YANKTON, S.D. (VCSUVikings.com) – The NSAA Men’s Cross Country Championships are shaping up to be a classic battle between VCSU and Dickinson State.
The Blue Hawks and Vikings took first and second place, respectively, on Saturday at the Mount Marty Invite in Yankton, S.D.
It is the third straight race that the Vikings and Blue Hawks have faced each other. The Vikings had the upper hand the first two races, but Dickinson State had the better finish Saturday as they took first place in South Dakota. The next time the two teams meet they will be battling for the conference title Nov. 3 in Jamesotwn.
The Vikings placed three runners in the Top 20 and took second out of 10 teams. VCSU had a team score of 79, narrowly edging Morningside College (86) for second place. Dickinson State won the meet with a team score of 65.
Dennis Gonzales took seventh place and Dylan Olson was eighth as the top two Viking finishers. Gonzalez ran the 8K race in 26:55, and Olson was just four seconds back at 26:59. Orin Rambow also recorded a Top 20 finish, placing 18th in a time of 27:24. Louis Leon placed 33rd (28:13) and Joe Celis placed 40th (28:24) to round out VCSU’s top five.
On the women’s side VCSU did not have enough runners to record a team score, but Grace Miller took sixth place overall with a time of 19:36. Miller was the top NSAA finisher at the meet. Julianne Wilson placed 34th for the Vikings (21:20) and Kristina Fricke took 42nd (21:39).
“This was not our best meet of the season, however, we still had many strong performances with the men finishing second as a team and our female finishers all running strong races,” said VCSU head coach Chris Johnson. “Conditions were challenging today with strong wind gusts and colder than expected temperatures but both our teams performed admirably despite the weather. With conferences in two weeks, we’re looking forward to returning to a course at Jamestown that we’re familiar with and have had success on this season.”
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next: Valley City State will compete at the NSAA Championships, which will be held Friday, Nov. 3, at Parkhurst Cross Country Course near Jamestown, N.D.