NSIC Weekly Roundup

NSIC Women's Cross Country Athlete  of the Week
Runa Falch
Senior
Steinkjer, Norway
Steinkjer HS
Augustana

Runa Falch ran the top time among Division II runners and 12th-place overall finish at the Chile Pepper Invite  in 17:31.8 on the rain-soaked 5K course. It was Falch's third Division II win of the year and she showed well against the 15 Division I teams competing in the same race. Falch finished better than 68 of the 70 Division I scoring runners, losing to just host Arkansas' five runners. The Vikings also came away with the DII team title with 59 points. This marks the third time this season Falch has been named NSIC Cross Country Athlete of the Week.

Team Notes
Concordia-St. Paul
Maggie Marcus placed third at the St. Cloud State-Concordia-St. Paul head-to-head challenge with a time of 23:50.9 to set  a new personal best time by 23 seconds.  She is the 7th fastest Concordia runner in school history and set a new Concordia course record, breaking the old mark by two minutes and 7.4 seconds.

MSU Moorhead
Molly Montonye (So., Graceville, Minn. / Clinton-Graceville-Beardsley HS), competing for the first time in three weeks,  was 22nd in the field of 134 runners, including several Division I runners, at the South Dakota State Classic on Oct. 4 in Brookings, SD.  She ran the 5K in 18:38.34 and was the highest finisher of all non-Division I runners. She has led the Dragons at all three meets this season. MSUM is back in action on Oct. 11 at the Jimmie Invitational in Jamestown, ND.

Southwest Minnesota State
The SMSU women  finished 11th at the SDSU Classic Cross Country Meet 5k held at Edgebrook Golf Course in Brookings, SD. Amanda Grengs was 75th in 20:18.32 to narrowly beat teammate Paige Yi by .17 seconds.  The Mustangs are set to compete next in the Briar Cliff Invitational at the Adams Nature Preserve in McCook Lake, SD, as their final competition prior to the NSIC Championships.

St. Cloud State
The St. Cloud State University women's cross country team hosted its first home meet in over 20 years on Oct. 4.  The Huskies and Concordia-St. Paul ran a dual meet at Wapicada Golf Course in nearby Sauk Rapids with SCSU charting a 21-40 win over Concordia.  SCSU dominated the competiton by gaining eight of the event's top 10 places on the 6K course at Wapicada.  Kassie Vaness led the pack with a first place time of 22:31.0, while teammate Sam Sunstrom placed second overall at 22:39.4.  Jenny Metzler also added a fifth place finish at 24:35.5 on the course.  SCSU will now prepare for the 2013 NSIC championships, which will take place in Sioux Falls, SD on Oct. 19.

Winona State
Jessica Young (Jr., Winona, Minn.) placed seventh to lead Winona State to a fourth-place showing at the Blugold Invitational Friday in 22:24.Jordan Skelly added a 14th-place showing for the Warriors while Jordan Paschke placed 25th.

NSIC Men's Cross Country Athlete of the Week
Paul Yak
Senior
Storm Lake, Iowa
St. Mary's HS
Augustana

Paul Yak led the men's team to another Division II team win with an 11th-place overall finish at the Chile Pepper Invite on Saturday.  Yak clocked a 24:44.4 on the muddy 8K course to finish as the top runner from a Division II school. Yak finished behind only nine Division I runners and an unnattached racer to lead the Vikings to their second consecutive Division II race win with 55 points to beat three top-25 ranked teams. This marks the second time in as many weeks Yak has been named NSIC Athlete of the Week.

Team Notes
Concordia-St. Paul
Josh Smith (So., Ashland, Wis.) won the individual title at the St. Cloud State Showdown 8K at Wapicada Golf Course in Sauk Rapids, Minn. last Friday afternoon. Smith set the Wapicada course record of 26:58.1 improving his previous season-best time by three minutes, 13.9 seconds which he ran at the season-opening event at Concordia-Wisconsin. He became the first Concordia male to win a cross country race since Marcus Breitbarth won the 2002 St. Mary's Invite.

MSU Moorhead
Jason Dowell (Jr., Wheaton, Ill. / Wheaton North HS) led the way for the Dragons at the South Dakota State Classic on Oct. 4 finishing 26th in 26:34.25. Dowell has led MSUM at all three meets this season.  MSUM is back in action on Oct. 11 at the Jimmie Invitational in Jamestown, ND.

Southwest Minnesota State
Southwest Minnesota State finished ninth at the 11-team South Dakota State Classic 8K last Friday night in Brookings. Junior Trent Smith (Charles City, Iowa) led the Mustangs placing 31st in 26:42. Alejandro Sanchez and O.J. Ojullu were the next Mustangs to cross the line in 59th and 60th place, respectively, with a time of 27:26. SMSU competes this Saturday at the Briar Cliff Invite in McCook Lake, SD.

St. Cloud State
The St. Cloud State hosted its first home meet in over 20 years on Oct. 4.  The Huskies and Concordia-St. Paul ran a dual meet at Wapicada Golf Course in nearby Sauk Rapids with CSP winning 25 to 30.   Johnathan Hess led the Huskies in third place in 27:31.7 for 8K. Teammate Chris Caron placed fifth in  27:59.7.  Tom Mountain was sixth place in 28:09.3.  The event was capped by a post-race ceremony and social that saluted the Huskies' first men's cross country team from 1964 along with the 1967 SCSU team that placed second in the nation at the NAIA level and the 1983 SCSU squad that placed second in the nation at the NCAA Division II championships.  SCSU will now prepare for the 2013 NSIC championships, which will take place in Sioux Falls, SD on Oct. 19.

Winona State
Billy Eifert (Jr., Cambridge, Wis./Cambridge-Isanti) led the Warriors at the Blugold Invitational with a 40th-place finishin 26:04. The top five Warrior finishers were separated by only  one minute and 52 seconds.