SIOUX FALLS, S.D. –The 2020 Summit League Cross Country Championships presented by U.S. Air Force Special Warfare will be hosted Friday at Spring Lake Park in Macomb, Ill.
Four men’s and women’s teams (North Dakota, North Dakota State, South Dakota State, and Western Illinois) will compete in the second of the league’s 18 championships during the 2020-21 academic year.
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The women’s race is scheduled to begin at 11 a.m. CT with the men’s race to follow at noon. Awards for both championships will follow the second race.
The individual champions from the men’s and women’s races will automatically qualify for the NCAA Championships. Additionally, for other teams to qualify for the NCAA Championships, they would need to go through the NCAA at-large selection process.
How And Where To Watch and Follow 2020-21 Summit League Cross Country Championships
Need to know
Date: Friday, March 5
Start times: 11 a.m. CT (women), 12 p.m. CT (men)
Location: Spring Lake Park
Host: Western Illinois University
Starting Boxes: Here
Online championship merchandise: Here
Live Results: Here
Live Stream: Here
Men’s Front Runners
- South Dakota State looks to earn its fifth-consecutive Summit League Championship title, which would tie Southern Utah (1997-2001) for the most consecutive league crowns
- The Jackrabbits come into the championship ranked No. 8 in the USTFCCCA Midwest Regional rankings
- SDSU men have finished first or second in 10 out of the last 11 league championships
- In the lone cross country competition of the season, SDSU finished 16th out of 20 teams at the FSU Winter XC Classic in Tallahassee, Fla., where junior Ben Olson led the Jackrabbits in the men’s 8,000 Garnet race to finish 83rd in the field of 143 runners.
- Joseph Minor-Williams, who is the reigning Summit League Cross Country Championship winner, will look to be the first student-athlete to capture two-straight championship titles since John Stanley of Troy did so during the 1995 and 1996 league cross country championships
Last Five Men’s Champions
Team
2019: South Dakota State
2018: South Dakota State
2017: South Dakota State
2016: South Dakota State
2015: IUPUI
Individual
2019: Joseph Minor-Williams, South Dakota State
2018: Eldon Warner, South Dakota
2017: Chase Cayo, South Dakota State
2016: Robert Murphy, IUPUI
2015: Trent Lusignan, South Dakota State
Women’s Front Runners
- North Dakota State is favored to claim its fifth championship and will return six student-athletes from last season’s league championship, headlined by the 2019 champion Kelby Anderson
- USD’s streak of five-straight titles was snapped last season by NDSU
Last Five Women’s Champions
Team
2019: North Dakota State
2018: South Dakota
2017: South Dakota
2016: South Dakota
2015: South Dakota
Individual
2019: Kelby Anderson, North Dakota State
2018: Emma Rafuse, Purdue Fort Wayne
2017: Rachel King, South Dakota State
2016: Emily Donnay, South Dakota State
2015: Erin Teschuk, North Dakota State
