Posted: Sep 13, 2025

Johnson claims individual title, Storm take second at Les Duke Invite

GRINNELL, Iowa - Nobody could catch the sophomore as James Johnson won the Les Duke Invitational on Saturday, outpacing the second place finisher by nearly seven seconds and leading Simpson to a second place finish as a team.

Johnson was no stranger to success at the Les Duke, leading the Storm last year with an eighth place finish. Fast forward a year, and not only did Johnson drop nearly a minute on his time, but also claimed the top of the leaderboard.

Cole Leggett provided another classic performance for the Storm, finishing in fifth place overall out of 135 runners. Ben Reyes, Doug Berg and Ezra De Cleene went 3-4-5 for the Storm with David Lochner and Drew Engler rounding out the top-seven finishers for Simpson.

"Our men took a step forward again today," said head coach Heath Moenck. "James Johnson looked really strong. He seemed to be in control the whole time and finished really well. Ben Reyes was another big highlight for us. He struggled a bit at our home meet, so it was fun to see him bounce back today in a big way. Our men have a long way to go, but I'm certain we will improve a lot as the season goes on."

TEAM STANDINGS

1. Central - 37 points
2. Simpson - 54
3. Grinnell - 56
4. William Penn - 111
5. Knox - 170
6. Cornell - 171
7. Principia - 184
8. Grinnell Alumni - 241
9. Grinnell Faculty - 266

TOP FINISHERS

1. James Johnson - 26:10.1
5. Cole Leggett - 26:33.2
14. Ben Reyes - 27:44.6
16. Doug Berg - 27:56.2
18. Ezra De Cleene - 28:11.2
19. David Lochner - 28:11.8
22. Drew Engler - 28:21.4