NDSU cross country teams compete at SDSU Class

Improved times was the theme for both NDSU cross country teams Friday at the SDSU Classic. Brecca Wahlund led the women’s team with a 23 second improvement in her time and five of the six Bison men runners improved their time to take a third-place team finish.

Wahlund, a redshirt freshman who has been NDSU’s top finisher in both meets so far this season, completed the five-kilometer course in 17:51.34, finishing 10th overall.

Junior Heidi Peterson also trimmed seconds off her time. Her 18:19.73 finish was good for 13th place and cut off more than 40 seconds from her season opener time. Sophomore Abbi Aspengren was not far behind Peterson, taking 15th in 18:24.89.

Sophomore Megan Feyereisen and junior Kathryn Houle rounded out the scoring for the Bison, finishing in 20:16.93 and 21:36.02, respectively.

Despite three of the team’s top runners in the meet not competing, NDSU was able to claim a fourth-place finish as a team. Minnesota won the team title.

On the men’s side, several improved times contributed to the successful third-place finish.

Sophomore Grady Anderson led the way with his 10th place finish. Anderson ran a time of 26:09.62, shaving 40 seconds off his 8k time from the season opener.

Fellow sophomore Brett Kelly followed closely behind, finishing 14th in 26:30.52.

Redshirt freshman Brendan Skime completed the course in 26:35.43 and Lucas Degree finished in 26:36.40, taking 18th and 20th, respectively.

Junior Moses Heppner time of 27:19.72 was good for 35th place.

NDSU’s top four runner in their third-place finish were underclassmen, a promising sign for the Bison. SDSU won the men’s team title.

Both NDSU cross country teams will compete next on Saturday, Sept. 29, at the Stanford Invitational in Palo Alto, Calif.