COLUMBIA, Missouri – South Dakota fifth-year senior Merga Gemeda and third-year sophomore Abrielle Jirele each placed 65^th during Friday's NCAA Cross Country Regional run at Gans Creek Course on the campus of Missouri.
 
Gemeda, a three-time All-Summit League selection, closed out his Coyote cross country career with a personal best over 10,000-meters of 30:46.7. He led the team in every race of the season.
 
Jirele crossed the finish line in 21:21.1 over the 6,000-meter layout.
 
South Dakota finished in 22^nd place in the women's team standings and were the third Summit League team in the standings. The regional was won by third-ranked Oklahoma State with 58 points while Northwestern earned the second automatic team berth to nationals with a runner-up 88 points.
 
The Coyote men were 25^th in the final team standings and the fourth Summit League team in a regional that saw sixth-ranked Tulsa and fourth-ranked Oklahoma State tie for the regional title. The Golden Hurricanes won the tie-breaker to be crowned regional team champs.
 
Fourth-year junior Ella Byers covered the 6K course in 21:48.3, a season best on the Gans Course, and good for 101^st place finish. The final three of the women's scoring five for the Coyotes all ran season bests on the Gans Course as fourth-year junior Helen Gould was 146^th in 22:21.5. Abbie Schmidt and Renee Thompson, a pair of third-year sophomores, crossed in 171^st and 172^nd, respectively in 22:53.9 and 22:54.2.
 
Rounding out the women's competing seven runners were fourth-year sophomore Haley Miller and sophomore Alyssa Gerth. Miller finished in 23:19.5 while Gerth crossed in 24:14.8.
 
Sophomore Mason Sindelar was the second Coyote male across the finish line, covering the 10,000-meter course in 31:51.0 for 138^th place. Riley Ruhaak, a sophomore, and Charlie Babcock, a fourth-year junior, were next across in 163^rd and 165^th places, respectively, timed in 32:13.5 and 32:17.7.
 
John Swotek, a junior, was the final scoring runner for South Dakota with a 34:08.1 time and 195^th place. Daniel Ayoroa, a freshman, was right behind Swotek, crossing in 34:12.7.