Garcia leads men’s XC team to 2nd win of season

Alejandro Garcia, graduate student of Pine Bluffs, Wyoming, led the Chadron State cross country team to its second victory of the year at CSC’s annual home meet. Eight of the top ten 10 to cross the finish line at Saturday’s race were Eagles.

Garcia completed the hilly 8-km course in 25 minutes, 26 seconds, which was a nine second improvement from his time last week on a flat course.

Dylan Stansbury, senior of Crawford, earned second place overall with a time of 26:39 followed by juniors Phillip Duncan, of Chadron, and Eric Yager, of Hot Springs, South Dakota, in fourth and fifth places, respectively.

Other Eagles in the top 10 were Kyle Dietsch, senior of Sheridan, Wyoming; Riley Howard, freshman of Anchorage, Alaska; Joseph Gertner, senior of Fort Morgan, Colorado; and Taylor Dick, sophomore of Douglas, Wyoming, in seventh, eighth, ninth, and 10th places.

CSC men dominated the team scores with 19 points followed by South Dakota School of Mines and Technology, Rapid City, with 46, and Central Wyoming College, Riverton, with 103 points.

On the women’s side, Margaret Vinton, senior of North Platte, led the Eagle to second place as a team, just one point behind South Dakota School of Mines, Rapid City. Vinton ran the 5-km course in 19:59 for second place overall behind SDSMT’s Adeline Straatmeyer.

Chadron State freshmen Kiya Passero, of Chadron; Dominique Oden, of Anaheim, California; Savannah Silbaugh, of Upton, Wyoming; and, earned sixth, seventh, and eighth places, respectively. Taylor Allison, junior of Gordon, placed 10th

“I’m happy with where the ladies are running this season for being such a young team,” Head Cross Country Coach Brian Medigovich said.

SDSMT won the women’s side with 32 points, CSC brought in 33 points, and Central Wyoming College earned 85.

The Eagles will travel to the Roy Griak Invitational Meet in Flacon Heights, Minnesota, on Sept. 24.

According to Medigovich, there will be Divison I, Divison II, and Divison III races as well as high school races at the Roy Griak Invitational. The Eagle runners will compete against about 400 runners, about 40 teams, in the Divison II race.

Medigovich said he expected the men to run well this year with so many upperclassmen on the team and, so far, they are  doing just that. He expects the men to earn a spot in the top five at their next meet.