QUICK HITS: Women place second, men third at Nebraska Woody Greeno Invitational

LINCOLN, Neb.— Freshman Amber Eickhorn placed sixth to lead the South Dakota women’s cross country team to a second place finish, while Jeff Mettler’s fifth-place finish led the men’s team to third-place at the Woody Greeno Invitational on Saturday.

Eickhorn’s time of 21:54.0 was the fifth fastest among Division-I runners.  Kansas State’s Laura Galvan placed first with a time of 21:10.9.

The women had four finishers in the top-25.  Katie Wetzstein placed 11th in 22:25.7, Carol Miller was 19th in 22:39.3, and Megan Hilson was 21st in 22:46.9.

Jessica Brandli placed 31st in 23:05.43, Ali Gress was 37th with 23:14.6, and Kristin Steffen placed 57th in 23:47.4 to round out the finishers for the women.  There were 289 runners in the field for the women’s race.

The women finished with 88 points in the 32-team field.  The Air Force Academy had the top score with 47.  Kansas State was third with 118, Colorado School of Mines was fourth with 149, and meet co-host Nebraska was fifth with 192.

In the men’s race, the Coyotes placed second among Division I schools.  Colorado School of Mines won the men’s event with 41 points while the Air Force Academy finished second with 58.  South Dakota had 95 points, Fort Hays State had 143 points and Nebraska had 192 to round out the top-five in the 28 team field.

All five scorers for the men placed in the top-30.  Mettler, who finished in 24:58.1, was a little over 13 seconds behind race winner Sean Gildea of Colorado School of Mines (24:45.0).

Mubarik Musa was second best for the men with an 18th-place finish in 25:21.3, and Taylor Huseman was 20th in 26:04.8.  Travis Brenner was 24th in 26:08.4, Alex Hohenthaner was 28th in 26:14.5, Ethan Marquardt was 44th in 26:33.8, and Isaac Allen placed 50th in 26:45.8.  There were 308 runners in the men’s race.

Both teams will take a couple weeks off before racing at the Roy Griak Invitational in Minneapolis on Sep. 29.

Mettler was named Men’s Summit League Athlete of the Week, the first of his career.