The South Dakota Mines cross country team competed at the Gage McSpadden Memorial Invite in Spearfish, SD on Friday. The Hardrocker men edged the Yellowjackets 27-28 in the 8K run. Black Hills won the women's side with a score of 18-39.

"The men and women both ran well today," said head coach Steve Johnson. "For many of our women this was their first 6k and they got thrown onto one of the toughest courses in the RMAC to do it. I was really impressed with the fight they showed throughout the race."

Lindsay Butler was the highest place finisher for Mines. Butler crossed the finish line in 4^th place with a time 24:43.07. Alyssa Franke finished 6^th in 25:13.68. Ryley Darnell (8^th) and Taylor Bright (9^th) rounded out the top 10.

"Lindsay got trapped in "no man's land" for much of the race," said Johnson. "But put in a great showing against some really tough runners. Alyssa, Ryley and Taylor did a great job moving together for much of the race, too."
 
The Hardrocker men were led by Tim Dunham and Joel Haas. The duo finished 2^nd and 3^rd respectively. Monty Christo placed 5^th with Theron Singleton (8^th) and Andrew Ferrris (9^th) finishing in the top 10.
 
"The men's race saw a great battle between Tim and Keith, especially over the last 3k, with several lead change," said Johnson. "Joel, Monty and Theron got a chance to show how much they've improved and it made all the difference. The scoring was tight throughout, after two runners apiece we were tied with BH and again after our top 4 each so our depth really paid off today!"
 
Next up for the Hardrockers is the Chadron State Open on October 3^rd in Chadron, NE.