LARAMIE, Wyo. -- SEPTEMBER 2, 2023 -- The Chadron State College cross country teams began their season today at the Wyoming Invite in Laramie, Wyoming on Saturday morning.
 
In a field that contained multiple division one opponents, the CSC men's team finished sixth out of eight teams, while the women finished sixth out of seven. The only non-division one team to defeat Chadron State was RMAC foe, South Dakota Mines.
 
On the men's side, in a field of 87 runners, Charles Fossey, a sophomore from Rock Springs, Wyoming, led the group with a 27^th place finish and a time of 16:18:7. Topi Alahuhta was only seven seconds behind Fossey, finishing 32^nd.
 
Freshman Wyatt Bly and junior Cale Shaefer were the next two Eagles to cross the finish line, finishing in 42^nd and 45^th place, respectively.
 
Junior Nate Mann was the fifth runner to score for Chadron State, finishing in 64^th place. The only other Eagle competing in the race was freshman Adam Beard, who finished 79^th.
 
Both the men and women's races were five kilometers.
 
Sophomore Josie Diffendaffer paced the CSC women's team with a time of 20:24:2, placing her 32^nd. Lydia Peters, also a sophomore, crossed the finish line 14 seconds later, placing her 36^th.
 
The next four to cross the finish line for CSC were two freshman and two juniors. Freshman Samantha Rodewald and Katelyn Beshara placed 44^th and 51^st, respectively. The juniors were Alissa Wieman and Tukker Romey. Wieman placed 48^th, while Romey finished 52^nd.
 
Sophomore Breanna Meats finished 60^th in the field of 73.
 
Wyoming won the men's competition, while Colorado State won the women. The rest of the field included division one schools Texas Tech and Northern Colorado.
 
The Chadron State cross country teams will run next in one week on September 9, when they travel to Black Hills State.