PEORIA, Ill.—South Dakota second-year freshman Abrielle Jirele and third-year sophomore Ella Byers led the Coyote women to a fifth-place finish in the team race Friday afternoon at the Bradley Pink Classic on Newman Golf Course.
 
Jirele paced the Coyotes for the first time this season, placing 17th in the field with a personal best time of 21:29.4 on the 6,000-meter course. Byers, who was USD's frontrunner for the previous three meets, finished 20th with a personal best clocking of 21:30.8. The duo both dropped more than a minute off their previous bests from earlier this season. The times also moved them to No. 2 and No. 3 in the Summit League this season.
 
Freshman Melanie Pankow took 57th in the field, clocking a personal best 22:10.0 as the third Coyote across the finish line. She scored for the Coyotes in all five regular season meets during her true freshman campaign.
 
Fourth-year junior Haley Arens and third-year sophomore Helen Gould rounded out USD's scoring five. Arens crossed the line in a personal best time of 22:17.4 for 73rd, while Gould clocked a career best 22:19.6 for 75th place.
 
The Coyote pushers on Friday were second-year freshmen McKenna Herrmann and Lizzy Kramer in 104th and 107th, respectively. Herrmann recorded a time of 22:36.8 and Kramer clocked 22:37.5, both personal best times.
 
South Dakota totaled 242 points in the women's team race for fifth place. Nebraska won the women's team title with 122 points, Iowa finished runner-up, host Bradley took third and Summit League foe South Dakota State edged out the Coyotes for fourth place.
 
Fourth-year junior Merga Gemeda paced the Coyote men for the fifth time this season with a 20th-place finish. He completed the 8,000-meter course in 24:34.8. While not a season-best performance, only Gemeda has clocked faster in the Summit League this season.
 
Third-year sophomores Charlie Babcock and Alec Atwoord were the men's second and third runners for the fifth-straight meet. Babcock finished 60th with a time of 25:08.1. Atwood notched a personal best time of 25:20.2 in the race, which moves him to eighth on the Summit's top-10 list this fall. He took 89th place in the meet.
 
Freshman Mason Sindelar in 156th place and second-year freshman Jarek Glenn in 181st rounded out the Coyotes' scoring five. Sindelar completed the course in a personal best time of 25:47.1 and Glenn clocked 26:07.0.
 
Completing the men's top seven were fourth-year sophomore Jacob Waymire and third-year sophomore Braden Peters. Waymire posted a personal best of 26:11.4 and Peters completed the course in 27:01.8.
 
The Coyote men finished 18th in the team race, one spot ahead of Summit League foe North Dakota State.
 
Friday's meet wrapped up the regular season for the Coyote harriers.
 
Next on the docket for South Dakota is the Summit League Championships held Saturday, Oct. 30, at Oral Roberts in Tulsa, Oklahoma.