SPEARFISH, S.D. – The Black Hills State University men's and women's cross country team will hit the road for the first time this season as they are set to compete at the University of Nebraska's Greeno/Dirksen Invitational on Saturday, September 20. It will be the first 8K of the year for the men and the first 6K of the year for the women, who are coming off a first and second place team finish respectively at the Gage McSpadden Memorial a few weeks back.
 
RACE DETAILS
Date & Times: Saturday, September 20 – women's 6K race will begin at 9 a.m. MT / 10 a.m. MT while the men's 8K race will begin at 9:50 a.m. MT / 10:50 a.m. CT
Location: Lincoln, Nebraska – Mahoney Park Golf Course
 
BLACK HILLS STATE MEN'S CROSS COUNTRY STORYLINES

• After a pair of team titles last season, Black Hills State is coming off their first team title of the year in their opener at the Gage McSpadden Memorial, where they totaled 31 points.
• Gavin Kuhlenbeck was once again the leader for the team, securing his second individual title as a Yellow Jacket, while posting a career-best 6K time of 18:37.7 at the Gage McSpadden Memorial Invite. Last year he set a career-best and school-record 8K time of 23:57.6 for fifth place at the UAH Chargers Invitational.
• The trio of Jaxon Straus, Landrum Wiley, and Jonah Rigg, all recorded top-10 finishes at BHSU's home meet the last time out, recording finishes of fourth place (19:00.9), sixth place (19:11.0), and ninth place (19:15.3) respectively. For Straus and Wiley it was a career-best for both as well as their first-ever top-5 and top-10 mark, while Rigg made his collegiate debut. Rigg holds an 8K career-best time of 26:17.9 at the 2023 RMAC Championships while Wiley's was set last season at the UAH Chargers Invitational with a time of 26:18.8.
• Turner Christians and Dominic Eberle finished just outside of the top-10 in the season-opener, notching 11^th (19:18.4) and 12^th (19:24.7) place finishes respectively. For Eberle, his time of 19:24.7 set a new career-best 6K time last time out, and both Christians and Eberle notched career-best 8K times at the UAH Chargers Invitational last year with marks of 25:45.4 and 25:25.2 respectively.
• Freshmen Thomas Oylear and Emmeett Swartzentruber each finished within the top-20 of their collegiate debut at the Gage McSpadden Memorial, finishing 14^th (19:29.3) and 19^th (19:31.1) respectively.
• Rounding out the Yellow Jacket lineup will be freshman Anthony Ackerman and junior Wyatt Ostler. Ackerman ran to a time of 19:42.4 for 26^th in his collegiate debut a couple weeks back, while Ostler set a new career-best 6K time of 19:46.5 for 31^st place at the Gage McSpadden Memorial Invite. Ostler enters the this weekend's 8K with a career-best time of 26:46.5 that he set at last season's Hardrocker XC Classic.
• Brian Medigovich is in his fifth season leading the Yellow Jacket cross country programs as the Director of Track & Field and Cross Country.

BLACK HILLS STATE MEN'S RUNNERS

• Anthony Ackerman, Turner Christians, Dominic Eberle, Gavin Kuhlenbeck, Wyatt Ostler, Thomas Oylear, Jonah Rigg, Jaxon Straus, Emmeett Swartzentruber, and Landrum Wiley

BLACK HILLS STATE WOMEN'S CROSS COUNTRY STORYLINES

• Black Hills State opened the season with a second place team finish at the Gage McSpadden Memorial Invite, totaling 45 team points in the race.
• Evie Boyd earned her second career individual title and first since 2023 in the season opener, clocking a career-best 4k time of 14:23.8, more than a minute better than her previous career-best and 25.3 seconds ahead of second place.
• The trio of Emma Hofmeister, Gracie Craig, and Sierra Hopp added top-10 finishes at the Gage McSpadden Memorial Invite, posting finishes of seventh (15:20.2), ninth (15:30.5), and tenth (15:32.3) respectively. For Hofmeister and Hopp it marked their third career top-10 finishes, while for Craig and Hopp it was also career-best 4K times. Hofmeister and Craig enter this weekend with a career-best 6K time of 22:14.9 and 22:43.1 set at last year's RMAC Championship, while Hopp posted her career-best 6K time at the UAH Charger Invitational with a mark of 23:34.0.
• The freshmen trio of Ava Allen, Mason Berg, and Abby Hardersen made their collegiate debut at the Gage McSpadden Memorial Invite, racing to finishes of 18^th (15:55.2), 19^th (15:57.8), and 25^th (16:10.9).
• Abigail Robberson posted a career-best 4K time of 16:19.1 for 30^th place, Kadence Baun notched a time of 16:27.7 in her first career 4K for 34^th place, and Katie Charest ran to a time of 16:44.8 for 39^th place in the team's last outing. The trio holds career-best 6K times of 23:07.9, 28:13.4, and 23:45.9 respectively.
• Alyssa Brandt is set to make her 2025 season debut this weekend, while also competing in her first collegiate 6K race.
• Brian Medigovich is in his fifth season leading the Yellow Jacket cross country programs as the Director of Track & Field and Cross Country.

BLACK HILLS STATE WOMEN'S RUNNERS

• Ava Allen, Kadence Baun, Mason Berg, Evie Boyd, Alyssa Brandt, Katie Charest, Gracie Craig, Abby Hardersen, Emma Hofmeister, Sierra Hopp, and Abigail Robberson