Nov. 18, 2000

POMONA, Calif. - The University of South Dakota men's cross-country team, led by the all-American performances of seniors Noah Deyo and Jason Probasco, placed seventh at the NCAA Division II Cross-Country National Championships.

The Coyotes men's team scored 239 points to finish seventh, bettering their 11th-place finish in 1999. The Coyotes' finish was the best among North Central Conference men's teams. USD finished in the top 10 for the sixth time in the past seven years. USD's seventh place finish tied for the third best performance in school history (1975, 7th, 1998, 3rd, 1997, national champions) and had two all-Americans.

"We ran competitive and finished right where we were ranked going into the meet," said seventh-year cross-country head coach Scott Munsen, who has now coached 18 cross-country all-Americans (3 women, 15 men). "We did not run up to our potential, but we showed that if we can still finish in the top seven in the nation on a sub-par day, then we are competitive, and we know we have a solid tradition here. We have been blessed with some great athletes who work extremely hard to prepare themselves for this type of competition. We still managed to finish in the top 10 for the 6th time in the last seven years."

Western State, which captured the North Central Regional title, won both the men's and women's competition at the meet, with the men totaling 29 points and the women totaling 38 points. Abilene Christian was second in the men's competition with 62 points while North Dakota, the top NCC finisher, was second in the women's competition with 131 points. Alfred Rugema, a sophomore from Abilene Christian, ran a 30:17 to win the men's competition. Mario Venalainen of Kennesaw State won the women's competition in 21:33.6.

Deyo, a senior from Rapid City, S.D., finished 29th in 32:43.7, and Probasco, a senior from Woodbine, Iowa, finished 34th in 32:49.7. Both earned all-American honors for their performance. Probasco earned his third straight all-American honor. He was 37th in 1998 and 32nd in 1999. Their performance gives USD 21 all-Americans all-time in cross-country. Deyo's performance is especially noteworthy because he had knee surgery just a few weeks ago.

"Overall, we had a pretty good performance," said Dave Gottsleben, who oversees the cross-country and track and field programs at USD. "Noah (Deyo) ran fantastic. Overall, we were very pleased with our effort and rate it a pretty good performance. We had two all-Americans and that we are pleased with. I think we did very well in this national competition."

Other Coyote finishers included Adam Lindahl, a sophomore from Eden Prairie, Minn., 56th, 33:28.1, Jacob Christensen, a junior from Hill City, S.D., 71st, 33:50.2, Edward Whetham, a junior from Stillwater, Minn., 81st, 33:58.5, David Farnsworth, a senior from Chamberlain, S.D., 87th, 34:19.5, and Andrew Nelson, a sophomore from Eden Prairie, Minn., 137th, 35:48.1.

"This men's team accomplished some great things this year. We finished second at the Griak meet in Minnesota, second at the NCC meet, third at the North Central Regional meet and seventh at the nationals. However, our goal was a top four finish nationally with four to six all-Americans so we have work to do. We have to change our thinking from being a conference-level team to a national-level team, and we can do it in the next few years," said Munsen. "With the outstanding athletes we have coming back with national meet experience and the depth on our squad, we have great potential. Our freshman and sophomore classes are really outstanding. We need to continue to stay motivated and work hard during the indoor and outdoor track seasons, and then working hard during the summer to prepare for our cross-country season next fall."

USD did not have any competitors in the women's competition.

TOP 10 TEAM RESULTS (MEN): Western State, 29, Abilene Christian, 62, Adams State, 96, Edinboro, 124, California-Davis, 125, Missouri Southern, 210, South Dakota, 239, California State-Chico, 243, South Dakota State, 280, Truman State, 280.

TOP 10 TEAM RESULTS (WOMEN): Western State, 38, North Dakota, 131, California-Davis, 146, Edinboro, 167, Adams State, 173, Northern Colorado, 188, Central Washington, 190, Northern Michigan, 194, California State-Chico, 242, Colorado-Colorado Springs, 254.