Men’s cross country took 14th in the overall team category at the Griak Invitational in Falcon Heights, Minn.

The top finisher for the Jackrabbit men was Trent Lusignan who finished 19th with a time of 24:47.8. This was a personal best for Lusignan in the 8k race. 

“We could have ran a little bit better,” head coach Rod DeHaven said. “It was a good day, not a great day.” 

Another personal best occurred for Anthony Bongard who finished 52nd overall with a time of 25:16.0. 

Joel Reichow, with a time of 25:29.2, finished 70th overall. Behind Reichow, Drew Kraft finished 105th and clocked in at 25:48.8. 

Jackrabbit freshman Brendan Sage clocked in at 25:54.2 to take 118th overall. Andrew Thies came in at 26:21.1 and finished 167th. 

Kipp Kinsley and Christian Karels finished together taking 194th and 195th. Kinsley finished in 26:44.9 and Karels followed with 26:46.1. 

“As a team I thought we had a very good showing,” Kinsley said. “We had five guys go under 26 minutes which is a big accomplishment. We were also able to knock off some of the bigger schools which could get us ranked higher in our region.”

The Jackrabbit men scored 343 points and finished 14th out of 24 teams. Brigham Young University won the race with a total of 62 points. 

The women’s cross country team finished 25th in the overall team category out of 28 teams. 

“The big key is going to be a bit more consistent,” DeHaven said. “We had some people who didn’t have as big of day as I thought they’d be able to come up with given that so many people ran so much faster than they did three weeks prior.”

Cheyanne Bowers finished first of the Jackrabbits with a time of 22:44.65 and was 121st overall. 

Courtney Neubert finished 145th and clocked in at 23:00.55. Alex Suhr followed Neubert to the finish line and took 176th with a time of 23:14.30. 

Samantha Anderson finished with a time of 23:26.45 to take 198th. Jessica Eibs claimed 203rd with a time of 23:31.50. 

Kirsten Anderson claimed 213th (23:40.40) and Laura Lawton finished right behind Anderson to take 216th (23:42.80). 

“We were running against some of the best teams we will see all year. There is always room for improvement so we are going to keep working hard,” said Jenna Grossenburg, who finished 223rd (23:51.00).

The Jackrabbit women finished with 663 points. Arizona won the race finishing with 48 points. 

Jackrabbit cross country will be home Hobo Week to host the annual SDSU classic. 

“It’s a good opportunity to run at home in front of family, friends who are not on the team and a supportive community,” DeHaven said.

The meet will take place at Edgebrook Golf Course on Oct. 4. The women will run at 6 p.m., and the men will follow at 6:30 p.m. SDSU alumni will be running in the race along with the Jackrabbits on the SDSU alumni team. 

There will be a one-mile memorial run in memory of SDSU student Phillip LaVelle starting at 5:15 p.m. on Oct. 4. LaVelle was in a car-pedestrian accident near Otsego, Minn and died Aug. 8. The run will begin at Larson Park and finish at Edgebrook Golf Course.