Jacks XC: Men Tabbed as Favorite, Women Runner-Up

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. - The Summit League released the cross country preseason polls on Monday afternoon. South Dakota State's men were tabbed as the favorites entering the season, while the women were runner-up. The men tallied 36 preseason points with six of the seven first-place votes while the women scored 41 points (seven points behind the favorite, South Dakota) and notched one of the eight first-place votes.

For the ninth time since 2010 (every year except runner-up in 2016), the men's team was nominated as the favorite in The Summit League. In the past eight years, the Jacks have won five championships (four when tabbed as favorite, one tabbed as runner-up), finished runner-up twice (2014, 2015), and took the bronze once (2011). It is also the second consecutive year the men have gathered all but one first place votes.

It is the first time that both junior Chase Cayo and senior Kyle Burdick have been nominated for the league's athlete to watch list.

Chase Cayo | Jr. | St. Michael, Minn.
PR's: 6k: 19:29.6 ('16) | 4-Mile: 20:13.0 ('17) |8k: 24:13.6 ('17) | 10k: 30:06.2 ('17)
Cayo took home his first career Summit League Championship win while earning the Championship MVP and first-team All-Summit accolades. He beat his 2016 league championship time by 1:04.80 minutes which placed him ninth on the league's all-time fastest championship winning time list. The 2017 Summit League Athlete of the Year was a two-time athlete of the week and qualified for the NCAA Midwest Regional, finishing 45th overall (30:06.20). It was his personal-best time in the 10k and was fourth-fastest among Jacks at the regionals. During the outdoor season, Cayo was able to trim his 10,000m to 29:38.99, which is fourth all-time at SDSU.

Kyle Burdick | Sr. | Rapid City, S.D.
PR's: 6k: 19:41.5 ('15) | 4-Mile: 19:55.7 ('17) | 8k: 24:20.8 ('17) | 10k: 29:35.7 ('17)
Burdick finished the year at the NCAA Midwest Regional where he placed 16th overall (29:35.7) to earn NCAA All-Region. The mark ranks as the fastest all-time at the Midwest Regionals for SDSU and fastest in the league on the season. At the league championships, he placed second overall behind fellow teammate Chase Cayo (24:47.2) beating his 2016 time by 54 seconds - recording fourth on all-time fastest league performances for SDSU. The senior was a two-time league athlete of the week and added his second first-team all-league honors.

As for the women, who are runner-up favorites, it is the second-consecutive year the team has been runner-up favorites and the third time overall since joining the league (2012). The last times the women finished second in The Summit League Championships was in 2015 and in 2013 when they were predicted to finish third in the league. The Jacks have place in the top-three in the league championships since 2012 and won the league title once in 2008.

Senior Rachel King was nominated as SDSU's athlete to watch in the league. It's her second career athlete to watch nomination (named athlete to watch in 2016) in cross country.

Rachel King | Sr. | St. Michael, Minn.
PR's: 4k: 14:19.4 ('15) | 5k: 17:50.6 ('16) | 6k: 20:28.2 ('17)
King competed in seven events during her junior year of cross country. She earned NCAA All-Region honors for her 10th place finish (20:28.2) at the NCAA Midwest Regional. Her 6k-performance was a PR and ranks as the fastest 6k at the regionals among all Jackrabbits. The 2017 Summit League Athlete of the Year was an athlete of the week in October and earned Championship MVP for her first-place finish (20:53.54) at The Summit League Championships. King also earned first-team All-League and claimed third all-time on The Summit League's fastest winning championship time list. She had the fastest 6k mark (20:28.2) and the sixth-fastest 5k mark (17:51.56) on the league's 2017 performance list.

On the track, King has posted five individual school-record marks (IN: Mile, 3,000m, 5,000m, OUT: 3,000m steeplechase, 5,000m), moved to second all-time in the 1,500m, and was apart of the DMR that holds the school record (11:23.20) at the Drake Relays (4/25-28) by 14.80 seconds during the 2018 IN/OUT season. She was the first female Jackrabbit to compete on the track at the NCAA Championships, earning All-America Honorable Mention in the steeple with the NCAA's 14th-best mark.

SEASON OUTLOOK
The South Dakota State men's and women's cross country team begins their journey back to The Summit League Championships - with the men looking gather their third consecutive championship and the women looking to defend the individual championship MVP for the third straight year and notching a top-three finish for the seventh straight year. For the men, a third consecutive championship win is something that hasn't been done since the 2006-08 seasons in the league, and no active team has won the championship more than once. For the women, Rachel King and Emily Donnay return for the 2018 season with both having won the league race and Championship MVP.

SEASON NOTES:

The men's team has a chance to win their third consecutive Summit League Championships. First team to do that on in the active league and first time since Southern Utah did it in 2006-08.
Both the men and women return everyone who competed in the NCAA Midwest Regionals and everyone but one from each squad on the Summit League Championship roster (Halie Mechels, Sebastian Sowada).
The men's team has won all of their championships in back-to-back seasons (2009-10, 2012-13, 2016-17) and is one of two active Summit League schools that have won Summit League titles (Western Illinois won a title in 1991). The men's team has finished in the top two every year since 2012, claiming four titles.
The women's team finished in the top three of The Summit League Championships yet again in 2017 with six top 25 runners. It tallies now six years in a row where they have finished in the top three.
Three male Jackrabbits earned first-team All-Summit League performances in 2017, which ties for second-most in school history with the 2012 and 2015 teams (2016 had four first-team All-Summit League performers). As a total, SDSU had five All-Summit League runners, most of any team this year, and tying the 2013 team with the second-most honors (2016 had six).
The men swept the Championship MVP, Newcomer of the Championship, and Coach of the Year Award. It is the second time SDSU has swept the awards (first time, 2013) and the only other school to do it was IUPUI in 2014.
The female Jacks finished with three All-Summit League performers, tying with NDSU for the second-most honors in 2017. The Jacks have now claimed two straight Summit League individual titles and championship MVP's (Emily Donnay in 2016, Rachel King in 2017).
Chase Cayo and Rachel King are coming back as the league's 2017 athletes of the year. A Jackrabbit on the men's side has been honored as athlete of the year every year but 2014 since 2012 and Cayo has the chance to be the second Jackrabbit honored twice in his career (Trent Lusignan - 2013, 2015).
Kyle Burdick and Rachel King were NCAA All-Region last year for their performance at the Midwest Regional race. Both of them are also NCAA All-Americans in outdoor track, with Burdick being a second-team All-American in 2017 and King adding an All-American honorable mention last year - being the first female Jackrabbit on the track at the NCAA Championships.
Head coach Rod DeHaven claimed his sixth Summit League Men's Coach of the Year honor, the most of any coach since 2007 when the Jacks joined the Summit League. He now has seven total coach of the year honors between both men and women.

OTHER KEY RETURNERS FOR THE MEN
Cal Lawton | Sr. | Eden Prairie, Minn.
PR's: 6k: 19:51.8 ('15) | 4-Mile: 21.14.5 ('17) | 8k: 25:27.2 ('17) | 10k: 31:06.5 ('17)
The senior was an All-Summit League Second-Team honoree last season. He placed 116th overall (31:06.5) in his first career 10k at the NCAA Midwest Regional. At the league championships, he placed fourth on the team and 11th overall (25:29.18). The time was his personal-best time at the league championships. Lawton ran his career best 8k race at the Pre-National Invite, placing 221st overall (25:27.20).

Lukas Nelson | Jr. | Sioux Falls, S.D.
PR's: 6k: 19:21.9 ('17) | 4-Mile: 20:56.7 ('17) | 8k: 24:52.7 ('17) | 10k: 30:41.8 ('17)
In his second cross country season as a Jackrabbit, Nelson competed in seven events. He ran his first career 10k at the NCAA Midwest Regionals, finishing third on the team and 91st overall (30:41.8). The time ranked as the fourth-fastest all-time at the Midwest Regionals for the Jacks. At The Summit League Championships, Nelson placed fourth overall (25:12.70) which earned first-team All-Summit League honors. The league's athlete of the week on Sept. 5, added a 6k PR by finishing second overall at the Bison Open (19:21.9). Nelson ran his PR in the 8k at the Pre-Nationals Invite (24.52.7), finishing 149th overall and third on the team. He had the sixth-best 8k mark (24:52.7) and seventh-best 10k mark (30:41.80) in the league.

Gabe Peters | So. | Worthing, S.D.
PR's: 6k: -- | 4-Mile: 21:16.2 ('17) | 8k: 25:28.3 ('17) | 10k: 31:17.3 ('17)
Peters competed in six events in his first year as a Jackrabbit. The sophomore finished 128th overall (31:17.3) in his first 10k at the NCAA Midwest Regional. He placed 13th (25:34.93) at The Summit League Championships, gathering second-team All-Summit League and Newcomer to the Championship accolades. Peters ran a career-best 8k at the Pre-National Invite, finishing fifth for the Jackrabbits and 224th overall (25:28.3).

OTHER KEY RETURNERS FOR THE WOMEN
Emily Berzonsky | Sr. | Lincoln, Neb.
PR's: 4k: 15:05.3 ('16) | 5k: 18:33.3 ('16) | 6k: 21:13.4 ('17)
Berzonsky competed in six events during her junior cross country season. She finished second on the team and 48th overall (21:13.4) at the NCAA Midwest Regional. Her mark was her best 6k time of her career, ranking third in Jackrabbit history at the Regionals. She placed 14th overall (22:01.68) at The Summit League Championships to earn second-team All-Summit League honors. It was the third time competing at the league championships and second consecutive year earning all-league honors.

Anna Donnay | So. | Kimball, Minn.
PR's: 4k: 14:42.2 ('17) | 5k: 19:05.08 ('17) | 6k: 21:43.7 ('17)
Anna Donnay earned All-Summit League Second-Team honors from her 13th-place performance (21:50.76) at The Summit League Championships in October. She ran her best 6k at the NCAA Midwest Regional (21:43.7), placing 96th overall and third on the team. Anna, the younger sibling of Emily Donnay, ran her best 5k at the SDSU Classic where she placed fifth on the team and ninth overall (19:05.08).

Emily Donnay | Jr. | Kimball, Minn.
PR's: 4k: 14:15.5 ('15) | 5k: 17:52.5 ('16) | 6k: 20:48.0 ('16)
Emily Donnay redshirted the 2017-18 cross country and track & field season. She is on pace to return this season after adding three unattached 1,500m marks during the 2018 outdoor season (season best: 4:51.74 - Howard Wood). In her sophomore season (2016), she was NCAA All-Region by placing 23rd with a 6k PR (20:48.0), that was SDSU's fastest all-time - now second all-time (behind King's 2017 performance) - and a two-time Summit League Athlete of the Week. She won The Summit League Championships (21:05.9) gathering the league championship MVP and athlete of the year accolades. Her championship-winning mark ranks fifth all-time among winning times in the league.

-GoJacks.com-

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Emily Berzonsky

Kyle Burdick

Chase Cayo

Anna Donnay

Emily Donnay

Rachel King

Cal Lawton

Trent Lusignan

Halie Mechels

Lukas Nelson

Gabe Peters

Sebastian Sowada

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