Both Wayne State cross country teams came away with third-place finishes at the Herb Blakely Invitational hosted by Dakota State University. The meet was moved from Madison, S.D. to Sioux Center, Iowa due to flooding this week in South Dakota.
Dordt College captured the women’s team title with 18 points, well ahead of second place Dakota State at 83 points. Wayne State was a close third with 87 points followed by Southwest Minnesota State (97), Mount Marty (111), Des Moines Area Community College (150) and Minnesota Crookston (183).
Jade Rickard was the top Wildcat finisher, placing 13th overall out of a field of 64 runners with a time of 20:59.41 on the 5,000-meter course. Kim Johnson followed in 19th place at 21:21.68 with teammates Amanda Mote and Brianna Crouch next in 20th and 21st place with times of 21:22.20 and 21:23.76, respectively.
Other Wildcat runners included Marin Jetensky (32nd, 21:52.85) and Josephine Peitz (47th, 23:18.37).
In men’s action, the Wilcats placed third with 91 points. Dordt outpaced Dakota State 28-42 to capture the men’s team title. Des Moines Area CC (116) and Mount Marty (124) closed out the top five teams.
Dylan Kessler covered the 8,000-meter course in 27:29.91 to finish 14th overall to lead the Wildcats. Junior Brock Hegarty was next in 19th place at 27:57.50 with Bryce Holcomb 22nd (28:20.75) and Nathan Pearson 26th in a time of 28:51.06. Jakob Kemper finished 37th at 29:53.02.
Next action for Wayne State will be on their home course on Saturday, Sept. 27 for the WSC Wildcat Classic.
