VCSU Cross Country Shows Well at Large Seminole Valley Stampede

Posted By: Joel Morgan
October 22, 2018 @ 7:54 am
Sports

CEDAR RAPIDS, IOWA (VCSUVikings.com) – The Viking cross country teams traveled to Cedar Rapids, Iowa, on Saturday for their final tune-up race before the NSAA Championships in two weeks.

The Viking women placed 13th out of 27 teams while VCSU’s men raced to a 15th place finish out of 23 teams during the large Seminole Valley Stampede. The race was held on the same course that the NAIA National Championships will be held at in four weeks.

Valley City State was among four North Star teams that competed at the meet, along with Waldorf University, Dakota State University and Viterbo University.

On the women’s side, Valley City State was the top NSAA team at the meet. Grace Miller (19:29) placed 16th overall and Allyssa Weitkum(19:54) was 31st out of 286 participants in the women’s 5K race.

Miller’s and Weitkum’s races highlighted a strong team performance by the Viking women. Freshman Angeline Gannon (20:51) raced to a 90th-place finish, while Kristina Fricke (21:32) took 123rd. Julianne Wilson (22:14) finished 166th and Tanya Campos (22:44) came in 190th.

VCSU’s team score of 374 was good for 13th place overall. Waldorf placed 20th, Dakota State was 21st and Viterbo finished 26th.

Valley City State’s men took 15th out of 23 total teams and were the second-best team from the NSAA. Riley Roy-Legasse was the top Viking in 49th place (27:20), but VCSU’s balanced depth shone on Saturday. VCSU has four runners in the Top 100, and all five of VCSU’s scorers finished 112th or better in the 276-person race. Dylan Olson (28:04) took 85th, Orin Rambow (28:10) was 90th, Menkeh Mendin (28:15) finished 92nd, and Louis Leon (28:30) came in 112th. VCSU’s top five runners were separated by just 1 minute and 10 seconds.

Dakota State was the top NSAA men’s team with a 13th-place team finish. Viterbo took 18th and Waldorf was 22nd.

Up next: The NSAA Championships are set for Saturday, Nov. 3. Hosted by Viterbo University, the NSAA Championships will be held at Maple Grove Venues in West Salem, Wis. Both Viking teams are in contention for a conference title.