MOORHEAD, Minn. -- Minnesota State Moorhead cross country hosted the 10th annual Dragon Twilight Invitational inside Nemzek Stadium on Friday evening. The Dragons were paced by
Katelyn Kennedy on the women's side and a winning run from
Jared Gregoire on the men's side.
MSUM's men earned a runner-up finish as a team with 45 points while the Dragon women came in fourth place with 113 points
In the Randy Smith 5000m, it was the junior Kennedy who led the Dragon charge. The Brainerd, Minn., native clocked a personal best time of 18:47.2 for a 15th-place finish. The time for Kennedy also stands alone as the 11th-fastest 5k in program history. Sophomore
Sophia Ness would also turn in a strong run, marking a 19:44.8 to finish within the top-30.
Madison Kepner would register a fresh personal best as well, finishing with a time of 20:13.1.
Kaela Traugott (20:34.0) and freshman
Lezah Dean (20:38.1) would finish near one another while fellow freshman
Madilyn Albarado would clock a 21:37.5. Additionally,
Eden Andres (22:22.6),
Grace White (22:48.4) and
Brooke Bollman (23:34.9) would set collegiate benchmarks.
On the men's side, it was
Jared Gregoire who stole the show for Moorhead, earning the second Dragon Twilight title of his career following a 16:45 finishing time in the Fred Dahnke 6000m. Gregoire, who missed the entire 2024-25 season due to injury, was stirring in his return to competition, winning the race by nearly six full seconds.
Chase Hoechst would finish ninth behind a mark of 17:07.3. The Dragons would have three more runners finish within the top-20 as
Lander Lahtinen (17:36),
Salman Mohamed (17:38.3) and
Colin O'Farrell (17:41.3) would place 18th, 19th and 20th respectively. Not far behind them was a bevy of Dragons as
Jadon Boots (17:47.4),
James Dorado (17:53.7),
Janis Riekstins (17:54.5),
Luke Buentello (17:59.1) and
Seth Meikle (18:01.7) would all place in the top-30.
MSUM did not feature a runner outside the top 50 as newcomer
Ivar Martell (18:13.7) finished just outside the top-30.
Austin Dibble (18:26),
Rory Richardson (18:33.7),
Will Massmann (18:37.4) and
Eric Olson (18:47.5) would all finish just behind Martell.
Up Next
MSUM returns to competition on Friday, September 19 as part of the annual Roy Griak Invitational. Races from the Les Bolstad Golf Course are slated to begin at 11:30 a.m.
