The Dawson cross country team competed in Bismarck, ND at the Mystic-Marauder Invite hosted by the University of Mary and Bismarck State College. BSC is the only other college within the region that has a cross country team that is in the same division as DCC.

The women raced first with Emberlyn Hoffman-Gaschk placing 15th overall. She raced hard, which put her in a competitive position against NCAA Division II runners. Emberlyn ran a season best time of 19:12 which once again set her up for a trip to the NJCAA Cross Country National Meet in Tallahassee, FL on November 12th.

Following the women’s race the men competed, focusing on pushing themselves and hoping to qualify for Nationals as a team once again. Although the team fell short of their goal, Connor Chase individually qualified for the NJCAA Cross Country National Meet as well with a time of 28:16. Connor also finished before the first runner from Bismarck State College who finished 19 seconds behind him. Garet Hoke was the next finisher for the Bucs who is just 20 seconds short of individually qualifying. Garet ran a lifetime best time for the 8k with a time of 28:50.

The cross country team has one more opportunity to have more individuals qualify for nationals or for the men’s team to hit the qualifying time. Rocky Mountain College set up a last chance meet at Riverfront Park in Billings Tuesday afternoon. Women race at 3:30pm with the men’s race following at 4:00pm.