The Meet

South Dakota women's and men's cross country travels to the Bradley Pink Classic on Friday, Oct. 15, at Newman Golf Course in Peoria, Illinois. There women's 6,000-meter race is scheduled for 3 p.m. with the men's 8,000-meter race to follow at 3:45 p.m.
 

The Coyotes

After three-straight weeks of competition, South Dakota returned to its traditional bi-weekly cross country schedule. The Coyotes will make their longest trek to date for the Bradley Pink Classic in Illinois. South Dakota's Merga Gemeda and Charlie Babcock own four of the five fastest times in the Summit League this season for 8,000 meters. Add in Alec Atwood in the third slot and the men's top-three has remain unchanged through four meets. On the women's side, Ella Byers has stepped up as USD's top runner in the last three meets. Only Byers, McKenna Herrmann and Melanie Pankow have been in the scoring five for all four meets this fall.
 

The Competition

A total of 29 women's teams and 25 men's teams make up the field for Friday. Among them, seven of the men's teams are regionally ranked highlighted by a dual between No. 5 Wichita State and No. 6 Eastern Illinois in the Midwest region. Six women's teams are ranked regionally, including five in the Midwest region.
 

The History

The Coyotes first made an appearance at the Bradley Pink Classic in 2014 and have returned each season since. South Dakota's women won the team title in 2017 and have finished runner-up three times (2014, 2018, 2019). The men's best finish of fifth place came in 2019. The Coyote course records at Newman are held by Amber Eichkorn (20:11.8) and Mubarik Musa (24:09.2), both from 2015.
 

One Last Thing

Friday marks the last regular season race of the season for South Dakota. The Coyotes are two weeks out from the Summit League Championships in Tulsa, Oklahoma, with the NCAA Midwest Regional to follow in November.