SUU Men and NDSU Women Capture Cross Country Championship Titles
TULSA, Okla. - The Southern Utah men's cross country team, No. 6 in the Mountain region, won its 11th title in program history, with the North Dakota State's women's team, No. 14 in the Midwest region, captured its first championship title in program history.
SUU runners Cameron Levins and Diana Medina-Mitchell won the individual crowns. Levins won his second individual league title, while Medina-Mitchell earned her first.
Southern Utah won the men's crown with 48 points, followed by North Dakota State with 95 and South Dakota State with 100. UMKC finished fourth with 110 points, while South Dakota tallied 116 points for fifth, in its first league championship, and Oakland recorded 129 for sixth. Rounding out the field were IUPUI (137), Western Illinois (221), Oral Roberts (244) and IPFW (294).
For the women, North Dakota State won its first championship title with 64 points, followed by Southern Utah with 73 and UMKC with 99. South Dakota State (116), South Dakota (132) and Oral Roberts (133) finished fourth through sixth respectively. Oakland (148), IUPUI (178), IPFW (197) and Western Illinois (271) rounded out the women's field.
SUU's Levins won his second individual league championship title with an 8k time of 24:34.50, the fifth-fastest winning time in league history. UMKC's Cosmas Ayabei placed second with a time of 24:46.40, while Southern Utah's Nate Jewkes rounded out the top-three finishers in 25:01.40. North Dakota State's Travis Fitzke took fourth (25:13.90) as South Dakota's Jeffrey Mettler finished fifth (25:15.20). South Dakota State's Greg Vollmer cross the finish line in sixth (25:16.40), while Oral Roberts Shadrack Koech finished seventh (25:18.00) to round out the all-league first team.
Levins was named the men's Championship MVP, while South Dakota State's Trent Lusignan earned Newcomer of the Championship and Southern Utah's Eric Houle was named men's Coach of the Year.
Medina-Mitchell captured her first career individual league title with 6k time of 21:37.75. Oral Roberts' runners took second and third as Kristen Radcliff finished in 21:47.42 and Sheilah Ndasym in 22:00.73. Oakland's Brittni Hutton recorded a fourth-place finish (22:06.40), while UMKC's Sara Meiners took fifth (22:08.45). Rounding out the all-league first team were North Dakota State teammates Heidi Peterson (22:20.48) and Jordan Krahn (22:21.98) in sixth and seventh.
Medina-Mitchell was named the women's Championship MVP, as North Dakota State's Abbi Aspengren garnered Newcomer of the Championship and NDSU's Ryun Godfrey was named Coach of the Year.
Men's All-League Team
First Team
Cameron Levins, Southern Utah
Cosmas Ayabei, UMKC
Nate Jewkes, Southern Utah
Travis Fitzke, North Dakota State
Jeffrey Mettler, South Dakota
Greg Vollmer, South Dakota State
Shadrack Koech, Oral Roberts
Second Team
Zach Mathias, UMKC
Trent Lusignan, South Dakota State
Michael Castel, Western Illinois
John Hart, Southern Utah
Jared Ailts, South Dakota State
Kenny Wall, Oakland
Marty Joyce, North Dakota State
Championship MVP
Cameron Levins, Southern Utah
Newcomer of Championship
Trent Lusignan, South Dakota State
Coach of the Year
Eric Houle, Southern Utah
Women's All-League Team
First Team
Diana Medina-Mitchell, Southern Utah
Kristen Radcliff, Oral Roberts
Sheilah Ndasym, Oral Roberts
Brittni Hutton, Oakland
Sara Meiners, UMKC
Heidi Peterson, North Dakota State
Jordan Krahn, North Dakota State
Second Team
Jamie Smith, Southern Utah
Jylian Jaloma, UMKC
Rachel Zajac, IUPUI
Lia Jones, Oakland
Maddie McClellan, North Dakota State
Madalyn Jones, Southern Utah
Danielle Burke, South Dakota State
Championship MVP
Diana Medina-Mitchell, Southern Utah
Newcomer of the Championship
Abbi Aspengren, North Dakota State
Coach of the Year
Ryun Godfrey, North Dakota State
