(pictured: Connor Chase)

The Buccaneer’s Cross Country team raced at the Shane Grever Invitational Friday in Dickinson, ND and two runners ran times that met that automatic qualifying standards for the NJCAA DII National Cross Country Meet which will be held in Richmond, VA in November.

Emberlyn Hoffman-Gaschk and Connor Chase, both freshman at DCC from Billings, MT qualified for nationals and placed in the top 10. Hoffman-Gaschk placed 4th overall in the women’s 5k with a time of 19:33.7 and Chase placed 6th overall with a time of 28:24.2.

The men’s team raced well and placed 4th as a team overall. They missed the team qualification standards for nationals by 7 seconds on Friday. Raymond Kirwa was the 2nd runner in for the Buccaneers racing a time of 29:42.5 placing 18th, Garet Hoke followed placing 19th with a time of 29:51.3, Eniah Boseman finished next for DCC in 24th place with a time of 30:34.2, and the 5th runner to score for the Bucs was James Springer placing 30th with a time of 33:23.7.

Coach Alex Chase Wolff said, “I have been really excited for this group to race. I am thrilled by the performance in our first meet of the season and can’t wait to see how the rest of our season progresses. The men’s team missed the team qualification standards by 7 seconds, so our goal is to get the men’s team qualified over the next couple weeks! I am so proud of Connor and Emberlyn and am looking forward to watching them continue to improve!”

The Buccaneers next meet is the Providence Open on October 1st in Great Falls, MT. The race will take place at the Anaconda Hills Golf Course in Black Eagle. The men’s 8k race will begin at 12:00pm, with the women’s 5k race following at 12:45pm.