Jacks Added Top 15 & NCAA All-Region Performances

Friday, November 9

Peoria, Ill.

11 a.m.

South Dakota State University

NCAA Midwest Regional Championships

Photo by: Dennis Hubbard

11/9/2018 5:07:00 PM | Cross Country, Men's Cross Country, Women's Cross Country

Results: NCAA Regional 2018 - Men Results: NCAA Regional 2018 - Women

Men finish in the top 10 for the fifth time - led be NCAA All-Region Burdick - and the women notched 13th - led by NCAA All-Region Rachel King

PEORIA, Ill - The South Dakota State men's and women's cross country teams finished their 2018 campaigns in Peoria, Ill. at the NCAA Midwest Regionals on Friday with the men finishing 10th (288 points) and the women tying their best-ever place-finish and scoring their lowest point-total, 13th (369 points).

The Jackrabbits were led by a couple of seniors on both sides who earned NCAA All-Region honors - the only Summit League school to have a multiple All-Region honorees.

Rachel King led the women, finishing 19th overall (21:01.9) to garner the award. She is the second-ever Jack on the women's team to earn NCAA All-Region accolades (started in 2010) and is the first to win multiple in her career - back-to-back. The women's team has now had three consecutive seasons with a top-25 finisher (Emily Donnay - 2016; King - 2017, 2018)

Kyle Burdick led the men's team for the first time this season, en route to his best place-finish at the regional meet and earn All-Region honors, placing 15th (31:18.3). He helps the SDSU team earn the honor for the fourth year in a row, while gathering his second consecutive personally. Only four State runners have received the award, three of them have won it multiple times (Michael Krsnak - 2010; Trent Lusignan - 2013, 2015; Joel Reichow - 2015, 2016; Burdick - 2017, 2018).

As for All-Regional honorees in The Summit League, South Dakota State has had the most All-Region individuals since the award was introduced in 2010 with six Jackrabbits winning 10 mentions. Other schools in the league all together have 12 mentions from 10 athletes - with the most any one school having is three honorees winning four mentions.

MEN'S TEAM:
After winning their third consecutive Summit League championships, scored an 10th-place finish (288) by having five of the individuals finish in the top-100 of the 208-man race. The team started off in the middle of the pack, being 15th after the first check point (2k) and slowly worked their way up into the race - grabbing ninth at the 7k-checkpoint and sixth at both the 8k- and 9k-checkpoints. It is the fifth time that the men's team had five scorers in the top-100.

It is the fifth time the men's team has finished in the top 10 of the Midwest Regional meet while no other active Summit League school has finished in the top 10 of the their respective region.

"The men's team did well, given the situation and circumstances we were in," explained Head Coach Rod DeHaven. "Kyle and Joseph had especially good races and it's nice to finish ahead of where we were predicted to finish, but I think the team could have been No. 6 or 7 if things went our way."

WOMEN'S TEAM:
The women's team tallied the 13th-place mark out of 34 teams, scoring a team-low 369 points. With the best point-total ever (beating the previous-lowest of 385 in 2012 - 15th place), the squad etched their name into a tie for the best place-finish in the Midwest Regionals - tying the 13th-place (296 points) 2016 team.

The team finished as the second Summit League school in the Midwest Region - beating 2018 runner-up North Dakota State.

"I think the women's team ran well and competed hard," DeHaven said. "I think if everything was clicking, we could have been a top-10 team in in the region - but it was a solid race for us."

MEN'S INDIVIDUAL:
Senior Kyle Burdick capped off his cross country career with his second All-Region honor - one of four Summit League individuals on the men's side to be honored more than one year, two others being Jackrabbits (Lusignan, Reichow). He was also one spot - about 10 seconds - from qualifying for the NCAA Championship meet as the next-best four in.

He trimmed his way down from a 38th-place 2k-checkpoint down to the 15th spot, which was his best finish in the regionals of his career - beating his 2017 finish of 16th.

Junior Chase Cayo and freshman Joseph Minor-Williams - the Summit League Newcomer of the Championship - were behind Burdick at 53rd place (32:10.5) and 57th place (32:11.6). Cayo shaved off 37 spots from his 2k-checkpoint while Minor-Williams out-ran 27 spots in his first 10k regional meet.

Burdick and Cayo out ran the all other Summit League competition, including the league championship winner - with Burdick out-pacing by 53.1 seconds and Cayo ahead by 9.9 seconds. Minor-Williams nearly chased down the league's third fastest spot, behind by 0.2 seconds.

Junior Lukas Nelson and freshman Thomas Breuckman added the last two spots in the top-100, finishing 65th (32:22.9) and 98th (32:56.5). Nelson's 65th-place was impressive, not only because he cut his 2k-checkpoint place nearly in half (2k - 124th), but he also notched his best finish ever at the regional meet. Breuckman also gutted out a tough performance - trimming his 3k-checkpoint place of 129th down 31 spots.

WOMEN'S INDIVIDUAL:
Senior Rachel King notched another career achievement after she finished her last SDSU cross country race, being the one of four Summit League student-athlete - male or female - to earn multiple All-Region honors in her career (2017, 2018).

Following King was junior Emily Donnay - the only other Jackrabbit to earn All-Region honors - who placed 59th overall (21:40.2) after climbing 78 spots from her 5k-checkpoint place. She added her first regional mark since being 23rd in the 2016 regionals and only competing in one other meet since the end of October.

Senior Mackenzie Schell (81st, 21:53.5) and sophomore Anna Donnay (89th, 22:00.2) made their marks in the race, their best marks as both improved their place-finishes from last year. Schell climbed 55 spots from her 2k-checkpoint en route to a personal-best mark - her first sub-22-minute mark and ranked ninth all-time for Jackrabbit performances at the regional meet - and trimming 75 places from last year's place-finish. Anna Donnay trimmed seven spot from last year and 49 spots from her 2k-checkpoint this year.

Freshman Ellie Friesen was the fifth Jackrabbit to finish, 121st overall (22:22.8) in her first NCAA Midwest Regional meet while junior Jamie Schwiess was right behind her for 126th (22:25.0) - her best place-finish and personal-best mark. Friesen knocked off 19 spots from her 2k-checkpoint and Schwiess trimmed 47 spots.

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).

JACKRABBIT AWARDS:
NCAA All-Region: Sr. Kyle Burdick, Sr. Rachel King

MEN'S TEAM FINISH - 10th (288 POINTS)
15. Burdick, Kyle (31:18.3) - All-Region, Best Place-Finish
53. Cayo, Chase (32:10.5)
57. Minor-Williams, Joseph (32:11.6) - First MW
65. Nelson, Lukas (32:22.9) - Best Place-Finish
98. Breuckman, Thomas (32:56.5) - First MW
130. Peters, Gabe (33:24.3)
146. Mather, Micah (33:52.7)

WOMEN'S TEAM FINISH - 13th (369 POINTS)
19. King, Rachel (21:01.9) - All-Region
59. Donnay, Emily (21:40.2)
81. Schell, Mackenzie (21:53.5) - PR, MW PR, Best Place-Finish
89. Donnay, Anna (22:00.2) - Best Place-Finish
121. Friesen Ellie (22:22.8) - First MW
126. Schweiss, Jamie (22:25.0) - PR, MW PR, Best Place-Finish
154. Berzonsky, Emily (22:44.0)

TOP ALL-TIME JACKRABBIT MARKS AT REGIONALS
Men -
1. Burdick, Kyle ... 2017 ... 29:35.7
2. Lusignan, Trent ... 2015 ... 29:54.1
3. Reichow, Joel ... 2015 ... 29:56.5
4. Cayo, Chase ... 2017 ... 30:06.2
5. Krsnak, Michael ... 2010 ... 30:22.70
6. Nelson, Lukas ... 2017 ... 30:41.6
7. Capra, Trevor ... 2015 ... 30:48.0
8. Sage, Brendan ... 2014 ...30:49.9
9. Kassim, Ayub ... 2016 ... 30:55.6
10. Ivanecky, Sam ... 2017 ... 31:05.5

Women -
1. King, Rachel ... 2017 ... 20:28.2
2. Donnay, Emily ... 2016 ... 20:48.0
3. Berzonsky, Emily ... 2017 ... 21:13.4
4. Bowers, Cheyanne ... 2014 ... 21:27.4
5. Eibs, Jessica ... 2014 ... 21:28.4
6. Hargens, Erin ... 2010 ... 21:29.65
7. Donnay, Anna ... 2017 ... 21:43.7
8. Neubert, Courtney ... 2013 ... 21:51.2
9. Schell, Mackenzie ... 2018 ... 21:53.5
T10. Anderson, Kristen ... 2014 ... 21:54.5
T10. Dykstra, Kendra ... 2017 ... 21:54.5

Summit League All-League History (Award established in 2010):
2018 - MEN: Kyle Burdick (SDSU) .... WOMEN: Rachel King (SDSU), Megan Billington (USD), Emma Rafuse (PUR-FW)
2017 - MEN: Kyle Burdick (SDSU) ... Rachel King (SDSU)
2016 - MEN: Joel Reichow (SDSU), Murphy (IUPUI) ... Emily Donnay (SDSU)
2015 - MEN: Trent Lusignan (SDSU), Joel Reichow (SDSU), Musa (USD) ... WOMEN: Eickhorn (USD), Teschuk (NDSU)
2014 - MEN: -- ... WOMEN: Eickhorn (USD), Teschuk (NDSU)
2013 - MEN: Trent Lusignan (SDSU), Musa (USD) ... WOMEN: --
2012 - MEN: -- ... WOMEN: Wahlund (NDSU)
2011 - MEN - Levins (Southern Utah), Jewkes (Southern Utah) ... WOMEN: --
2010 - MEN - Michael Krsnak (SDSU) ... WOMEN: Medina (Southern Utah)

For the fourth consecutive year, the men have an All-Region honoree - Burdick for the second year in a row!

He is the fourth Jackrabbit, third one to have multiple All-Region awards, to earn a top-25 finish (15th, 31:18.3) with his best place-finish at the #MidwestXC! #GoJacks pic.twitter.com/yaYLGbf6B3
— SDSU Track/XC (@GoJacksTFXC) November 9, 2018

Rachel King is the second-ever Jackrabbit on the women's team to earn All-Region at the #MidwestXC Regionals!

She is the first to have multiple honors (2016, 2017, 2018), after finishing 19th overall (21:01.9). Also has the two best place-finishes at the regional meet! #GoJacks pic.twitter.com/5hrkDpGGeU
— SDSU Track/XC (@GoJacksTFXC) November 9, 2018