SDSU Finish Two Meets - Pre-Nationals & Ron Pynn - South Dakota State University Athletics

Saturday, October 13

Madison, WI

11:10 a.m.

South Dakota State University

Pre-National Invitational

SDSU Finish Two Meets - Pre-Nationals & Ron Pynn

10/13/2018 9:54:00 PM | Cross Country, Men's Cross Country, Women's Cross Country

Performance List: MXC 2018 Performance List: WXC 2018 Results: Pre-National (MXC Seeded-Cardinal) - Jackrabbits Results: Pre-National (WXC Seeded-White) - Jackrabbits Results: Ron Pynn 2018 (MXC-8k)Results: Ron Pynn 2018 (WXC-5k)

The South Dakota State cross country teams split, with some of the Jackrabbit competing in Verona, Wis. at the Pre-National Invitational, and the other SDSU student-athletes in Grand Forks, N.D. at the Ron Pynn Classic.

PRE-NATIONAL INVITATIONAL
VERONA, Wis. - For the second straight year, the Jackrabbit cross country teams competed in the pre-cursor to the NCAA Division I National Championships on Saturday - with the men placing 22nd overall and the women 24th among nationally ranked competition.

The races were delayed due to the frosty condiditions on Thomas Zimmer Championships Course, making the first women's race (Cardinal Race) start at 10 a.m. followed by the rest of the races about 40 minutes apart.

The men added their best place-finish out of the four all-time meet attempts in the DI Pre-National Invite with a 22nd overall finish (614 points) - competing against 36 teams in the Cardinal Race (13 nationally ranked, 32 regionally ranked - USTFCCCA). The team beat several regionally ranked teams despite recording only one personal-best (Breuckman) and three season-best marks (Cayo, Burdick, Nelson).

Junior Chase Cayo led the Jackrabbits for the second consecutive meet, finishing 69th overall (24:48.5) with a season-best mark out of 242 runners. In the Summit League performance list, he resets the best mark of the season - being one of three Summit League runners below the 25-minute mark - two of them are Jackrabbits (Burdick moved into third on the league performance list, under 25 minutes as well).

Senior Kyle Burdick posted his season-best mark, getting under the 25-minute mark with a 90th overall finish (24:58.0). He moves into the third-fastest 8k mark in The Summit League after Saturday afternoon.

Sophomore Micah Mather, who redshirted last year, competed in his first Pre-National Invite - finishing 145th overall (25:28.1). Fellow sophomore Gabe Peters notched his second Pre-National Invite appearance - placing 149th overall (25:33.3) and beating his 224th 2017 finish.

Junior Lukas Nelson posted a season-best - trimming 17.4 seconds off his Roy Griak mark, to finish 166th overall (25:45.6) in his second Pre-National performance. Last year, Nelson earned his personal-best 8k by finishing with his lone career sub-25 minute mark (24:52.7).

Freshmen Joseph Minor-Williams (183rd, 25:51.5) and Thomas Breuckman (184th, 25:51.6) rounded out the Jackrabbit performances in Verona, Wis., with Breuckman adding his second consecutive 8k PR by 6.7 seconds from his previous-best set at the Roy Griak (has trimmed 1:06 minutes of his first 8k - Woody Greeno).

For the women, SDSU competed against 36 teams in the White Race (10 nationally ranked, 29 regionally ranked - USTFCCCA) and finished 24th (650 points). Last year, the Jacks finished 40th out of 43 teams (1,043 points) in the seeded Pre-National in Louisville, Ky. - the only other Pre-National appearance for the women. They out ran a few regionally ranked teams in the second seeded race of the morning and added two personal-best marks (Friesen, Schweiss) and five season-best marks (King, Donnay, Schell, Berzonsky, Dykstra).

Senior Rachel King led the squad for the third consecutive meet this season, finishing 30th overall with her best mark of the season in the 6k (20:55.9). Competing against 239 other runners, she improved both her Pre-National mark and finish from last year (2017: 72nd, 20:56.7). She moved up to second on The Summit League's performance list - just 11.4 seconds behind the leader.

Sophomore Anna Donnay notched a season-best mark with her 129th overall finish (22:05.8). She also improved her Pre-National bests, climbing 102 spots and trimming 22.8 seconds from her 2017 mark. It was her second race of the year where she was the second Jackrabbit to cross the finish line - being runner-up in the Bison Open in the season opener.

Senior Mackenzie Schell came in third for SDSU, 154th overall (22:20.4), posting a season-best that was 1.4 seconds off her personal-best mark set in 2017. She improved her Pre-National bests (2017: 258th, 23:05.2).

The lone freshman appearance on the women's side, Ellie Friesen reset her 6k-best with a 156th overall finish (22:20.7). She trims her best from the Woody Greeno Invite by 41.2 seconds in her Pre-National meet.

Senior Emily Berzonsky (181st, 22:40.7) and junior Kendra Dykstra (214th, 23:25.6) post season-best marks while junior Jamie Schweiss (193rd, 22:51.2) knocks off 11.8 seconds from a 2016 mark to reset her PR. It was Berzonsky's second Pre-National meet - finishing 20 spots better than in 2017, while Dykstra and Schweiss notched their first marks in the meet.

RON PYNN CLASSIC
GRAND FORKS, N.D. - The squad that traveled to North Dakota's lone home meet of the year - the Ron Pynn Classic, added two top-five team finishes despite the cold and blustery conditions.

The men finished fourth out of seven schools represented on Ray Richards Golf Course with a score of 71 points. The Blue and Yellow managed to beat one of the DI schools there in host, North Dakota, while missing North Dakota State by 31 points.

The first bunch of Jackrabbits were led by sophomore Evan Fick, who paced SDSU for the first time in his career - notching a top-10 finish. Fick had two teammates right behind him while he recorded a PR (10th, 25:55.1). He improved his place-finish at the meet from a year ago by 35th spots (2017: sixth on the team, 45th overall). It is his first sub-26 8k, resetting his previous-best mark from the Woody Greeno.

Freshman Ben Olson and redshirt freshman Alexander Auch tailed Fick and finished 11th (25:56.0) and 12th (25:59.0), respectively. Olson notched his personal-best mark by 31.1 seconds while Auch beat his unattached 2017 finish of 15th overall.

The second pack of Jacks started crossing the line at 23rd overall with redshirt freshman Michael Schwinghamer, who competed in his first Ron Pynn Classic. Juniors Chandler Klawitter (23rd, 26:35.8) and Sam Ivanecky (29th, 26:53.4) were close behind to round out the Jackrabbit performance list in North Dakota. Ivanecky added his first performance there while Klawitter notched a season-best, 7.2 seconds from his PR set at the 2017 Ron Pynn, in the 8k.

For the women, the team placed fifth overall among eight schools represented in Grand Forks, scoring 132 points. Junior Anna Fasen led the Blue and Yellow for the first time in her career with a top-10 finish. She added a personal-best mark in the 5k by beating her previous-best set at the 2017 Ron Pynn by 7.8 seconds.

Unattached Jackrabbit Cailee Peterson recorded her first cross country performance of the season with a 26th overall finish (19:28.3). It was the Mayville, N.D. native's first career 5k attempt as a SDSU student-athlete.

Junior Emma Nelson came in third for the team, finishing 32nd overall (19:44.7) in her first 5k of the year while freshmen Tori Glazier (37th, 19:59.2), Bailey Dergan (40th, 20:17.0), and Elise Emmick (48th, 20:46.0) all recorded their first Ron Pynn and 5k performances of their SDSU career.

UP NEXT
The team will have a weekend off (Oct. 20) before traveling to Omaha, Neb. for a chance to win a Summit League title. The men will be looking for a three-peat with Cayo as the defending MVP and athlete of the year. The women will reach for their seventh top-three finish with King defending MVP and athlete of the year honors. In Addition, junior Emily Donnay returns, who won the MVP in 2016 and was the first female Jack to win athlete of the year.

SOCIAL MEDIA
For more information on the South Dakota State cross country teams, follow the Jackrabbits on Twitter (@GoJacksTFXC) and Instagram (@GoJacksTFXC), and like us on Facebook (/GoJacksTFXC).

INDIVIDUAL JACKRABBIT RESULTS:
Pre-National Invitational (Men - 8k): 22nd (614 points) in the Cardinal Race
69. Cayo, Chase (24:48.5) - SB
90. Burdick, Kyle (24:58.0) - SB
145. Mather, Micah (25:28.1) - First Pre-National
149. Peters, Gabe (25:33.3) - Second Pre-National, Best Finish
166. Nelson, Lukas (25:45.6) - Second Pre-National
183. Minor-Williams, Joseph (25:51.5) - First Pre-National
184. Breuckman, Thomas (25:51.6) - PR, First Pre-National

Pre-National Invitational (Women - 6k): 24th (650 points) in the White Race
30. King, Rachel (20:55.9) - SB, Pre-National PR
129. Donnay, Anna (22:05.8) - SB, Pre-National PR
154. Schell, Mackenzie (22:20.4) - SB, Pre-National PR
156. Friesen, Ellie (22:20.7) - PR
181. Berzonsky, Emily (22:40.7) - SB
193. Schweiss, Jamie (22:51.2) - PR, First Pre-National
214. Dykstra, Kendra (23:25.6) - SB, First Pre-National

Ron Pynn Classic (Men - 8k): Fourth (71 points)
10. Fick, Evan (25:55.1) - PR
11. Olson, Ben (25:56.0) - PR, First Ron Pynn
12. Auch, Alexander (25:59.0)
20. Schwinghamer, Michael (26:27.6) - First Ron Pynn
23. Klawitter, Chandler (26:35.8) - SB
29. Ivanecky, Sam (26:53.4) - First RP

Ron Pynn Classic (Women - 5k): Fifth (132 points)
9. Fasen, Anna (18:42.4) - PR
26. Peterson, Cailee - Una. (19:28.3) - First Season Mark, First Ron Pynn
32. Nelson, Emma (19:44.7) - First 5k of Season
37. Glazier, Tori (19:59.2) - First 5k, First Ron Pynn
40. Dergan, Bailey (20:17.0) - First 5k, First Ron Pynn
48. Emmick, Elise (20:46.0) - First 5k, First Ron Pynn

-GoJacks.com-