COLUMBIA, Mo.—South Dakota fifth-year senior Merga Gemeda and third-year sophomore Abrielle Jirele clocked new Summit League leading times on Friday morning to lead the Coyote men and women at the Gans Creek Classic held on Mizzou's Gans Creek Cross Country Course.
 
Gemeda improved his own Summit-leading time with a personal best 8,000-meter clocking of 24:05.5. His time not only tops the Summit this season, but ranks sixth all-time in Summit League history. Only three men have posted faster marks in Summit history – Cameron Levins (Southern Utah), Trent Lusignan (South Dakota State) and Jonah Lagat (Oral Roberts). Gemeda finished 16th individually in the field. He dropped 14 seconds off his personal best with Friday's clocking. Gemeda's time is the fastest by a Coyote in the program's Division I era.
 
Jirele became the first Summit woman to break 21 minutes in the 6,000 meters this fall, crossing the finish line in 20:54.6 for 16th place individually. Jirele knocked more than 30 seconds off her personal best mark from last fall. Her time ranks as the eighth-fastest by a Coyote in the program's Division I era.
 
South Dakota's men and women both finished 15th in the team race, with the women totaling 403 points to the men's 419 points. No. 9 Iowa State ran away with the men's team title with 26 points, while No. 28 Illinois took the women's title with 54 points.
 
Fourth-year junior Ella Byers was second on the women's side in 69th place. She notched a season-best time of 21:52.1, dropping more than 90 seconds off her previous best from Indiana.
 
Fourth-year redshirt-sophomore Haley Miller, fourth-year junior Helen Gould and third-year sophomore Abbie Schmidt made up the rest of the scoring five. Miller improved her personal best by nearly a minute, clocking 22:34.5 for 118th in the field. Gould clocked a season best of 22:46.1 for 134th place. Schmidt finished 152nd with a personal best time of 23:09.3. Friday served as Schmidt's season opener and the first time of her collegiate career finishing amongst USD's scorers.
 
Third-year sophomore Renee Thompson and sophomore Alyssa Gerth were the Coyotes' displacers on Friday. Thompson finished one spot behind Schmidt with a clocking of 23:11.2. Gerth was 193rd with a season-best time of 24:06.5. This marks Gerth's first time finishing among USD's top seven runners.
 
On the men's side, fourth-year junior Charlie Babcock was the Coyotes' second runner for the third-straight meet. He clocked a season-best 25:19.8 for 108th place.
 
Sophomore Mason Sindelar returned to finish as USD's third runner with a personal best of 25:35.0 for 134th. Freshmen Seth Fey and Daniel Ayoroa capped out the Coyote scorers. Fey clocked 25:44.9 for 148th. Ayoroa improved his time by more than two minutes to move into USD's scoring group for the first time. He clocked 26:02.9 for 165th place.
 
USD's pushers on Friday morning were sophomore Riley Ruhaak and junior John Swotek. Ruhaak posted a season-best time of 26:33.6 for 180th and Swotek clocked a season-best 26:33.6 to finish 188th.
 
South Dakota returns to action in two weeks at the Platte River Rumble on Oct. 14. The inaugural event, hosted by the Omaha Sports Commission in partnership with UNO and Creighton, will take place at Mahoney State Park in Ashland, Nebraska.