SIOUX FALLS-- The University of Sioux Falls Men's and Women's Cross Country Teams will open their season on Friday, Sept. 6, at the ninth annual Augustana Twilight meet at Yankton Trail Park in Sioux Falls. The two USF squads, who have completed the fall preseason training period, look forward to opening the season at the Twilight Meet where they have enjoyed significant success.

USF's No. 7 ranked team will again field a strong team with four veterans (Mason Phillips, Zach Lundberg, Steven Brown and Billy Beseman) looking to lead the Cougars to their third straight team team titles (DII schools). Two-time NSIC Cross Country Preseason MVP Mason Phillips will look for a third straight individual title in the men's division. He dominated in 2018 as he cruised to the Augustana Twilight title. Phillips, who clocked a 21:14.12, finished first among all runners with two Nebraska runners finishing runner-up and third but at least 14 seconds behind Phillips in the 7,000 meter course. He was among three USF runners in the top-10 to lead USF to the best team performance among NCAA DII schools at the meet. In fact, USF finished only behind DI Nebraska, who had 34 points with USF at 68.  USF finished ahead of NSIC preseason favorite Augustana along with DI South Dakota, and Creighton.

The USF Women's Team was an impressive fourth at the 2018 Augustana Twilight as junior Taryn Ceglowski (then a sophomore) also had a strong performance by finishing eighth overall and first among all NCAA DII runners in the women's race. Ceglowski, who was named second team All-NSIC a year ago, clocked a 17:57.67 over the 5,000 meter course. Her performance helped USF finish fourth among NCAA DII schools and eighth overall with 216 points.

Meet Information
 
The season-opening event includes both high school and collegiate sections. Augustana will host the meet at Yankton Trail Park with the high school portion of the meet beginning at 6 PM, the women's college portion beginning at 8:30 PM, and the men's college portion beginning at 9 PM.
 
Between high school and college, this year's meet will feature 1,970 individuals and 80 teams. This record number will be the most participants in the event's history with USF leading the way. More than 65 high school teams and 25 college programs will attend. In total, nearly 5,000 participants, coaches, and fans are expected to attend on Friday evening. Entrance to the event will cost $10 per vehicle. The only entrance will be the westbound lane on 57^th Street.

• 6 p.m. - JV Girls 4K
• 6:40 p.m. - JV Boys 4K
• 7:20 p.m. Varsity Girls 5K
• 8 p.m. - Varsity Boys 5K
• 8:30 p.m. - College Women 5K
• 9 p.m. - College Men Four Mile

Unofficial results will be tallied, recorded and posted at https://results.dakotatiming.com.

USF Men's Team ranks No. 7 nationally and second in Central Region standings

The national accolades continue for the USF Men's Cross Country Team, which recorded its best season in school history in 2018. USF earned its best national ranking of No. 7 in the United States Track and Field/Cross Country Coaches Association Preseason Coaches Poll, which was released Wednesday (August 28). USF earned its best USTFCCCA ranking and bettered the No. 9 ranking on Sept. 16, 2015. 

USF, which was recently ranked No. 5 in NCAA DII by the Flo Track website, is the highest ranked team from the NSIC.

The Cougars return a deep roster including two-time NSIC Preseason Athlete of the Year and two-time All-American Mason Phillips, was the preseason favorite in the NSIC Preseason Coaches Poll. On Tuesday, Aug. 27, the Cougars were selected the No. 2 in the Central Region and just behind Missouri Southern, which is the No. 6 team in the DII poll. Defending national champion Grand Valley State earned 197 points and six of eight first place votes in the poll released today. Western Colorado earned a first place vote and 191 points for second place while the Colorado School of Mines also picked up a first place ballot and finished third with 186 points.  After the top three, Chico State was fourth at 173 with Adams State, fifth at 172 points; Missouri Southern, sixth at 158; and then Sioux Falls, just behind at 149 points.
 
Earlier this fall, the USF Men's Team was picked to win the league championship for the first time in school history, and received nine first place votes and tallied 162 points. The Cougars ranked just one point ahead of Augustana, which received 161 points and the other five first place votes. MSU Moorhead was third with 139 points followed by the Minnesota State, which had 129 points.

USF, directed by head coach Doug Petersen, captured the program's first-ever NSIC title a year ago and had a program-best fifth place finish at nationals. In that race, Phillips had a program-best individual finish by taking seventh at the DII nationals.  

Phillips along with seniors Steven Brown and Zach Lundgren finished in the top three spots at the NSIC Championships. For the second straight year, Phillips and Brown occupied the first two spots with Phillips, who won the NSIC individual title in 2017, taking second behind Steven Brown at the 2018 Championship. It was Brown's first ever individual NSIC title and USF's third as a program.  At the NSIC Championship, Brown became the third USF student-athlete to win a conference title. At the NSIC Championship, USF captured four of the top five spots to win with 32 points in a dominating team performance. USF also returns seven others who competed at the league meet. Others who will compete for spots on the team include senior Billy Beseman, who was 22^nd at the NSIC meet a year ago when the Cougars averaged an incredible 24:32.32 across 8,000 meters in capturing a title. In addition, senior Dan Armstrong, sophomore Shodo Mohamed, Aaron Voigt and David Ecker, 73^rd; along with junior Logan Hansen will vie for spots.

Previewing the USF Women's Team
USF's Women's Cross Country Team, which is also directed by Director of Cross Country/Track and Field Doug Petersen, will look to improve on the program's all-time best finish of fourth a year ago at the NSIC Championship. In the 2019 NSIC Preseason Coaches Poll, the Cougars were picked to finish fifth with 169 points.

The three-time defending NSIC Champions of the University of Mary were the pick to win the NSIC in the preseason women's cross country coaches' poll. The Marauders received 13 first place votes and tallied 223 points to rank ahead of Augustana, which tallied 212 points and the other three first place votes. Minnesota Duluth was third with 185 points, Minnesota State, fourth at 184 points and the Cougars fifth with 169 points.

The Cougars will be led by standout junior runner and Athlete to Watch Taryn Ceglowski who recorded the highest finish ever (fifth) at the NSIC Championships by a women's team member, which had been held by Sierra Harder, who was sixth in 2013. Ceglowski, who earned her second straight first team All-NSIC honor in 2018, has been named USF's Athlete to Watch in the NSIC preseason announcement, also clocked the fastest time by a USF women's runner at the league meet with a clocking of 21:34.90 which was a personal-best by 20.9 seconds. As a result, USF finished with its best team result since joining the league in 2012. Ceglowski has finished in the league's top 12 in back-to-back meets.

The Cougars also return junior Kiara Mattern, who finished 20^th at the 2018 meet and improved her best time by 76 seconds. Others back include senior Montana Belford, who was 55^th at the league meet, while sophomore Maria Street took 59^th with a clocking that was 75 seconds better than her previous best. Other returnees with opportunities to push for varsity spots will include juniors Annabelle Schulz and Sadie Thompson, and sophomore Tianna Wald, along with a strong core of newcomers.