FARGO, N.D. – The South Dakota State men's and women's cross country teams took second at the NDSU Open with freshman Cailee Peterson taking charge for the women in her homecoming meet and sophomore Lukas Nelson leading the way for the men.
Peterson finished first in the open 4K and fourth overall in 14 minutes, 38 seconds in her first collegiate meet, close to her hometown of Mayville, N.D. Freshman Anna Donnay also started strong in her first collegiate meet as she finished seventh overall in 14:42.2.
"It was good for the newcomers to come out and get their feet wet in their collegiate meet. It helped clear some of the nerves," said SDSU coach Rod DeHaven. "Peterson had a big crowd here for support and Donnay led the charge for us most of the way."
Rounding out the top 10 was junior Mackenzie Schell as she finished eighth overall (14:52.6). Sophomores Jamie Schweiss (12th, 15:05.0), Krista Steele (13th, 15:16.8) and Anna Fasen (16th, 15:30.9) finished in the top 20 along with freshman Maisey Bainbridge (18th, 15:41.6).
For the men, Nelson lead the charge in the open 6K, finishing first among collegiate runners in 19:21.9 (NDSU-Unattached Camron Roehl placed first in the race).
Junior Sebastian Sowada (19:25.2) stole second in the overall race, beating out NDSU runner Brant Gilbertson (19:25.3) by one-tenth of a second.
Just missing the top 10 was sophomore Sam Ivanecky, who placed 11th (19:49.3). Rounding out the top 15 was freshman Ray Munsterman (13th, 19:55.3) and sophomore Connor Haaland (15th, 20:18.8). Freshman Evan Fick (16th, 20:24.5), sophomore Daniel Radtke (19th, 20:41.4) and freshman Jacob Wilts (20th, 20:56.3) made the top 20.
"The meet went as planned; it revealed what I saw in practice and showed who had been working hard in the summer," DeHaven said. "However, this meet is just the starting point; this meet will not have an impact on the trophies and placings coming later in the season."
The men's team scored 42 points, coming in second behind North Dakota State's 25 points, and finishing better than North Dakota's 59 points.
The women's side looked the same with South Dakota State scoring 44 points, behind NDSU with 23 points and ahead of North Dakota with 68 points.
The scoring of the NDSU Open was dual-based scoring.
The Jackrabbit runners will get right back on to the terrain as they head to Falcon Heights, Minn., on Friday to compete in the Oz Memorial, hosted by Minnesota.
