The summer sun was beating down. 60-plus mile weeks were being ran.  The expectations for the DSU men's cross country team were mild. The team was simply training and listening to second year head cross country coach Michael Nekuda.

The commitment to Nekuda led the program to a postseason ranking of 27 and four athletes competing at last weekend's NAIA Cross Country Championships in Vancouver, Wash.

Junior Abdikani Ismail finished 57th at Nationals with a time of 25:43 (5:11 per mile) on the 8 kilometer course. 

"Throughout the whole race I stayed positive. I made a huge improvement. I ran a personal record on a tough course which was muddy, rainy and having a lot of hills. I am happy with my time and my team mates who helped me," said Ismail.

For sophomore Eddie Meneses buying in to the program paid off. Meneses enjoyed a top 20 placing at the Mount Marty College Invitational in Yankton, S.D. as he helped his team win the second race of the season.

"We came into this season with no high expectations, we just went out there and competed to get ready for track, but we won our first meet and that gave us hype for the rest of the season and what we could do," said Menses.

That first win was at the Wiley Wilson Memorial all the way back on September 14. 

For junior Dustin Sandbak it will be more than winning two meets for the 2013 season.

"I think next year we have a lot more potential. We will bring more guys in, and with our three going to nationals we can get Dickinson's name out there," said Sanbak.

Junior Brittany Young, an athlete who is described by Nekuda as a mid-distance runner led the women's team. Her season was capped off by a 99 place improvement at this year's nationals.

"My favorite part was getting a personal record of 32 seconds at the MSU-Billings Invite. I have been working on breaking 19 minutes since I was a freshman," said Young.