The Minot State men’s cross country team has been selected to finish 10th in the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference preseason poll as selected by the league head coaches and announced by the conference office on Tuesday.

The Minot State men’s cross country team returns two letterwinners from 2018, led by senior Leo Skellenger. Skellenger was selected as a 2019 Athlete to Watch by the NSIC. In 2018, Skellenger placed 47th overall at the NSIC Championships to advance, where he broke the Division II era 10K school record at the NCAA Regional Meet. Ryan Kohler, sophomore, also returns for the Beavers who ran the 6th and 9th fastest times at 8K and 10K respectively in Division II era history. New to the team this year are Nicholas Merillana, Jacob Jensen, Landon Dunlap, Victor Ochoa, Tito Gonzalez and Tanner Dodd.

Minot State will open the 2019 season at the Dragon Twilight on Friday, Sept. 6 in Moorhead, Minn.

— MSU athletics

MSU women’s cross county

12th in NSIC preseason poll

The Minot State women’s cross country team has been selected to finish 12th in the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference preseason poll as voted upon by the league head coaches and announced by the conference office on Tuesday.

The Minot State women’s cross country team returns four letterwinners from last year’s team led by junior Abby McGee and sophomore Lauren Reeves. McGee and Reeves posted 6th and 7th fastest times at 5K, and 7th and 9th fastest 6K in Division II era history for Minot State. Reeves was the top finisher in five of the six meets last fall with her best finish at the Dragon Twilight meet (9th). New to the team this year are Whitney Hanson, Kelci Lovercheck, Alicia Murillo, Ashley Franco, Andrea Franco and Nina Arias. Junior Abby McGee was selected as an NSIC Preseason Athlete to Watch. McGee placed 44th at the NSIC Championships last year with a time of 23:20.3.

Minot State will open the 2019 season at the Dragon Twilight on Friday, Sept. 6 in Moorhead, Minn.

— MSU athletics