November 8, 2024
Photos credits by Valley City State (N.D.) Sports Information Director
VALLEY CITY, N.D. – Dakota State (S.D.) competed in their final ever North Star Athletic Association Men's Cross Country Championships Friday morning at Valley City Town & Country Club. This year's conference cross-country 8-kilometers meet is being hosted by Valley City State (N.D.).
Bellevue (Neb.) captured their first ever cross-country conference title in school history, scoring a team low of 28 points. The Bruins received the league's automatic bid for the 2024 NAIA Men's Cross Country National Championship. The Trojans finished as a runner-up for the second straight year, registering 53 points. Dickinson State (N.D.) was third with 66 points, followed by Jamestown (N.D.) fourth with 78 points, and Valley City State (N.D.) fifth with 137 points.
Caleb Sayler led Dakota State with a fourth-place finish with a time of 26 minutes, 22.2 seconds.
Taylor Myers was sixth with a season best time of 26 minutes, 44 seconds. Both Sayler and Myers received the North Star Athletic Association All-Conference honor after placing in the top 10. In addition, they also earned the NSAA's individual bid to run at the national meet in two weeks.
Myers also became the first ever Trojan to earn a rare North Star Athletic Association Men's Cross Country All-Conference runner for five consecutive years. It had never happened in both school and league history until Myers made that accomplishment Friday morning.
Sayler was named to the North Star Athletic Association Men's Cross Country Champions of Character recipient for Dakota State.
Lane Henrichs finished 13
th with a time of 27 minutes, 29.3 seconds, followed by
Curtis Johnson with 14
th place finish in 27:33.2 and
Evan Armstrong with 16
th place in 27:40.3.
Joshua Tucker finished 19
th in 28 minutes, 5.9 seconds, followed by
Cody Farland 20
th in 28 minutes, 7 seconds,
Franklin Johnson 21
st in 28 minutes, 11.4 seconds, and
Tyler Nicke 22
nd in 28 minutes, 12.2 seconds.
Other DSU runners included
Reese Henrie (28:47.5),
Yohannes Kassa (28:50.4),
Benjamin Strunk (28:57.8),
Jonah Thiele (29:10.9),
Holden Jelen (29:27.5),
Grayson Madsen (30:10.6),
Logan Recoy (30:14.1),
Roger Oliete Tejedor (30:43.8),
Lucas Harr (31:48.2),
Kaiden Akey (33:44.3), and
Hunter Dimick (35:47.5).
Myers and Sayler will run at the 69
th annual NAIA Men's Cross Country National Championships at Gans Creek Cross Country Course in Columbia, Mo., on Friday, Nov. 22. The men's 8K race is set for 10:30 a.m.
