Zach Anderson

The SDSU men’s cross country team pulled off the upset of host team Southern Utah en route to a Summit League Title. Mike Krsnak, Greg Vollmer, Anthony Bongard and Greg Beesley all placed in the top 12 for the Jacks.

“It is always exciting to win the conference,” SDSU head coach Rod DeHaven said. “I’m proud of the guys for realizing the work it takes to get to the top. Their hard work over the summer and dedication to it helped them pull off a significant upset.”

Krsnak earned a sixth place finish in a time of 25 minutes, 33.80 seconds while earning a spot on the all-league first team.

“Mike has been very consistent throughout the month of October,” DeHaven said. “He fell farther back in the group but did what he needed to put us in a position to win. He is a guy we need up front to get a chance to win.”

Vollmer finished 10th in 26:01.10, Bongard 11th in 26:01.40 and Beesley crossed the finish line in 26:02.00 to finish in 12th. All three SDSU runners earned second-team all-league honors.

“The three guys that finished together was a huge thing for us,” DeHaven said. “They saw the third and fourth-place Southern Utah runners and realized they had to beat them.”

The women’s cross country team had a tougher time trying to defend their Summit League title from last year. The Jacks earned a fifth place finish as Southern Utah claimed the title at home by placing three Thunderbirds in the top five.

“It’s not the performance we wanted,” DeHaven said. “Ashley Storm ran very well along with Kelsey Aune. It just didn’t click for us.”

Storm continued her strong season with a fourth-place finish in 22:32.10 and Aune grabbed a 16th place finish in 23:24.30.

“I think if we have even an average day we do better than fifth place,” DeHaven said. “We will try to bounce back from that.”