by RAPID CITY, S.D. – The Black Hills State University cross country teams got their seasons started Friday at the South Dakota Mines Invitational where the men’s squad, led by Alec Baldwin, won the men’s team title while the women’s team placed fourth.
Baldwin, the race’s defending champion, placed second in the field of 51 runners in the men’s five-mile run. He clocked in at 25:25 behind race winner Festus Lagat of Gillette College.
Freshman Jonah Theisen clocked in at 26:46 in his collegiate debut in sixth place while Joshua Davis and Kendall Murie (Chippewa/Cree) placed eighth and ninth, respectively. Davis had a time of 27:03 while Murie’s time was 27:07.
Isaac Iverson and Aaron Schone placed 13th and 14th respectively to close out the top-eight runners for the Yellow Jackets.
The men won with a total of 32 points and an average time of 26:47 while Gillette College scored 54 points. South Dakota Mines placed third with 74 points and Chadron State fourth with 78 points. Central Wyoming Community College tallied 132 points for fifth place.
On the women’s side, a pair of freshman led the Green and Gold with Cailey Roth placing eighth in the three-mile run in 19:52. Tori Moor followed her in 12th place in 20:03. Sierra Miles placed 16th in 20:28 while Katelyn Woten and Shelby Stoltz placed back-to-back in 21st and 22nd, respectively.
Chadron State won the women’s title with 23 points and sweeping first through fourth places. South Dakota Mines tallied a second place finish with 53 points and Gillette College in third with 70 points. The Yellow jackets scored 79 points for fourth place.
Black Hills State hosts the Yellow Jacket Invitational on Friday, September 11, at the Spearfish Canyon Country Club. The men’s race begins at 9 a.m. with the women to follow.
