Michael Pecha

The South Dakota State men’s cross country team won their third straight North Central Conference cross country championship Saturday in Vermillion.

The win was the 28th NCC championship for SDSU.

Minnesota State, Mankato has the second most NCC titles with six championships.

Kevin Doe led the Jackrabbits to the victory, finishing second in24:43. Matt Pearson (25:01), Brad Lowery (25:04) and Greg Darbyshire(25:05) grouped up and claimed the fourth, fifth and sixth place respectively.

“Kevin Doe and Matt Pearson ran very well,” head coach Paul Danger said. “Greg and Brad were right there too and Andy Blau keeps getting better with every race. It is going to be fun to see what he can do in a few weeks.”

Blau (25:40) finished 13th.

Mike Steele (25:53) and Scott Roby (25:55) rounded out the top seven for the Jackrabbits, finishing 21st and 23rd, respectively.

The SDSU women’s cross country team put together a solid race and finished a surprising second, with Sheena Dauer claiming her second individual conference title.

“Our women’s team keeps getting better with every race,” Danger said. “I was excited that we moved from where we were last year when we got fifth at conference. Improving that much in one year is tough, considering how competitive this conference is.”

Dauer won the race in 21:30.

Erin Woolley (22:28) finished ninth.

Two freshman, Krystie Ratzlaff (23:01) and Megan Poppens (23:04) worked together and finished 14th and 15th, respectively.

Alyssa Ruedebusch (23:31), Erin Foss (23:41), and Katie Tornberg (23:48) rounded out the top seven, finishing 25th, 32nd, and 35th respectively.

“I really like where we are at right now as a team,” Danger said. “We still have three more weeks until the region championships. We can benefit from this time to work on our speed.”

The Jackrabbits run in their only home race of the season this Friday at 4 p.m. at Edgebrook Golf Course.