The South Dakota State men and women’s teams competed in the Griak Invitation last Friday, Sept. 19
Both the men and women had solid results, with the men finishing in fourth and the women finishing in sixth.
Men
For the men, Cody Larson headlined the team by finishing second with a time of 24:56.4 in the 8k race. Senior runner for Wyoming, Jacob White, won the race with a time of 24:39.8.
Another notable finisher for the Jackrabbits included Jackson Dutcher, who finished just outside the top 10 in 11th with a time of 25:29.4.
Close behind Dutcher with a 14th-place finish was sophomore runner Cashton Johnson, crossing the line with a time of 25:33.9.
Other solid Jackrabbit finishers consisted of Eli Hall in 24th with a time of 26:01.0. Right behind Hall in 26th was Brandon Kampsen, clocking in with a time of 26:05.9.
The men ended with 71 points, which put them in fourth place behind California Baptist University, Wyoming and Minnesota.
“You want to compete regardless, that’s just kind of the way I’m wired and I think most of our young men are wired the same way that whatever the competition is, we want to do really well at it…We’ve got to get better. First, we’ll recover from Griak with lighter workouts, then push harder later this week into early next week and lineup next Friday at home at the SDSU Classic,” stated head coach Rod DeHaven on the results at the Griak.
Women
In the 6k race, senior runner Ashlyn Hillyard headlined the SDSU women, finishing 13th with a time of 22:13.4.
Mya Kizer was the next highest finishing runner for the Jacks, crossing the line with a time of 22:47.3, which was good enough for a 23rd place finish.
In the 34th and 35th places were Eleni Lovgren and Courtney Stadter, respectively. Lovgren finished with a time of 22:55.9 while Stadter ended with a time of 22:59.7
The last Jackrabbit finisher in the top 40 was freshman Nora Peterson, who finished in the 40th position. Peterson finished 23:07.8.
The women ended with 144 points, which got them sixth place in the standings behind California Baptist University, which finished with a fantastic 25 points. Second place was Minnesota, followed by North Dakota, Iowa and NDSU rounded out the top five.
The next time you can see the cross-country teams will be at the SDSU Classic at the Edgebrook Golf Course in Brookings. The race will begin on Friday, Oct. 3, at 6:40 p.m.
