Two Trojans Qualify for NAIA Cross Country Nationals
Dan Crisler
The DSU cross-country team completed the penultimate event, the Association of Independent Institutions (A.I.I.) meet, last Saturday in the exotic location of San Marcos, California.
The Dakota State women placed sixth out of eight places as a team. Stephanie Warnke once again finished in the top spot for the DSU women while placing 19th overall out of 50 places with a time of 20:12. Claire Beck finished in the second spot in the DSU rankings, and 35th overall, with a time of 22:08. Taking the bronze medal among the DSU women was Summer Bronson, who finished 37th overall with a time of 22:22. Amber Wiebenga (41st; 22:48), Nicole Jurrens (43rd; 23:01), Sara Schultz (45th; 23:39), and Paula Kappenman (48th; 24:52) filled out the rest of the DSU women’s field.
The men fared better as a team, placing third overall out of nine places. Andy Coy led the DSU men by placing 19th overall out of 57 places with a time of 25:19. Matt Fideler finished with a silver medal among the DSU men and 11th overall with a time of 25:57. The bronze medal among the DSU men goes to Michael Hoffman, who finished 18th overall with a time of 26:23. Rounding out the field for the DSU men were Nic Penning (24th overall; 27:03), John Bintliff (33rd overall; 28:11), Kace Groff (38th overall; 28:31), and Jacob Cassutt (44th overall; 28:54).
With their performances, Andy Coy and Matt Fideler will have the opportunity to compete in the NAIA Cross Country National Championships in Vancouver, Washington on November 19.
“It was a fun trip to California. Although, the race was not the most favorable for some DSU athletes, but I feel that we had an overall good season and worked extremely hard. We are excited to compete at nationals and hope we race well,” said national qualifier Matt Fideler .
