MEDORA, N.D. – It was a dominant all-around performance for both the Black Hills State men's and women's cross country teams on Saturday afternoon as the Yellow Jackets took home both team titles at the Blue Hawk Invitational, hosted by Dickinson State University. The women's team completed the highly unprecedented perfect score of 15, achieving the feat for the first time since the program did so at the 2018 DII West Region Preview, as they recorded eight top-10 finishers. The men's team nearly achieved the same feat as they tallied 19 points, only being displaced by the second place runner while they notched eight top-10 finishers. The pair of team titles marked the first time since the 2022 Yellowjacket Open that BHSU swept a meet that included five or more teams.
Black Hills State not only swept the team titles at the DSU Cross Country Course, but they also swept the individual titles as
Gavin Kuhlenbeck notched his first career victory with an 8K time of 25:28.3 in the men's race while
Sylvia Brown collected her second career victory with a 6K time of 22:37.4. The last time the Yellow Jackets swept both the men's and women's individual titles was just a year ago, when Brown along with her twin brother Tim, earned race wins at the 2023 Gage McSpadden Memorial.
HOW IT HAPPENED – MEN'S CROSS COUNTRY
- Earning his fourth career top-5 finish and winning his first career race was Gavin Kuhlenbeck who paced the field with an 8K time of 25:28.3 He won the race by 49.8 seconds.
- While a second place finish for Caleb Sarsland of Dickinson State disrupted the perfect finish for the Yellow Jacket men's team, the next six runners to cross the finish line were in the Green & Gold. Braike Hurm posted a career-best 8K time of 26:38.8 and recorded his best career finish as he crossed the line in third place. Freshman Dominic Eberle earned his first career top-5 finish with a fourth place time of 26:43.5. Turner Christian earned a career-best finish of fifth place with his first-ever top-10 mark, crossing the line with a time of 26:46.6. David Standish earned a career-best finish of sixth place as he cracked the top-10 for the second time in his career, turning in a time of 26:51.3. Addison Red Fox posted a career-best finish of seventh place as he notched his first-ever top-10 mark in a time of 26:57.3. Completing the stretch of six consecutive BHSU runners was Marcos Valerio who recorded a time of 27:02.3 for his second career top-10 finish.
- Justyn France rounded out the top-10 with a time of 27:09.2, his second career top-10 finish.
- Landrum Wiley recorded his first career top-15 finish at BHSU, turning in a 14th place time of 27:34.3.
- Caden Strasser posted his second career top-25 mark and first of the season as he notched a 21st place finish with a time of 28:33.6.
- Rounding out the Black Hills State men's runners on Saturday afternoon was Alex Truax who posted his career-best finish of 35th place with a time of 29:53.7.
BLACK HILLS STATE MEN'S INDIVIDUAL RESULTS
MEN'S TEAM RESULTS
| Team |
Total Points |
Team Scoring |
| 1. Black Hills State |
19 |
1-3-4-5-6-(7)-(8) |
| 2. Dickinson State |
72 |
2-10-11-24-25-(27)-(32) |
| 3. Jamestown |
75 |
12-13-15-17-18-(19)-(29) |
| 4. Bismarck State |
81 |
9-14-16-20-22-(23)-28) |
| 5. Valley City State |
141 |
21-26-30-31-33-(34)-(35) |
HOW IT HAPPENED – WOMEN'S CROSS COUNTRY
- For the second consecutive race the Black Hills State women's cross country team was led by the pair of Sylvia Brown and Emma Hofmeister. Brown collected her second race victory of her collegiate career with a 6K time of 22:37.4, winning by a margin of 40.8 seconds over Hofmeister who posted a time of 23:18.2. Hofmeister has now notched back-to-back top-10 finishes to begin her collegiate career.
- Following Valley City State's Karly Just who finished third as an individual, not counting towards team points, the next five runners to cross the finish line represented BHSU. Katelyn Krieger posted her second career top-10 finish with a career-best finish of fourth place as she crossed the line with a time of 23:34.3. Evelyn Boyd recorded her fifth career top-10 finish with a fifth place and career-best 6K time of 23:42.9. Alexis Weiers earned her first career top-10 mark with a career-best finish of sixth place and a time of 23:54.7. Collecting her second career top-10 finish with a seventh place and career-best 6K time of 24:14.5 was Abigail Robberson. Completing the group of five consecutive runners was Norah Entzi, notching her first career top-10 mark and a career-best finish of eighth place with a career-best 6K time of 24:21.2.
- Rounding out the top-10 was Sierra Hopp, who cracked the top-10 for the second time in her career with a time of 24:30.8.
- Alyssa Brandt tallied her second top-20 mark of her freshman campaign, notching a career-best finish of 12th place with a time of 24:42.9.
- Brynn Hillman made her collegiate debut with a 16th place finish as she crossed the line in a time of 24:53.0.
- Emma Smith collected her first career top-25 finish with a career-best finish of 21st place and a time of 25:23.5.
- Rounding out the Black Hills State women's runners was Kadence Baun, who made her collegiate debut with a 36th place finish and time of 27:52.6.
BLACK HILLS STATE WOMEN'S INDIVIDUAL RESULTS
WOMEN'S TEAM RESULTS
| Team |
Total Points |
Team Scoring |
| 1. Black Hills State |
15 |
1-2-3-4-5-(6)-(7) |
| 2. Montana State Billings |
66 |
9-10-12-16-19-(22)-(24) |
| 3. Jamestown |
75 |
11-14-15-17-18-(20)-(26) |
| 4. Bismarck State |
101 |
8-13-21-29-30-(31)-(32) |
| 5. Dickinson State |
136 |
23-25-27-28-33-(34) |
UP NEXT
Black Hills State will have a pair of weekends off before their next meet when the men's and women's teams will travel to Huntsville, Alabama, for the UAH Chargers Cross Country Invitational. The men's 8K race will kick-off the day at 7 a.m. MT / 8 a.m. CT, while the women's 6K will follow at 7:50 a.m. MT / 8:50 a.m. CT at John Hunt Park.
