Coyotes set for Summit Championships

The Meet

South Dakota men's and women's cross country travels to the Summit League Championships on Saturday, Oct. 29, at Ray Richards Course in Grand Forks, North Dakota. The women's 6,000-meter race is scheduled for 11 a.m. with the men's 8,000-meter race to follow at noon.

The Coyotes

South Dakota enters its first Summit League Championship under the tutelage of head coach Nolan Fife, looking to improve upon last fall's third-place finish on the women's side and fourth-place finish by the men. Returning all-Summit honorees include fourth-year junior Charlie Babcock for the men and third-year sophomore Abrielle Jirele for the women. Both garnered second-team honors last fall with Jirele finishing in ninth and Babcock claiming 13th place. Fifth-year senior Merga Gemeda was hampered by an injury at last year's Summit Championship meet, but he was an all-Summit pick as a freshman and sophomore. He's coming off a career-best performance of 23:59.0 at the Platte River Rumble. He joins North Dakota State's Jake Arason and South Dakota State's Ben Olson in clocking 24:05 or faster within the last two weeks. Jirele's career best of 20:54.6 from the Gans Creek Classic in September is the third-fastest in the league this fall behind SDSU's Leah Hansen and NDSU's Kaleesa Houston. It looks to be a competitive front back in both the men's and women's fields this fall.

The Competition

South Dakota State is the defending champion for both the men and women. The Jackrabbits are ranked in both USTFCCCA Midwest Regional Rankings, with the men checking in at No. 4 in the Midwest and the women at No. 15. Both North Dakota State squads are also ranked, with their women checking in at No. 10 and their men at No. 14. The Bison women finished runner-up a year ago, while league newcomer St. Thomas took second in the men's field last fall.