Israeli Standout Adva Cohen Continuing Success at Iowa Central

By Mary Albl of DyeStat

Soaring over a 30-inch horizontal barrier into a massive puddle of water, Adva Cohen appears bigger than she is. Cohen stands at just 5-feet tall. But she loves taking on a challenge. 

That’s why the steeplechase is her favorite event. 

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“It all goes back to determination,” Iowa Central Community College coach Dee Brown said. “It’s the toughest event in track. You have to have speed and the agility. She likes challenges and what’s more challenging than running a steeplechase? And running it fast.”

Cohen’s life is built on conquering challenges. Originally from Jerusalem, Israel, Cohen moved more than 6,000 miles last year to attend Iowa Central Community College in Fort Dodge. She came to the United States to become a better runner and scholar.

“I like getting better and try to always practice,” Cohen said. “Sometimes you fail, sometimes you succeed, but that’s what I like ... you learn and you get better.”

She currently owns the fastest 3,000-meter steeplechase time in the National Junior College Athletic Association history.

Cohen clocked 10 minutes, 4 seconds at the KT Woodman Classic in Wichita, Kansas earlier this month to break the meet, stadium, school and NJCAA records. She also reset her own Israeli national record, and her time currently ranks in the top 15 of all collegiate female runners.

This week, Cohen will be on an international stage at the historic Drake Relays were she’ll run the steeplechase Thursday and the seeded 1,500 on Friday. 

“I think as long as she has someone to run with and push her the whole way, I don’t think running 9:50 is out of the question,” Brown said. 

Cohen first started running when she was in middle school in Jerusalem. Her mother, Rika, also runs. The two use the sports as a way to bond. Cohen has stuck with the sport because it’s something she can push herself in daily.

The youngest of three siblings, she’s the first in her family to come to the United States to pursue running and an education. Her family still lives in Jerusalem, but it was former Triton, Omer Almog, also from Israel, who helped connect Cohen with Iowa Central. 

“I recruit a lot overseas and you could tell she was already a pretty stellar athlete,” Brown said. “I knew she’d be able to come in and be a top runner for us.”

Before coming to Iowa last July, she clocked 10:07.82 in the steeplechase to place ninth at the European U23 Athletic Championships in Bydgoszcz, Poland.

Her transition to the collegiate scene has been seamless. In her first cross country season during the fall, she led the Tritons to NJCAA Division 1 and NJCAA Half-Marathon titles, winning both individual crowns. She followed that up with a historic indoor season, winning four national championships – 1,000 (2:55.32), 3,000 (9:30.89), 4x800 (9:15.49) and distance medley relay (11:51.32) – setting the NJCAA indoor 3,000 record. 

This spring has been more of the same. Last weekend at the Kansas Relays she finished second to Kansas All-American Sharon Lokedi in the 5,000, running 16:07.03, an Israeli record and the fastest two-year college time produced since East L.A. College’s Sylvia Mosqueda clocked 15:52.5 in 1986. 

“We try and beat her every time we race her,” said New Mexico Junior College coach Jeff Becker, who has watched Adva and his standout runner Esther Gitahi, battle it out countless times this year.

“She is a great runner, but our goal is to win. Adva has that same goal, so it makes for fierce competition.”

Cohen, whose main language is Hebrew, said over time she’s adjusted to living in a new country and adapting a different culture. Running has provided a common ground. 

“Oh my God, I was like so confused, like why am I here,” Cohen said of her first reaction to arriving in Fort Dodge.

“But the coaches, my teammates have made it comfortable here.”

Brown, who has Cohen in his Introduction to Computers class, said the two often annoy each other as they have a similar sense of humor and push one another’s buttons. 

“It’s all in good fun,” Brown said. “She’s (also) very determined. She has goals for herself, she’s very realistic, she has a very good grasp of what she can do, and knows what she wants to do.”

Cohen’s ultimate goal is to one day race in the Olympics, representing her home country, where she now boasts five national records, including the Half Marathon, as well as indoor marks in the mile and 3,000.

Next fall, she’ll transition to NCAA Division 1, as she recently signed with University of New Mexico, joining a roster already full of international talents, including reigning cross country national champion Ednah Kurgat. 

“It means everything,” Brown said of Cohen’s pride for Israel. “I know that’s the pinnacle right there. I have no doubt in my mind when she says that she wants to do it, it will happen.”

But right now, the upcoming challenge is conquering Drake Relays, and Cohen’s pursuit of the 3,000 steeplechase meet record of 9:57.03 set in 2004 by Northern Arizona’s Ida Nilsson.

“I’m hoping at Drake Relays, I can get the best time,” Cohen said.