SACRAMENTO, Calif.— The University of Sioux Falls Men's Cross Country team partaken in the NCAA Division II Cross Country Championship at the Arcade Creek XC Course in Sacramento, Calif., on Saturday afternoon. The Cougars had some strong performances in the race, and finished 23rd as a team in the 10K.

Leading the way through the first 5K was senior Steven Brown, who got as high as 51st in the standings, with senior Mason Phillips right behind him to that point.

Phillips took the reigns at the 5K marker, jumping up from 69th to 61st, hitting a time of 17:34.7. The Bailey, Colo. native broke the top 60 at the 9.1K marker, getting to 57th (28:26.0) before finishing the race at 59th place (48th in points) with a time of 31:06.3.

Also finishing in the top 100 for points was Brown, who completed the race with a time of 31:37.9, good for 88th, in points (105th overall).

Rounding out the Top Five Cougars, and point-getters for USF, were seniors Zach Lundberg (101st, 31:43.8), Billy Besemen (113th, 31:52.2), and Daniel Armstrong (167th, 32:31.1). Of the trio, all made a significant improvement of nearly 30 spots from the 5K marker to their finishing positions.

Also racing for the Cougars were sophomore Shodo Mahamed and freshman Wyatt Schlager. Mahamed finished with a time of 34:41.5, with Schlager rounding out the Cougar runners with a time of 36:09.8.