Dakota Wesleyan pair competes at NAIA cross country championships
Nov. 18—TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — As the first national qualifiers for Dakota Wesleyan cross country since 2017, Wyatt Baldauf and Caleb Sayler both improved their Great Plains Athletic Conference championship times at the NAIA Cross Country Championships hosted at Apalachee Regional Park on Friday.
Baldauf, a junior from Seneca, Illinois, shaved more than a half-minute off his time, finishing the 8-kilometer course in 25 minutes and 13 seconds, good for 67th place out of 318 runners that completed the race. Sayler, a sophomore from Lennox, improved by more than 20 seconds, coming in with a time of 25:47.3, which put him in 131st position.
Oklahoma City's Abraham Chelangam won the men's individual title with a time of 23:41.9, coming in ahead of the field by 13 seconds. With two runners, DWU was not involved in the team scoring, but fellow GPAC program Dordt claimed the men's team title with six runners in the top 50 overall finishers.
On the women's side, DWU did not have a participant, but Dakota State runner and Parkston native Lindsey Roth came in 269th of 326 runners with a time of 20:24.8 in the 5K race.
Lina May, of William Cary (Miss.), won the individual title with a time of 16:50.9, while Taylor (Ind.) cruised to the team title, putting seven runners in the top 34 overall.
