ Ty Wittman was the first non-Central finisher across the line, taking fourth in 25:43.7, while Simpson’s Joe Farrand took fifth (25:44.1). Host Coe was led by Andrew Dewar in sixth place (25:47.2). Austin Bauer (25:48.1) finished seventh as the top finisher from perennial contender Luther. Loras’ Steve Loran (eighth, 25:49.6) and Austin Steil (10th, 25:55.7) rounded out the top 10. Steil captured his third all-IIAC honor, while Horton, Dewar, Bauer, Luther’s Marty Mitchell (11th, 25:56.2) and Wartburg’s Sam Read (14th, 26:02.7). Loras’ Chris Higgins came into the finish area in position for his second all-league honor, but was nipped by Wartburg’s Chase Moser at the line by one-tenth of a second for the 15th and final all-conference spot.  
 
Horton became the fifth Dutch male runner to capture the IIAC individual crown, totaling seven titles, and the first since Andy Goodman won the second of his two titles in 1994.
 
Coaches of the Year: Wartburg head coach Steve Johnson was named Iowa Conference Women’s Cross Country Coach of the Year for the 15th time after guiding the Knights to their 13th title. Central head coach Joe Dunham was named Iowa Conference Men’s Cross Country Coach of the Year for the first time after guiding the Dutch to their first Iowa Conference title.
 
The top-15 runners at the Iowa Conference Championships receive All-Conference recognition.