The Southwest Minnesota State University men’s and women’s cross country teams competed in the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference championships on Saturday, October 26 at Yankton Trails Park in Sioux Falls, S.D. The men’s team finished in eighth place out of 13 teams. The women’s team finished in 11th place out of 15 teams.

Augustana took the conference championship, finished with 18 points, followed by Sioux Falls with 84 points. Paul Yak of Augustana finished first individually with a time of 25:07. Augustana’s win marked their fifth consecutive conference title, as well as Yak’s second consecutive individual title. The SMSU men finished with 218 points.

Trent Smith paced the Mustangs with a 24th place finish with a time of 26:26 in the 111-man, 8,000 meter race. Smith was followed by Alejandro Sanchez with a 31st place finish (26:44), closely followed by OJ Ojullu in 35th place (26:49). Alex Solheim finished in 76th place with a time of 28:37, while Kelly Fitzsimmons finished in 81st place with a time of 28:37. Blake Wooten finished in 89th place with a time of 29:01, followed by Schuyler Canfield in 90th place with a time of 29:02.

Also for the Mustangs were Chris Kveseth in 97th place (29:50), Austin Handley in 100th place (30:00), and Andrew Feucht in 103rd place (30:42).

The University of Minnesota-Duluth claimed the women’s team title with 50 points, followed by Augustana with 67 points. Jennifer Agnew of the University of Mary claimed the individual title with a time of 20:35. As a team, the Mustangs recorded 369 points.

Amanda Grengs led the Mustangs with a time of 23:53 for a 63rd place finish. Paige Yi followed with a time of 23:54 for a 64th place finish. Tatum Larson picked up an 88th place finish (24:55), followed by Julia Sauder in 101st place (25:49). Diana Moe (28:03), Hannah Dressen (28:19), and Emily Hartwig (30:27) also competed for the Mustangs.