Women’s cross country team wins Summit League Championship fourth year in a row

The South Dakota women’s cross country team won its fourth straight Summit League Championship Saturday.

South Dakota won the title with 30 points. NDSU finished in second with 57 and SDSU came in third with 67.

While USD didn’t have a runner in the top three, they had every runner from fourth to 10th  place.

According to GoYotes, Junior Megan Billington finished fourth in the race in 21 minutes, 17.37 seconds. She led the team, and was only six seconds slower than her personal best.

Junior Lindsay Joyce, who finished fifth, broke her personal record with a time of 21:27.09.

Junior Madeline Huglen and sophomore Kianna Stewart finished in sixth and seventh, with a time of 21:31.

Billington, Joyce, Huglen and Stewart all earned all-Summit first team honors. Freshman Laura Nelson finished in eighth with a time of 21:34.38. Senior Erin Wetzstein finished in ninth with 21:34.96. Junior Bethany Kozak finished in tenth with 21:39.30.

Nelson, Wetzstein and Kozak all earned all-Summit second team honors. Sophomore Julia Noah finished in 16th place. Senior Nicole Schmidt finished in 26th.

USD head coach Dan Fitzsimmons was named the Summit League Women’s Cross Country Coach of the Year for the fourth consecutive season.

The men’s team also saw success. Junior Eldon Warner led USD with a third-place finish. He finished the race in 24:52.90, less than one second shy of breaking his personal record. Senior Brice Cowman finished in eighth place and set a personal best of 25:17.86. Junior Nate Wendt finished in 12th and freshman Luke Bailey finished in 14th.

USD’s next event will be the NCAA Midwest Regional in Ames, IA on Nov. 10. The top two teams will earn automatic bids to the NCAA Championships.