Black Hills State cross country had two more athletes green-lit on Sunday morning, adding two female student-athletes to the 2022 signing class.
 
Sierra Hopp
Hopp joins the 2022 singing class as a true freshman from Black Hawk, S.D. and currently attends Rapid City Stevens High School. She runs for cross country and is also a member of the Stevens' track and field team.
 
During her senior season, Hopp recorded a personal best time in the 5k event of 19:27.02 in a season where her team became the 2022 State Champions. At the championship meet, Hopp placed 13^th, which was her best finish recorded during her high school career.
 
Throughout all four years of high school, Hopp ran for her school at the state cross country meets where her teams placed third, fourth, and third, in order. In her senior season, she was named co-captain of her high school team.
 
Hopp, a National Honor Society member, currently sits 25^th out of 355 students in her class with a 4.0 GPA. She heads to BHSU wishing to pursue a major in photography with the goal of becoming a photographer/photojournalist.
 
The S.D. native currently owns her own photography business and her photographic work was displayed at the Custer County Courthouse in the summer of 2022. The incoming freshman also won the Youth Division and People's Choice award at the Dahl Mountain Photo Contest in March of 2022.
 
Hopp is the daughter of Tamie and Ron Hopp. Her father, Ron, ran cross country and track at the University of Wisconsin-Steven Points in his freshman year before running his latter three years at the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh.
 
Katelyn Krieger
The next freshman student-athlete coming to BHSU is Katelyn Krieger of Spirit Lake, Iowa. Coming into the cross country squad from Spirit Lake High School, Krieger competed for her high school cross country teams as well as for the track and field team.
 
The Iowa native began her cross country career in her junior year of high school and was named First Team All-Conference that season. She finished fourth in the district qualifier and placed seventh at districts to earn All-District accolades and to qualify for state, where she placed 28^th out of 133 runners in class 3A. She finished with a personal best time of 20:06.
 
In her senior season, Krieger made First Team All-Conference and placed in second at the conference meet. At the state qualifiers, she placed in fourth and once again received All-District honors. At the state 5K, she improved three placed to finish 9^th out of 132 girls with a time of 19:36, which earned her All-State honors. At the end of the season, Krieger was named as her team's Most Valuable Runner.
 
Krieger heads to BHSU wishing to pursue a photography major and wants to work as a photographer and videographer/film maker.