There were NDSU sports galore over the last few days
Kelby Anderson took second in the Summit League championship on Saturday.
Cross Country
The NDSU men’s and women’s cross country teams participated in the Summit League Cross Country Championships on Halloween weekend. The women took second in the competition while the men took third.
Senior Kelby Anderson paved the way for the second-place win, as she dominated the competition taking second overall in the race with a time of 21:11.58. Anderson was only eight seconds behind South Dakota State’s Leah Hansen. Fellow Bison Kaleesa Houston took seventh overall in the race with 21:52.61.
Freshman Grace Link took twelfth with a time of 22:13.31, while her teammate Jen Dufner finished in 15th. The Bison as a team narrowly lost by one-point to SDSU. The Jackrabbits finished with 55 averaging 21:58, NDSU finished with 56 and averaged 22:02. South Dakota took third with 67 and averaged 22:14.
On the men’s side, freshman Mason Kindel led his team to third place win finishing 12th in the race with a time of 25:28.36. Kindel’s teammate Jake Arason closely trailed finishing in 14th at 25:31.71. Payton Smith finished in 21st with 25:54.88 and Isaac Huber finished in 23rd with 26:01.
The Bison took third finishing with a score of 93 and an average time of 25:47. South Dakota State won the competition with 17 points averaging 24:44, while St. Thomas took second with 46 and averaged 25:11.
Both the men’s and women’s teams will travel on Nov. 12 to Iowa City, Iowa for the NCAA Midwest Regional championships.
Basketball
The Bison men’s basketball team soundly defeated Minot State 85-54 on Monday, Nov. 1 at the Scheels Center.
Rocky Kreuser led the Bison with 22 points and nine boards. Krueser went 4-5 from beyond the arch. NDSU took it’s first lead in the game 14-13 with twelve minutes left in the first half and never looked back. The Herd took an 11-point lead after Grant Nelson hit a layup with three and a half minutes left in the first half. The Bison ended the half up 39-24.
The Bison took a 20-point lead with 18 minutes left in the half after Maleeck Harden-Hayes jammed one in after a fast break. Minot State tried to mount a comeback after a three-pointer form Jaxon Gunville, but the Bison did not let up. NDSU took it’s biggest lead of the game of 34 points with a minute and a half left in the game after a layup from Joshua Streit.
The Bison play another exhibition game against Concordia Moorhead on Tuesday, Nov. 9.
Volleyball
The Bison volleyball team defeated Western Illinois 3-1 on Saturday, Oct. 30 at the Bentson Bunker Fieldhouse. The Bison moved to 11-14 on the season, and 5-8 in the Summit League.
Western Illinois won the first set 25-10. The set went back and forth, but a three-point run by the Leathernecks gave them a 14-10 lead, which was a big enough cushion to take the early match advantage.
The Bison started the second set hot, after going up 10-5 and after an attack error by the Leathernecks’s Aubrey Putman. NDSU went on a four-point run late in the set solidifying the win, tying the match with a 25-19 victory.
In the third set, both teams went back and forth until a mid-set three-point run by the Bison got the ball rolling going up 13-10. Western Illinois brought the game back to 20-19 after a service error, but the Bison kept rolling and scored two straight to seal the deal with a 25-22 win.
In the fourth and final set, the Herd took over starting the set leading 8-2. The Leathernecks brought it back to a five-point game, but couldn’t finish the comeback when a three-point run by the Herd put the set at 21-12. The Bison went on to win the set 25-14, and the match 3-1.
Syra Tanchin led the Bison with 20 kills and Ali Hinzi led in aces with two. The Bison outscored the Leathernecks 79-55, and led in digs 73-54. The Bison will travel to Omaha for a match on Thursday, Nov. 4.
Soccer
The Bison soccer team ended their season on a high note after a dramatic 1-0 victory of St. Thomas on Halloween.
After the Herd and the Tommies were knotted up at 0-0 for regulation and one overtime, a walk-off penalty goal by senior Brookelyn Dew gave NDSU the victory.
Bison goaltender Aly Cole finished her career with what was perhaps her best performance. Cole pitched a career high, 15 save shutout.
While the Bison failed to make the Summit League tournament, it was cool to see some Bison seniors finish their careers with memorable performances.