USD's Rob Gregoire won the 2009 Don Baker in 26:07.

Vermillion – South Dakota’s Ramsey Fitzsimmons and Rob Gregoire made their final appearances at the Don Baker Invitational memorable ones, as both claimed individual titles for the third consecutive year on Saturday at the Don Baker Cross Country Course in Vermillion.

“I told the kids before the race, this is for you to set the tone for the future and come together as a team,” USD head coach Dan Fitzsimmons said. “Certainly in the middle of the race, our guys particularly, they came together as a group and ran as a pack. I think we have a lot more left. It will be fun to see how both teams develop over the next couple weeks.”

Ramsey (Yankton, S.D.) covered the 5k course in 18:04 to win, just seven seconds off her course record from last season. The senior led six Coyotes who placed in the top 20, including freshman Sigornie Pfefferle (Grand Island, Neb.), who posted an impressive third-place finish with a time of 18:58 in her collegiate debut. Sophomore Abigail Duling (Gregory, S.D.) and freshman Carol Miller (Mead, Neb.) worked together to claim 14th (19:38) and 15th (19:45), respectively, while junior Sarah Wickman (Iowa City, Iowa) and freshman Ali Gress (Papillion, Neb.) claimed 18th (20:00) and 19th (20:05). Sophomore Kelsey Robish (Huron, S.D.) rounded out USD’s top seven with a time of 20:19. Kelsey Maloney, a senior on the Coyote squad last fall, finished seventh in 19:23 running unattached.

“I’m ecstatic with our women,” Coach Fitzsimmons said. “With all the youth we have, I didn’t really know what to expect, so we wanted to be a little more cautious in the early part of the race. Then to see our girls running up towards the front early, when they were trying to stay within themselves, was quite impressive. We couldn’t be any more pleased.”

On the men’s side, Gregoire (Wakonda, S.D.) posted a performance just as impressive on the 8k course. The senior dropped 15 seconds from his time last season to win with a 26:07 this year. He was followed by a pair of freshmen in Ethan Marquardt (Albert Lea, Minn.) and Andy Coy (Hill City, S.D.). Both made their collegiate debuts impressive, as Marquardt posted a 26:24, good enough for fifth, while Coy claimed eighth with a 26:49. Junior Andrew Duba (Sioux Falls, S.D.) and senior Sean Fitzsimmons (Yankton, S.D.) rolled to 13th (27:17) and 14th (27:19) place, while sophomore Nick Beare (Sioux Falls, S.D.) and freshman Eric Thien (Tipton, Iowa) combined to finish a second apart in 18th (27:35) and 19th (27:36), respectively.

“I had a couple of our guys go out too hard,” Coach Fitzsimmons said. “Probably should have held a couple of them back, but it is fun now. We have such a deep squad that the second group caught the first group and then we had a nice pack coming in to the finish. Overall, as a team we looked very impressive, but I think we will be a lot better once we get some of those little wrinkles ironed out.”

Complete results of the college races, as well as the junior varsity and varsity high school races, can be found by clicking on the link above. No team scores were kept.

The South Dakota cross country teams continue their season at the Woody Greeno/Nebraska Invitational in Lincoln, Neb., on Sept. 19. The women’s race kicks off at 10 a.m., with the men at 10:45 a.m.