Johnson's second straight title powers Storm to second place finish

PELLA, Iowa - For a second straight meet, there was no one faster than James Johnson. The sophomore claimed his second individual title of 2025 as Simpson finished second at the Dutch Open on Friday night.

Johnson and Central top runner, Jack Brown Jr. went back and forth with the race coming down to the home stretch. But it was Johnson who was able to separate, winning the race by nearly a second at 25:57.3 minutes.

Cole Leggett provided the second top-five finish for the Storm, coming in fourth overall with a time of 26:30.9 minutes. Drew Engler added an eighth place scoring finish while Ethan Haus and Ryan North went for 16th and 18th respectively. Freshmen Collin Kessler and Jude Benbow rounded out the scoring seven for the Storm with their 22nd and 23rd place finishes respectively.

"Our men took a nice step forward from two weeks ago," said head coach Heath Moenck. "Once again, our 1-2 punch did their job. I was really pleased with our 3, 4, and 5 ran tonight. Drew Engler, Ethan Haus, and Ryan North all showed great improvement from two weeks ago. We have a long way to go, but it was a nice step forward tonight."

TEAM STANDINGS

1. Central – 35
2. Simpson – 47
3. Des Moines Area CC – 66
4. Grinnell – 85
5. William Penn – 148
6. Clarke – 162
7. Hawkeye CC – 217
8. Faith Baptist Bible – 228

TOP FINISHERS

James Johnson – 25:57.3 (1st)
Cole Leggett – 26:30.9 (4th)
Drew Engler – 27:07.3 (8th)
Ethan Haus – 27:32.7 (16th)
Ryan North – 27:36.9 (18th)
Collin Kessler – 27:52.3 (22nd)
Jude Benbow – 27:58.0 (23rd)

UP NEXT

Simpson travels to the Dan Huston Invitational next Saturday, Oct. 4 with a 10:00 a.m. start time.