ICCAC Lands Three in 2025 NJCAA Fall Sports Hall of Fame Class
Three NJCAA Hall of Fame selections from the 2025 Fall Class were ICCAC alumni, as the class was announced last Friday.
Iowa Western was honored with two past athletes, Jake Waters (Football) and Faith Linga Chepengat (Cross Country) being named on the list of inductees. Iowa Central also had an inductee of their own in AG Bradford (Cross Country).
To see the all the inductees, visit www.njcaa.org.
Football
Jake Waters | Student-Athlete | Iowa Western
Jake Waters is a former quarterback for Iowa Western Community College. Waters played in 2011-2012, setting multiple single-season school records, including most passing yards in a season (3,501), most passing touchdowns in a season (39), most completions in a season (244). In 2012, Waters led the Reivers to the NJCAA Football National Championship title and set the NJCAA single-season record for completion percentage (73.3%).
After winning the championship in 2012, Waters was named NJCAA Offensive Player of the Year, Midwest Football Conference (MFC) Offensive Player of the Year, an NJCAA First Team All-America honoree, and MFC First Team All-Conference. As team captain, Waters broke multiple career records at Iowa Western, including most passing yards (6,270), most passing touchdowns (67), completion percentage (67.8), 300+ yard games (8), and 4+ passing touchdown games (9).
Waters then transferred to Kansas State and graduated in 2014, before returning to Iowa Western as the quarterbacks coach in 2015-16. Waters is a 2024 Iowa Western Athletics Hall of Fame inductee and now serves as the quarterbacks coach for Iowa State.
Cross Country
Faith Linga Chepengat | Student-Athlete | Iowa Western
Faith Linga Chepengat is a former student-athlete for the Iowa Western Community College cross country team. In her two years, Chepengat won nine NJCAA titles and was a three-time USTFCCCA National Junior College Athlete of the Year.
Chepengat is a two-time NJCAA champion in cross country, two-time champion in the 3000m and 5K and in 2021, was the 10K champion for outdoor track and the Mile champion in indoor track. Chepengat is also an eleven-time USTFCCCA All-America, six-time Iowa Community College Athletic Conference (ICCAC) champion, and a two-time Cross Country Region XI Athlete of the Year.
Chepengat holds numerous Iowa Western records, including cross country; indoor 5K, 3000m, mile, and distance medley relay; and outdoor 1500m, 5K and 10K, which she broke by more than seven minutes.
AG Bradford | Student-Athlete | Iowa Central
AG Bradford is a former student-athlete for Iowa Central. Bradford competed at Iowa Central from 2008 to 2010 in which her career was decorated with numerous school records and awards. Bradford competed in both Cross Country events as well as Track & Field events each year. In her time at Iowa Central, Bradford was a combined seven-time individual National Champion in the Pentathlon, High Jump, and Long Jump events both indoor and outdoor.
In addition to her individual awards, her cross country team was crowned National Champions in 2008. In 2009, she was named Most Valuable Track Athlete along with multiple Athlete of the Meet honors during her career. In her two seasons, Bradford set four school records and five Region 11 records. In 2009, she was named the Most Valuable Athlete for Region 11 in both indoor and outdoor competitions. Bradford's career was highly decorated, bringing much success to the Iowa Central program.