BISMARCK, North Dakota - A trio of Minot State ladies raced their way into the top 20 on Friday, setting the tone for a strong performance for the Beaver women's and men's cross-country teams at the season-opening Marauder Invitational hosted by the University of Mary at McDowell Dam.
Paulette Dominguez led the way as she finished 16th on the day in 22 minutes, 26.6 seconds, and she was closely followed by teammates
Bailey Wride, who was 19th in 22:34.4, and
Sidra Sadowsky, was 20th in 22:46.2 on the women's 6-kilometer course.
That trio's performance helped the Minot State women's team finish third as a team behind NCAA Division I North Dakota State, which won the women's team title with 25 points, and host Mary, which was second with 35 points. The Beaver women scored 80 points.
The Beaver men also finished third behind the Division I Bison, who had 15 team points, and in-state NSIC rival Mary, which scored 54 points. Minot State scored 82 team points in the season-opening 8-kilometer men's race.
Grayson Bonilla led the way for Minot State men with a top-20 finish, as well, as he clocked a time of 26:37.8 on the 8K course at McDowell Dam, finishing 19th overall and leading the way for the Beavers.
Yoni Neyshtadt was second fastest for the Beaver men, who ran as a strong group, as he finished 23rd in 27:05.0. His brother,
Nikita Neyshtadt, was next in 25th in 27:11.9, then came
Marco Murillo, who was 28th in 27:26.0, and
Jake Jenkins, who rounded out Minot State's scoring finishers in 35th in 27:53.1.
Holter Bridwell was 39th in 28:36.9 for the Minot State men,
Isaac Rathbun was 47th in 30:52.1,
Zander Grover was 48th in 31:01.4, and
Auston Lemer was 52nd in 32:38.4.
On the women's side,
Emery Smith was fourth-fastest for Minot State as she finished 28th in 24:06.4, and
Nicole Reeves rounded out the team's score as she was 31st in 24:29.3.
Baylee Lura was 34th for Minot State in 25:06.7,
Julie Folk was 35th in 25:16.8,
Afton Wride was 39th in 25:24.3,
Addyson Wendt was 46th in 26:32.3, and
Natalie Becker rounded out the Beaver finishers as she was 47th in 26:54.1.
North Dakota State's Hunter Klimek won the men's individual title, leading a group of 10 Bison who swept the top-10 places. Klimek won the men's race with a time of 24:34.8, four seconds ahead of teammate Symon Kesier (24:38.8).
The Bison's Reegan Baesler won the women's individual title in 20:51.2, nearly 20 seconds ahead of Mary's Alyssa Becker (21:10.3).
The Minot State cross-country teams now get two weeks off to prepare for their next competition, the Roy Griak Invitational hosted by the University of Minnesota on Sept. 20.
