On Friday, Sept. 6, the Southwest Minnesota State University men’s and women’s cross country teams opened their season at Yankton Trail Park for the Augustana Twilight. The meet consisted of 19 teams. The women ran a three-mile course, while the men ran a four-mile course.

The SMSU men finished with 225 points for a ninth place overall finish. The University of Nebraska finished in first place with a team total of 31 points. Sophomore Alejandro Sanchez paced the Mustangs with a 29th place finish out of 231 runners  with a time of 20 minutes even. Junior Trent Smith followed Sanchez with a 30th place finish with a time of 20:01. Freshman Blake Wooten finished with a time of 20:18 for a 46th place finish. Sophomore Jack Derham finished with a time of 20:47 for a 69th place finish.

The SMSU women finished in 14th place with a total of 406 points. Augustana racked up a total of 34 points to win the title, followed by Nebraska with 49 points.

Freshman Amanda Grengs led the Mustangs with a time of 18:10 to finish in 40th place out of the 196-person field. Paige Yi, also a freshman, finished with a time of 18:13 to earn 46th place. Tatum Larson ended the race with a 120th place finish with a time of 19:48. Julia Sauder rounded out the Mustang runners with a time of 20:03 for a 129th place finish.