By Les Knutson
Sports Reporter
After excelling as a collegiate cross country runner at Dakota State University in Madison, South Dakota, Fulda native Anthony Drealan (2006 FHS graduate) stayed on at his alma mater and became the head coach for the Trojans, beginning in 2013 after two years as a graduate assistant under legendary coach Buzz Stevenson.
Drealan’s DSU men’s team has enjoyed a strong season in the fall of 2018 and recently capped off that success with an impressive victory in the seven-team North Star Athletic Association (NSAA) Conference meet, hosted by Viterbo University of La Crosse, Wisconsin.
The Trojans, paced by a one-two-six upfront finish by their top three runners, won the team title in convincing fashion with a low score of 36 points (1-2-6-13-14), holding off strong challenges from a pair of North Dakota colleges as Dickinson State (5-7-10-11-16) and Valley City State (4-9-12-15-19) finished second and third, respectively, with 49 and 59 points.
Host Viterbo was a distant fourth with 111 points, followed by Bellevue University (Nebraska), Waldorf College (Iowa) and Presentation College (Aberdeen, S.D) with respective point totals of 123, 131 and 212.
“Our guys all had a good day and we got the job done,” summed up Drealan, who was named the NSAA Coach of the Year for men’s cross country. “We’ve had a good season and each one of our runners really stepped it at the conference meet, giving us a great overall team race.”
By virtue of the conference championship, DSU will send its seven-member squad to this week’s NAIA (National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics) National Cross Country Meet at Seminole Valley Park in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.
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