RAPID CITY – Senior Wyatt Bly placed third in the men's race while freshman Anna Paus placed fourth in the women's race to highlight CSC performances at the Bauer XC Classic at Hart Ranch Resort in Rapid City.

Saturday's meet allowed the Eagles a sneak preview at the same course which will host the RMAC Cross Country Championships later this fall on Saturday, November 7. Those races will be contested at 6K for the women and 8K for the men, unlike Saturday, which had the women running 4K and the men 6K.

Bly, a native of Conifer, Colorado, sealed his second consecutive individual third-place finish after previously doing so at the season-opening Gage McSpadden Memorial Invitational on September 11. On Saturday, Bly crossed the line in 19:09.8, 6.5 seconds behind the race winner.

Further down the finish order, other Chadron State athletes turned in personal-best or season-best times. Sophomore Kaden Boltz ran a season-best 20:16.6 to finish 16th while fellow sophomore Mizaiha Babers Webb ran 21:15.2, a career best effort at 6K.

Scott Sanok (21:37.0), Boady Hunter (23:20.5), David West (23:55.0), Cole Phillips (25:57.9) and Carmelo Ayala (26:10.7) rounded out CSC's competitors in the men's race. Hunter and West turned in season-bests, while Phillips ran a personal best.

In the women's race, Paus, a true freshman from Fairfield, Nebraska, crossed the line fourth individually out of 26 runners despite a time that was six seconds slower than her 14th-place effort at the Gage McSpadden meet. It is the first time in Paus's young career that she has been first across the line for Chadron State.

Behind Paus, the Eagles had four runners in the top 11, with Katelyn Beshara (seventh, 16:04.4), Kyndall Carnahan (ninth, 16:08.4) and Ivy Hise (11th, 16:15.6) also turning in top-half times. Zelma Rudd (18:01.4) and Allison Renstrom (18:02.5) also competed for CSC. 

In the team standings, the Eagle men were second with 45 points behind South Dakota Mines's 18. On the women's side, South Dakota Mines also won with a score of 26. The Eagles were second with 46 points, ahead of Black Hills State in third with 55.

Chadron State cross country will compete next at the Yellowjacket/Battlin' Bears Open on Friday, October 9. Chadron State won the women's team title at that event last season.