On this past Saturday, the men’s cross country team did more of the same as they came away with the first-place finish in the SDSU Classic. On the women’s side, the Jacks finished in second place with 40 points, only five points behind Summit League favorite University of South Dakota.  

Leading the way for the men was junior Joel Reichow, as he recorded his second career first-place finish. The Jacks had four other runners finish in the top-10 as the goal for the team was to stay in a group, according to Head Coach Rod DeHaven.

“It was good to host a meet, good to be at home. On the men’s side we did what we needed to do, which was win the meet,” DeHaven said. 

DeHaven praised senior Trent Lusignan for being “very unselfish” as he ran with the group of runners from SDSU that finished in the top-10, saying “he did what our group needed.” 

The final results for the men were Reichow (1st), Lusignan (4th), Trevor Capra (6th), Ayub Kassim (7th), Brendan Sage (8th), Kyle Burdick (13th), Connor Branick (14th), Andrew Thies (17th), Dylan Slaba (18th), Eric Janssen (21st), Dan Pettit (24th), Grant Vankeulen (27th), Cal Lawton (28th), Kipp Kinsley (33rd) and Austin Hamm (34th). 

The women took full advantage of being on a course they know well by finishing second in the meet. Finishing in sixth place, the top Jacks runner was senior Samantha Anderson. The Jacks had two freshman finish in the top-10 as Rachel King (7th) and Emily Donnay (9th) both showed they were prepared for their first-ever SDSU Classic.

“I thought it was really good, we took a step forward. I hope our women believe that we have a chance to win the league title, but we think we still have some improvement to make,” DeHaven said. 

DeHaven feels very confident in his women’s team due to the number of good runners they possess. “That is the one thing that gives us a chance is our depth, we have had four different number one runners, it’s a great asset to our team and someone can step up if something were to happen,” DeHaven said. 

Final results for the women were Anderson (6th), King (7th), Kristen Anderson (8th), Donnay (9th), Jessica Eibs (10th), Hallie Mechels (11th), Laura Lawton (12th), Emily Berzonsky (15th), Karley Konkol (31st), Mackenzie Schell (37th), Krista Steele (38th), Rachel Propst (40th), and Rachel Eickhoft (45th). 

Up next for the Jacks will be the Wisconsin Adidas Invitational on Friday, Oct. 16. Coach DeHaven said it’s something the team is looking forward to. “They will get to run on a world class cross country course against top programs in the nation. It should be a good test for us to see where we are at,” DeHaven said.