STURGIS, S.D. – Black Hills State University men's and women's cross country student-athletes won a total of three individual titles last year in 2024, they already picked up two to start the 2025 season on Friday night at the Fort Meade Recreation Area. On the men's side it was Gavin Kuhlenbeck that earned his second career title and paced four top-10 finishers en route to a team title as the Yellow Jackets accumulated 31 points. On the women's side, Evie Boyd also secured her second career individual title to lead four top-10 finishers for a second place team finish as BHSU earned 45 points.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED – MEN'S CROSS COUNTRY

• Gavin Kuhlenbeck earned his second career victory on Friday night as he raced to a new career-best 6K time of 18:37.7, which was 6.8 seconds ahead of second place.
• Jaxon Straus, Landrum Wiley, and Jonah Rigg added top-10 finishes for the Yellow Jackets, running to a fourth place (19:00.9), sixth place (19:11.0), and ninth place finish (19:15.3) respectively. Straus notched his first career top-5 performance with a career-best time and Landrum Wiley recorded his first career top-10 performance with a career-best time as well. For Rigg the race marked his collegiate debut.
• The duo of Turner Christians and Dominic Eberle crossed the finish line just outside of the top-10 in 11^th and 12^th place respectively with times of 19:18.4 and 19:24.7. Eberle set a new career-best time in the process, while Christians was just three tenths of a second off of last years' time at the home meet.
• The freshman trio of Thomas Oylear, Emmeett Swartzentruber, and Anthony Ackerman followed next with times of 19:29.3, 19:31.1, and 19:42.4 respectively for 14^th, 19^th, and 26^th place finishes.
• Wyatt Ostler, Alberto Spotted, and Caden Strasser rounded up the returners to compete for the Yellow Jackets on Friday night, running to career-best times of 19:46.5 for 31^st place, 20:25.0 for 45^th place, and 20:31.3 for 48^th place.
• Remaining freshmen to compete for BHSU included Sean Shipp who was 33^rd with a time of 19:46.5, Gage Kuhlenbeck who was 38^th with a time of 20:02.5, Evan Smith who was 41^st with a time of 20:08.6, and Gabe Johnson who was 61^st with a time of 21:14.8.

BLACK HILLS STATE MEN'S INDIVIDUAL RESULTS

Place	Name	Avg. Mile	Time	Points
1.	Gavin Kuhlenbeck	4:59.8	18:37.7	1
4.	Jaxon Straus	5:06.0	19:00.9	4
6.	Landrum Wiley	5:08.7	19:11.0	6
9.	Jonah Rigg	5:09.9	19:15.3	9
11.	Turner Christians	5:10.7	19:18.4	11
12.	Dominic Eberle	5:12.4	19:24.7	12
14.	Thomas Oylear	5:13.6	19:29.3	14
19.	Emmeett Swartzentruber	5:14.1	19:31.1
26.	Anthony Ackerman	5:17.1	19:42.4
31.	Wyatt Ostler	5:18.2	19:46.5
33.	Sean Shipp	5:19.1	19:49.9
38.	Gage Kuhlenbeck	5:22.5	20:02.5
41.	Evan Smith	5:24.1	20:08.6
45.	Alberto Spotted	5:28.5	20:25.0
48.	Caden Strasser	5:30.2	20:31.3
61.	Gabe Johnson	5:41.9	21:14.8

 
MEN'S TEAM RESULTS

Team	Total Points	Team Scoring
1. Black Hills State	31	1-4-6-9-11-(12)-(14)
2. Rocky Mountain	33	3-5-7-8-10-(16)-(17)
3. South Dakota Mines	80	2-13-19-22-24-(25)-(26)
4. Chadron State	122	15-20-21-32-34-(37)-(38)
5. Carleton	127	18-23-27-29-30-(31)-(35)
6. Montana State-Billings	176	28-33-36-39-40-(41)-(42)

 
HOW IT HAPPENED – WOMEN'S CROSS COUNTRY

• Evie Boyd ran to her second career win, and first since the 2023 Hardrocker XC Classic, on Friday night as she bested her previous career-best 4K time by more than a minute as she crossed the line in a time of 14:23.8. She finished 25.3 seconds ahead of second place.
• Emma Hofmeister, Gracie Craig, and Sierra Hopp each tallied a top-10 finish in their home meet, finishing seventh (15:20.2), ninth (15:30.5), and tenth (15:32.3) respectively. For Hofmeister and Hopp, it was their third career top-10 finish, while for Craig and Hopp they set a new career-best 4K times by 1.5 seconds and 20.2 seconds respectively.
• The fifth and final team scorer for the Yellow Jackets was freshman Ava Allen, who began her collegiate career with a time of 15:55.2 for 18^th place.
• Finishing sixth and seventh in the team lineup was another pair of freshmen, as Mason Berg and Abby Hardersen finished 19^th and 25^th respectively with times of 15:57.8 and 16:10.9.
• Among the returners, Abbigail Robberson was able to record a new-career best time of 16:19.1 for 30^th place, while Kadence Baun was 34^th in her first career 4K with a time of 16:27.7, Katie Charest was 39^th with a time of 16:44.8, and Jillian Brennan was 47^th with a time 17:15.7.
• Other freshmen to make their collegiate debuts included Madison Zander in 41^st (16:48.8), Zena Tapia was 46^th (17:08.8), and Jacey Wipf was 49^th (17:43.4).

BLACK HILLS STATE WOMEN'S INDIVIDUAL RESULTS

Place	Name	Avg. Mile	Time	Points
1.	Evie Boyd	5:47.5	14:23.8	1
7.	Emma Hofmeister	6:10.2	15:20.2	7
9.	Gracie Craig	6:14.3	15:30.5	9
10.	Sierra Hopp	6:15.0	15:32.3	10
18.	Ava Allen	6:24.2	15:55.2	18
19.	Mason Berg	6:25.3	15:57.8	19
25.	Abby Hardersen	6:30.6	16:10.9	25
30.	Abigail Robberson	6:33.9	16:19.1
34.	Kadence Baun	6:37.3	16.27.7
39.	Katie Charest	6:44.2	16:44.8
41.	Madison Zander	6:45.7	16:48.4
46.	Zena Tapia	6:53.9	17:08.8
47.	Jillian Brennan	6:56.7	17:15.7
49.	Jacey Wipf	7:07.8	17:43.4

 
WOMEN'S TEAM RESULTS

Team	Total Points	Team Scoring
1. Carleton	28	2-3-4-6-13-(16)-(29)
2. Black Hills State	45	1-7-9-10-18-(19)-(25)
3. Rocky Mountain	92	8-12-20-21-31-(39)
4. Montana State-Billings	96	11-14-17-22-32-(33)-(34)
5. Chadron State	124	5-26-27-28-38
6. South Dakota Mines	127	15-23-24-30-35-(36)-(37)

 
UP NEXT
Black Hills State will next travel to Lincoln, Nebraska, for the Greeno/Dirksen Invitational on Saturday, September 20. The races are scheduled to start at 9 a.m. MT / 10 a.m. CT.