STURGIS, S.D. - The Black Hills State University men's and women's cross country teams swept the team titles at the Gage McSpadden Memorial Invitational last Friday, September 11, the annual home meet hosted by the Yellow Jackets at the Fort Meade Recreation Area. It marked the second consecutive team win in the home meet for the Yellow Jacket men as they tallied 20 team points, highlighted by individual race champion Jaxon Straus, and the women captured a perfect team score to earn the team win, their third consecutive season with a perfect team score at any point during the season.
HOW IT HAPPENED – MEN'S CROSS COUNTRY
- Black Hills State ran to a 1-2 finish in the 6K, highlighted by Jaxon Straus running to the individual race win in a career-best time of 18:50.6, while Landrum Wiley finished second with a career-best time of 18:56.0.
- Turner Christians added a career-best time of 18:59.1 for fourth place in the race.
- BHSU then saw four straight runners cross the finish line to close out seven runners in the top-9 of the race. Quinn Bruch was the highest finishing freshman in sixth place with a time of 19:08.2 in his debut, while Anthony Ackerman, Emmett Swartzentruber, and Gage Kuhlenbeck finished seventh, eighth, and ninth respectively with career-best times of 19:14.5, 19:14.8, and 19:15.8.
- Dominic Eberle ran to a 14th place finish and time of 19:40.1.
- Ian Weich made his collegiate debut with a time of 19:45.6 for 17th place.
- Alberto Spotted secured a career-best time of 19:59.4 for 20th place.
- Evan Smith and Casey Nauta rounded out the Black Hills State runners in the race with 26th and 28th place finishes respectively with a time of 20:35.0 and a career-best time of 21:06.9
MEN'S TEAM STANDINGS
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TEAM
|
POINTS
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TEAM SCORING
|
|
Black Hills State
|
20
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1-2-4-6-7-(8)-(9)
|
|
South Dakota Mines
|
51
|
5-10-11-12-13-(14)-(15)
|
|
Chadron State
|
73
|
3-16-17-18-19-(20)-(21)
|
HOW IT HAPPENED – WOMEN'S CROSS COUNTRY
- Following the unattached winner were six Black Hills State runners capturing finishing places two through seven for the perfect score. Leading the group was Emma Hofmeister who ran a career-best 4K time of 14:19.7 for second place, while she was followed by the freshman duo of Kori Keil and Kira Ubence who posted times of 14:39.6 and 14:57.6 for third and fourth respectively in their collegiate debuts. Next in the lineup was the sophomore duo of Mason Berg and Abigail Hardersen with career-best times of 15:06.9 and 15:15.2 respectively for fifth and sixth place. Rounding out the top-5 runners for the Yellow Jackets was Abigail Roberson, who ran to a career-best time of 15:23.2 for seventh.
- Nocole Clark added a career-best 4K time of 15:42.2 for a 13th place finish.
- Another freshman making her debut was Noah Denison, who notched a time of 15:58.0 for 19th place, while behind her in 20th was Ava Allen with a time of 16:09.6.
- The Yellow Jackets then saw four straight runners cross the finish line as Shelby Zickerfoose finished 22nd with a time of 16:15.1 in her collegiate debut, Zena Tapia was 23rd with a career-best time of 16:20.2, Madison Zander was 24th with a time of 16:26.7, and Kadence Baun was 25th with a career-best time of 16:27.7.
- Rounding out the BHSU runners in the 4K was Aubrey Klesser with a time of 16:55.3 for 29th place.
WOMEN'S TEAM STANDINGS
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TEAM
|
POINTS
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TEAM SCORING
|
|
Black Hills State
|
15
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1-2-3-4-5-(6)-(12)
|
|
South Dakota Mines
|
58
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7-9-10-15-17-(18)-(19)
|
|
Chadron State
|
62
|
8-11-13-14-16-(20)-(21)
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UP NEXT
The Black Hills State men's and women's cross country teams will be back in action on Friday, September 18, at the Bauer XC Classic, hosted by South Dakota Mines at the Hart Ranch Golf Club in Rapid City.
