YANKTON, S.D. - The Dickinson State cross country team went into the Mount Marty Invitational with high hopes Saturday morning and achieved them.
The men’s team placed second overall with a score of 67 and beat two nationally ranked teams in No. 24 Dordt College (75) and No. 18 Morningside College (85). Concordia College (Neb.) won the men’s side overall with 38 points.
Out of 159 runners, sophomore Dante Carter won the invitational with a time of 25 minutes, 24.4 seconds. Dante had a strong performance the entire race and led the pack by mile 4.
“He’s well on his way to doing great things in cross country,” head coach Mike Nekuda said. “He was definitely our leader.”
Senior Denis Patrick finished in fifth with a 25:56.99 time, followed by Dustin Sandbak (26:28.57) at 18th to round out the DSU runners finishing in the top 20.
NeKuda said freshman Riley Malcolm (26:37.3) really impressed him. Jeffery Segovia had the stomach flu which put Malcolm in a position to step up and help the team out, which he did by finishing 22nd overall.
On the women’s side, DSU finished 11th (312) and Dordt College took first overall (28). Freshman Meleah Leiss (20:04.69) led the Hawks and finished 34th overall. Stormie Sickler (20:56.8) was next for DSU at 64th.
The Blue Hawks have two weeks to prepare for the Frontier Conference Championships in Lewiston, Idaho on Nov. 8.
Mount Marty Invitational
At Mount Marty College, Yankton, S.D.
Men’s
Team scores: Concordia 38, DSU 67, Dordt 75, Morningside 85, Northwestern (Iowa) 121, South Dakota State 131, Mount Marty 243, Valley City State 249, Dakota State 273, Hastings 282, Grand View 305, Briar Cliff 336, Jamestown 357, Midland University 357.
Individual top 10: 1, Dante Carter, DSU, 25:54.4, 2, Ben Sievert, Concordia, 25:57.76, 3, Garret Ehlers, Morningside, 25:32.34, 4, Colin Morrissey, unattached, 25:39.53, 5, Denis Patrick DSU, 25:56.99, 6, Nick Vanderkooim Dordt, 26:00.93, 7, Jared Ailts, unattached, 26:07.7, 8, Beau Billings, Concordia, 26:09.42, 9, Hayden Hohnholt, Concordia, 26:09.81, 10, Will Norris, Northwestern, 26:13.06.
Other Dickinson finishers: 19, Dustin Sandbak 26:28.57, 22, Riley Malcolm 26:37.03, 34, Jeffrey Segovia 26:59.08, 36, Eddie Meneses 27:00.9, 40, Delano Lily 27:03.67, 109 Ariel Hurtado 29:19.81, 116, Daniel Patrick 29:47.17, 121 Jonathan Aman 29:56.39.
Women’s
Team scores: Dordt College 28, South Dakota State 71, Jamestown 125, Concordia 149, Mount Marty 149, Northwestern 161, Hastings 173, Morningside 177, Midland University 212, Grand View 232, DSU 312, Briar Cliff 376.
Individual top 10: 1, Katie Smelker, Mount Marty, 18:21.78, 2, Aleona Reyes, Jamestown, 18:27.14. 3, Lauren Opp, Dordt, 18:28.79. 4, Kayla Byl, Dodrt, 18:46.59. 5, Renee Buikema, Dordt, 18:54.49. 6, Abby De Vries Dodrt, 18:55.58. 7, Samantha Golf, Jamestown, 19:00.03. 8, Megan West, South Dakota State, 19:01.2. 9, Lauren Shomaker, Hastings, 19:02.29. 10, Lillie Koerner, Dordt, 19:09.42.
Other Dickinson finishers: 34, Meleah Leiss 20:04.69. 64, Stormie Sickler 20:56.8. Shayna Tonderum 22:41.11. 109, Camille Ness 22:59.52. 128 Shelby Stagner 27:17.9.
