BILLINGS, Mont. — History was made on Friday afternoon at the Yellowjacket/Battlin' Bear Open co-hosted by Montana State University–Billings and Rocky Mountain College, as junior Ava Stafford and freshman Connor Ensign both set new school records at a race that included top-five team finishes from both the Mystic women and men.
Stafford broke the BSC women's 6K record with a time of 22:24.2 (6:00 pace), finishing second overall against a strong NCAA Division II and NAIA field. Her record performance led the Mystics to a fifth-place team finish, matching Black Hills State with 139 points but claiming the tiebreaker thanks to higher individual placements.
Macy Crane (24:22.3, 21st) and Brynn Crane (24:25.8, 24th) packed closely together for the Mystics' second and third scoring spots. Paysha Rex (25:17.1, 39th) and Rita Wise Spirit (27:15.8, 60th) rounded out the scoring five, while Alexis Ritzman and Sophia Fafard provided key depth.
Individual Results — Women's 6K
Women's Team Results
| Place |
Team |
Points |
Avg Time |
Scoring Runners |
| 1 |
Chadron State |
50 |
23:35.0 |
5, 6, 12, 13, 14, 16, 43 |
| 2 |
Rocky Mountain |
63 |
23:32.1 |
3, 7, 8, 11, 34 |
| 3 |
South Dakota Mines |
74 |
23:53.4 |
9, 10, 17, 18, 20, 49, 50 |
| 4 |
MSU-Billings |
132 |
24:33.8 |
15, 22, 29, 30, 36, 40, 53 |
| 5 |
Bismarck State |
139 |
24:45.0 |
2, 21, 24, 38, 54, 56, 59 |
| 6 |
Black Hills State |
139 |
24:39.6 |
4, 26, 31, 33, 45 |
| 7 |
Dickinson State |
157 |
24:59.0 |
19, 25, 28, 41, 44, 60 |
| 8 |
Carroll (Mont.) |
169 |
24:58.1 |
23, 32, 35, 37, 42, 48, 52 |
| 9 |
Providence (Great Falls) |
186 |
26:44.1 |
1, 27, 39, 58, 61 |
| 10 |
MSU-Northern |
256 |
26:58.4 |
46, 47, 51, 55, 57 |
On the men's side, the Mystics placed fourth overall with 89 points, narrowly missing the podium by just one point behind Chadron State.
Connor Ensign broke the BSC men's 8K record and led the Mystics with a seventh-place finish in 25:15.4 (5:05 pace), followed closely by Jakson Ensign, who took ninth in 25:35.0 (5:09). Brody Ferderer (27:14.1), Djiby Diallo (27:34.5), and Xavier Bell (27:45.9) completed the scoring five, while Michael Pfliger and Peyton Sims provided strong backup times.
Individual Results — Men's 8K
Men's Team Results
| Place |
Team |
Points |
Avg Time |
Scoring Runners |
| 1 |
Rocky Mountain |
29 |
25:17.2 |
3, 4, 5, 7, 10, 16, 29 |
| 2 |
South Dakota Mines |
55 |
25:48.6 |
2, 11, 13, 14, 15, 17, 18 |
| 3 |
Chadron State |
88 |
26:37.7 |
9, 12, 19, 23, 25, 30, 37 |
| 4 |
Bismarck State |
89 |
26:41.0 |
6, 8, 22, 26, 27, 28, 34 |
| 5 |
Dickinson State |
125 |
27:24.3 |
1, 24, 31, 33, 36, 42, 46 |
| 6 |
Montana Western |
171 |
28:52.1 |
21, 32, 38, 39, 41, 44, 45 |
| 7 |
Dawson CC |
185 |
29:34.8 |
20, 35, 40, 43, 47, 48 |
After a historic meet on Friday, in a week that featured back-to-back meet weeks for the only time of the season for the team, the Mystics will have just under a month to prepare for the Frontier Conference Championship meet on Friday, Nov. 7. It will once again be held at Amend Park in Billings, Mont., a course where the teams were able to find impressive success during Friday's meet.
Be sure to visit BSCMystics.com and download the MysticNation app to continue to stay up to date with everything going on in Mystic Athletics.
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