Council Bluffs, IA – Sophomore Alexa Zanders (Waterloo, IA/Waterloo West) captured the 400-meter dash title at the 2026 National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) Region 11 Championships to lead the Indian Hills Women's Track & Field squad to a third-place team finish.
After a pair of runner-up performances during Region championship events throughout her career, Zanders broke through to capture the 400m title with a time of 55.51. The sophomore's time of 55.51, just 0.14 off a personal-best mark, was good enough to edge teammate Cindy Rose (Brown's Town, Jamaica/Holmwood Technical) who placed second overall with a time of 57.05.
Zanders has now collected five NJCAA All-Region 11 performances over the past two seasons for the Warriors.
The 4x100-meter relay squad comprised of Ida Smith (Miami, FL/Miami Northwestern), Ja'kayla Milton (Miami Gardens, FL/Miami Carol City), Promise Zandy (Des Moines, IA/Roosevelt), and Nathanaelle Bein-Aime (Miami, FL/North Miami) took home a runner-up finish in the event with a mark of 46.07, just 0.13 behind first-place Iowa Western Community College.
Freshman Unique Redmond (Niceville, FL/Niceville) earned a pair of top-five individual performances for the Warriors, placing third overall in the high jump with a mark of 1.60 meters and fifth overall in the long jump with a distance of 5.73 meters.
Both Smith and Milton earned individual top-three finishes for the Warriors as Smith clocked a time of 12.01 in the 100-meter dash to place third overall while Milton's time of 25.28 in the 200-meter dash was good enough for third overall.
The Warriors head to Ames, IA for the Iowa State Cyclone Twilight May 8 before heading off to the NJCAA DI Outdoor Track & Field Championships in Hobbs, NM May 14-16.
Looking for Indian Hills Athletics information straight to your inbox? Subscribe to our newsletter and mobile alerts to receive news, scores, highlights, and more in real-time: INDIAN HILLS ATHLETICS NEWSLETTER
