Sioux Falls, S.D. – The University of Jamestown men's cross country team started their season with a strong showing at the Augustana Twilight Invitational Friday night, finishing in seventh place out of a 33-team field at Yankton Trails Park.
Clark Lortscher was the top finisher for UJ covering the 5-kilometer course with a time of 15:36.7 (5:01 mile pace) to finish in 36
th place out of 478 runners in his first cross country race since the 2024 season. Rounding out the scorers for the Jimmies were
Cole Campbell (53
rd),
Braeden Kinzler (64
th),
Aaron Devine (73
rd), and
Noah Sayler (90
th).
The Jimmies finished with a team score of 240, putting them right behind Concordia University Nebraska (234), and just ahead of Northwestern College (242). South Dakota State University had four of the top six finishers to win the team title with a score of 30.
Most Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference teams also participated in the race, with hosting school Augustana University taking third place (99) and Minnesota State University earning fourth (121). At seventh, Jamestown was the third-highest NSIC program, ahead of the University of Minnesota Crookston (12
th), Wayne State College (14
th), Winona State University (15
th), the University of Sioux Falls (17
th), Southwest Minnesota State University (22
nd), Concordia University St. Paul (24
th), and Northern State University (25
th).
Isaac Ochoa from the University of South Dakota won the individual title with a time of 14:14.1, beating everyone else by over 11 seconds. Jackson Dutcher (SD St.) was right behind Ochoa at 14:25.3.
The Jimmies will be back at Yankton Trails Park in Sioux Falls three weeks from now on Friday, September 25 for the Augustana Invitational.
