For Immediate Release
Tuesday, August 20, 2019
NSIC Media Relations



BURNSVILLE, Minn. - The defending NSIC Champions from the University of Sioux Falls were picked to win the NSIC in the preseason men's cross country coaches' poll. The Cougars received nine first place votes and tallied 162 points, ranking just one point ahead of Augustana, which received 161 points and the other five first place votes. MSU Moorhead was third with 139 points followed by Minnesota State, which had 129 points.

The 2017 NSIC Champion and last year's runner-up, Mason Phillips of the University of Sioux Falls repeated as NSIC Preseason Athlete of the Year. Phillips finished seventh at the 2018 NCAA Championships, earning his second All-American accolade.  Phillips has won nine individual titles in cross country over the past two years. 

Men's Cross Country will have 14 teams this season as Upper Iowa and Minnesota Crookston will compete for the first time since joining the NSIC.

The 2019 NSIC cross country season gets underway on Thursday, September 5 with the regular season culminating on Saturday, October 26 at the NSIC Cross Country Championship held in Wayne, Nebraska, hosted by Wayne State College. The NCAA Central Regional will be held on Saturday, November 9 in Joplin, Missouri while the NCAA National Championships will take place on November 23 at Haggin Oaks Golf Complex in Sacramento, California.

NSIC Athletes to Watch - 2019
Preseason Athlete of the Year in Italics (More info at link above)
 

Name	Yr.	School	Hometown	High School
Jesus Urtusuastegui	Sr.	AUGIE	Sioux Falls, S.D,	Roosevelt
Benjamin Allen	Sr.	CSP	North St. Paul, Minn.	North St. Paul
Harrison Bentzel	Sr.	UMARY	Billings, Mont.	Billings West
Peter Hendrickx	Jr.	UMC	Butler, Minn.	New York Mills
Jake Kluver	Sr.	UMD	Buffalo, Minn.	Buffalo
Tanner Maier	Fr.	MSU	Lodi, Wis.	Lodi
Nadir Yusuf	Sr.	MSUM	Willmar, Minn.	Willmar
Leo Skellenger	Sr.	MISU	Livermore, Calif.	Granada
Jackson Harrison	So.	NSU	Aberdeen, S.D.	Central
Mason Phillips	Sr.	USF	Bailey, Colo.	Platte Canyon
Clayton Hartle	Jr.	SMSU	Chandler, Minn.	Murray County Central
Grant Dieken	Jr.	UIU	Clear Lake, Iowa	Clear Lake
Dylan Kessler	Sr.	WSC	Apache Junction, Ariz.	Apache Junction
Josh Jarpey	So.	WSU	Ham Lake, Minn.	Centennial