DSU Cross Country Opens Season 'Under the Lights'

Dakota State University

This past weekend, both men’s and women’s cross country teams for Dakota State opened up their season in the Augustana Twilight meet, one of the largest meets in the Midwest region.

The Trojan’s men’s team came in as the four-time NSAA defending champion. They finished 19th as a team out of the 32 teams that were there, tallying a score of 549 points.

Cody Farland led the Trojans with a time of 20 minutes, 51.59 seconds for an 85th-place finish. Tyler Kennedy was 145th in 21:43.15, followed by Martin Bailey with a 148th-place finish in 21:45.53.

Ben Olson of SDSU won the individual title with a time of 19 minutes, 8.21 seconds. A total of 323 runners completed the 4-mile flat racecourse.

For the DSU women’s team, they placed 22nd in the women’s standings with a score of 629 points.

Lindsey Roth paced the Trojans with a time of 20 minutes, 1.84 seconds in her college debut, finishing 96th overall. Madelyn Sylva also ran in her collegiate debut with a time of 20 minutes, 52.47 seconds with a 156th place finish.

Alea Hardie of Nebraska won the women’s individual title with a time of 17 minutes, .07 seconds. South Dakota State edged Nebraska to win the team title 84-97.

Dakota State continues its action next Saturday as they host their annual home meet, the 20th annual Herb Blakely Invitational at the Madison Country Club. The women’s 5K race is set to start at 10:30am, with the men’s 8K race set for 11:15am.