• DMACC freshman Grace Collins finishes second overall
• Freshman Kaden Spencer takes third place
• Freshman Tori Yunggebauer and sophomore Mkenzie Robinson are fifth and ninth respectively

DMACC freshmen Grace Collins of Johnston and Kayden Spencer of Boone took second and third respectively in leading the DMACC women's cross country team to a second-place finish in the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) 2023 Division II Region XI Cross Country Championship October 27 at Creston.

The Bears scored 30 points to tie Southeastern Community College (SECC) for the championship and were given second place by a tiebreaker. SECC's Aisha Ramone took medalist honors with a time of 19 minutes, 26 seconds over the 5K course.

Collins and Spencer posted times of 20:20.11 and 20:20.26 respectively in finishing second and third. The Bears got a fifth place finish from freshman Tori Yunggebauer of Williamsburg and sophomore Mkenzie Robinson of Marshalltown was ninth. Yunggebauer's time was 20:42 and Robinson posted a time of 21:31.

Other DMACC results included a 11^th-place finish for sophomore Jillian Prouty of Oelwein. Sophomore Madison Beaune of Jewell was 13^th and sophomore Mercedes Beaune of Jewell finished in 22^nd place. Prouty's time was 22:01, Madison Beaune posted a time of 22:40 and Mercedes Beaune turned in a time of 25:04.

DMACC's second-place finish earned the Bears a trip to the NJCAA Division II Women's National Championship Nov. 11 at John Hunt Park in Huntsville, Ala.