Tigers hit their stride at Morningside Invite

SIOUX CITY, Iowa – The Dakota Wesleyan University men's and women's cross-country teams threw on the spikes and toed the line once again as they competed at the Morningside Invite on Saturday. After the dust had settled and the scores were calculated, both teams came away with some strong performances and a pair of eighth-place finishes.

 The freshman duo of Tessa Kilber (Ipswich, S.D.) and Morgan Oedekoven (Pierre, S.D.) continued their strong seasons as they notched 27^th and 57^th-place finishes, respectively. Kilber finished the 5K race with a time of 20:07.41 minutes, moving her into eighth place on the DWU women's cross-country top-10 list, while Oedekoven crossed the line in 21:28.82.

 Not far behind was senior Savannah Schmidt (Plankinton, S.D.) who tallied a 61^st-place finish with a time of 21:32.22. Meanwhile, fellow Tigers Annika Vermeulen (Mitchell, S.D.) and Macey Bohl (Garretson, S.D.) rounded out the scoring for Dakota Wesleyan who finished eighth as a team. Vermeulen crossed the line in 76^th place with a time of 22:09.61, while Bohl recorded a time of 22:43.38.

 On the men's side, the Blue and Gray notched an eighth-place finish as well, while the sophomore duo of Wyatt Baldauf (Seneca, Ill.) and Justin Sorensen (Vermillion, S.D.) led the charge. Baldauf finished with a time of 28:25.32, good enough for 61^st place and Sorensen finished just 11 spots later as he recorded a time of 28:57.05.

 Chasing the duo was junior Layne Lewis (Plankinton, S.D.) as he recorded a 94^th-place finish while freshman Hunter Shanks (Bennington, Neb.) clocked a time of 30:29.4. Senior Brendan Langbehn (Worthing, S.D.) also competed for the Tigers and finished with a time of 32:56.6.

 DWU returns to action next at the Briar Cliff Invite in two weeks on Saturday, Oct. 3 in Sioux City, Iowa. The women are scheduled to start at 10:30 am while the men will follow at 11:15 am.

 Complete DWU Results

Place – Name – Time

61^st  - Wyatt Baldauf - 28:25.3

72^nd - Justin Sorensen: 28:57.1

94^th - Layne Lewis - 30:02.9

100^th - Hunter Shanks - 30:29.4

113^th – Brendan Langbehn - 32:56.6

27^th - Tessa Kilber - 20:07.4

57^th - Morgan Oedekoven - 21:28.8

61^st - Savannah Schmidt - 21:32.2

76^th - Annika Vermeulen - 22:09.6

84^th - Macy Bohl - 22:43.4