Men's Cross Country 11/3/2023 8:01:00 PM Nick Huntimer, Dakota State (S.D.) Sports Information Director

DSU men’s cross country NSAA title streak comes to an end, falls in heartbreaker by one point

Dakota State's Myers and Farland will run at NAIA Men's Cross Country National Championships on Nov. 17

November 3, 2023

Photos credit by Viterbo (Wis.) sports information

WEST SALEM, Wis. – Dakota State's (S.D.) quest to extend their historic North Star Athletic Association men's cross country team championship to six straight came to end Friday morning at Maple Grove Venues. The Trojans finished by one point, falling short to Dickinson State (N.D.) which highlighted a photo shoot finish for second place individually in the race with Viterbo (Wis.).

A total of 55 runners competed in the conference 8K racecourse from six different North Star schools. Dickinson State narrowly edged Dakota State by one point (38-39) to end Trojans' historic five-year run. Bellevue (Neb.) was third with 86 points, followed by Viterbo fourth with 101 points, Valley City State (N.D.) fifth with 124 points, and Waldorf (Iowa) sixth with 154 points.

Richard Marcoux of Bellevue claimed the North Star individual title with a time of 25 minutes, 57.1 seconds. Caleb Sarsland of Dickinson State made a diving effort at the finish line to edge Connor Birdsong of Viterbo to finish second in the race. Both Sarsland and Birdsong each finished with an official time of 26:06.8.

Dakota State placed seven runners in the top 15, led by Taylor Myers with a fourth-place finish in 26 minutes, 21.6 seconds. Cody Farland was sixth after registering a time of 26 minutes, 45.6 seconds. Evan Slominski was eighth with a time of 26 minutes, 53.6 seconds. Martin Bailey rounded out the top 10 with a 10^th place finish after posting a time of 27 minutes, 12.5 seconds.

DSU's Daniel Green followed up with a time of 27 minutes, 15.6 seconds to finish 11^th. Harrison Greathouse was 12^th with a time of 27 minutes, 20.1 seconds. Curtis Johnson placed 14^th after recording a time of 27 minutes, 38.8 seconds.

Tyler Nicke produced a personal record time of 28 minutes, 30.3 seconds to finish 18^th for the Trojans. Jonah Thiele was 20^th in 28:44, while Evan Armstrong was 21^st with a time of 28 minutes, 54.4 seconds. Blake Schmiedt crossed the finish line in 22^nd place with a time of 29 minutes, 3.2 seconds. Dalton Brouwer was 24^th in 29:15.9.

Other DSU finishers in the race included Joshua Tucker (29:22.7), Reese Henrie (29:33.4), Joshua Krull (29:38.7 – season best), Lane Henrichs (29:58.3), Roger Oliete Tejedor (30:40.1), Grayson Madsen (31:39.9), Lucas Harr (32:30.4), Kaiden Akey (32:32), Zachary Possin (32:56), and Hunter Dimick (33:20.8 – season best).

The North Star Athletic Association post-meet awards ceremony was held at R.W. Beggs Gymnasium on the campus of Viterbo. Four Dakota State runners earned the NSAA All-Conference distinction – Myers, Farland, Slominski, and Bailey.

It was the fourth consecutive year that Myers and Slominski had received NSAA All-Conference honors (runners need to be placed in the top 10 at the conference meet to receive All-Conference recognition). Bailey earned his third NSAA All-Conference recognition (2020, 2022, and 2023).

Farland received his third consecutive NSAA All-Conference status at DSU. Dylan Hilger was honored as Dakota State's recipient for the NSAA Men's Cross Country Champions of Character award.

Myers and Farland will be running at the NAIA Men's Cross Country National Championships on Friday, Nov. 17. The national 8K race meet takes place at Fort Vancouver Historic Site in Vancouver, Wis., starting at 1:30 p.m. (Central Time)/11:30 a.m. (Pacific Time).