Men's cross country runs well at Augustana

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. – Nick Yaeger placed 50^th in a field full of Division I and II runners and the Simpson men's cross country team placed 14^th of 22 teams at the Augustana Twilight on Friday night. 

The Storm saw vast improvement from their first trip to the high-profile meet in 2013, when the team turned in an average time of 21:05 among scoring runners. This year, the average was 20:27.

"What a fun night, racing under the lights," head coach Heath Moenck said. "It was an amazing atmosphere."

Yaeger completed the 4-mile course in 19:53.17. Blake Willadsen turned in Simpson's No. 2 effort, placing 64^th in 20:00.32

Ian McKenzie placed 18^th (20:41.32), Ethan Pellegrino took 140^th (20:49.54) and Andrew Mayes came in at 143^rd (20:51.83) to round out the top five finishers.

A field of 287 runners competed in the event.

Simpson is off until Friday, Sept. 19 when the team travels to the Viking Invitational in Des Moines, Iowa, hosted by Grand View.