Two Ranger College runners net All-American honors

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Special to The Flash from Tommy Wells

Ranger College Public Information Officer/Sports Information Director

LEVELLAND – Nicholas Wittkopp and Ana Barbara Uribe can officially claim to be among the best collegiate runners in the country. After this past weekend’s season-ending appearance at the 2015 NJCAA Half Marathon National Championships, they have the credentials to prove it.

Wittkopp and Uribe were both named to the NJCAA All-American squad and helped carry the Ranger College to outstanding performances on Nov. 21 at South Plains College. Their efforts enabled the Ranger College men’s and women’s teams to finish seventh in the final standings at the meet.

Ranger College’s Nicholas Wittkopp and Ana Barbara Uribe earned All-American honors at the 2015 NJCAA Half Marathon National Championship meet this past weekend in Levelland. The top 20 male and female runners earned All-American status.

Wittkopp highlighted the RC men’s outing by placing 18^th in the final individual medalist standings. He completed the course in a time of 1 hour, 13 minutes and 18.80 seconds.

Only the top 20 finishers in each race were named to the 2015 All-American roster.

South Plains’ Hassan Abdi won the NJCAA Half Marathon title with a blistering time of 1:04:55.67. He edged out Iowa Western’s Sylvester Barus by just over 8 seconds. Iowa Central’s Andrew Ronoh was third.

Ranger College also collected strong outings from James Ramos, Moises Montanez and Carlos Colon. Ramos finished 32^nd overall, while Montanez and Colon placed 35^th and 36^th in the men’s field.

As a team, Ranger College finished with a total of 79 points, 65 more than South Plains, which won the national team title with 14 points. Gillette (WY) and Allen County Community College finished second and third, respectively.

Uribe starred for the Lady Rangers in the women’s meet. A freshman from Cherokee, Texas, she finished the race with a time of 1:33:58.18 and took 16^th overall.

Teammates Amaranta Gamboa and Lourdes Gonzalez also legged out standout efforts. Gamboa finished 25^th overall with a time of 1:38:47.07, while Gonzalez placed 31^st with a time of 1:42.53.40.

Iowa Central’s Leanne Pompeani won the women’s individual title by completed the course in a time of 1:17:41.70.

As a team, the RC women finished with 62 total points and placed seventh. Gillette won the team honors, edging out El Paso Community College and Iowa Central for the top honors.