Cross Country | 11/5/2019 8:05:00 AM
Central Region Homepage
MOORHEAD, Minn. — The Minnesota State University Moorhead cross country teams will compete in the Central Region meet this Saturday in Joplin, Mo. Missouri Southern State University is the host school once again for the event.
The women's 6K race begins at 10 a.m. while the men's 10K race begins at 11:15 a.m. The top three teams — and the top two individuals not on those teams that finish in the top 20 — qualify for nationals. There are 10 at-large team berths that will be determined following the completion of the region meets.
The Dragon men, coming off of a strong runner-up finish at the NSIC Championships on Oct. 26, finished fourth out of 28 teams at the meet a year ago and narrowly missed a trip to nationals.
"Leading into summer our men identified a return to the NCAA Championships as one of their primary goals," MSUM head track and field/cross country coach
Ryan Milner said. "They've worked to worked diligently to put themselves in a position to actualize that goal. As long as we continue to be process-oriented in our final preparation and on race day, we have a strong chance to finish among the best teams in the Central Region."
The women finished 18th a year ago, led by
Kathryn Sistrunk's 50th-place finish.
"Our women had a challenging day at NSIC Championships and we're looking to rebound from that," Milner said. "As we move forward to regionals, we look to better a number of the teams that beat us two weeks ago and build confidence as we transition to the track season."
MSUM men's lineup:
Austin Gruenberg,
Elijah Herrick,
Nick Marshall,
Drew Mears,
Carson Speicher,
Logan Spooner,
Nadir Yusuf
MSUM women's lineup:
Caleigh Anderson,
Megan Kucera,
McKenzie Maki,
Kathryn Sistrunk,
Andrea Wells,
Lindsey Werner, Lakyla Yazzie
Last Time Out: Dragon Men 2nd at NSIC Championships, Women 11th
Led by a third-place finish from senior
Nadir Yusuf, the Minnesota State University Moorhead men's cross country team finished second at the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference Championships which were held on Oct. 26 in Wayne, Neb. The Dragon women finished 11th.
The MSUM men finished with 67 points, trailing winner Augustana by 30. Sioux Falls finished third with 92 points.
Yusuf finished with an 8K time of 25:22.47 to finish third and earn All-NSIC first team honors for the first time in his Dragon career. The previous three years he had earned All-NSIC Second Team honors and has never finished outside the top 20 at the conference meet.
Junior
Nick Marshall earned All-NSIC second team honors with a career-best 11th-place finish on Saturday. His 8K time was 26:23.65. Junior
Logan Spooner was also All-NSIC second team, placing 12th in 26:25.67. MSUM had four runners in the top 20 as junior
Elijah Herrick finished 18th in 26:34.72 to also earn All-NSIC second team honors.
The women finished with 317 points. Senior
Kathryn Sistrunk was the top finisher, taking 44th in 24:07.93. Freshman
LaKyla Yazzie was 70th in 24:56.68 while sophomore
Andrea Wells was 77th in 25:06.10.
