BROOKINGS, S.D. – The North Dakota State men's cross country team tied South Dakota State for first place at the Summit League Championships on Saturday, before falling by the tiebreaker rule and bringing home team runner-up honors.
 
It was the highest conference meet finish for Bison men's cross country in 41 years – since NDSU won the North Central Conference title in 1982.
 
Both NDSU and SDSU finished with 46 points to top the final team standings. The NCAA tiebreaker rule went in favor of the Jackrabbits.*
 
NDSU put six finishers in the top 14 overall, getting six men across the finish line before SDSU's fourth finisher. It was the best conference meet performance in NDSU's Summit League history, both in terms of total team score and number of all-league (top 14) finishers.
 
Senior Zach Johnson led the Bison men, taking third place overall in 24:44.3 for the 8k course. Junior Symon Keiser placed eighth in 24:55.4, and Hunter Klimek was 10th in 24:57.3. Payton Smith (12th in 25:03.9) and Tyson Mahar (13th in 25:05.1) completed the team scoring for NDSU, and Jake Arason finished 14th in 25:12.8.
 
Johnson earned All-Summit League first team honors with his top-seven finish, and Keiser, Klimek, Smith, Mahar and Arason all claimed All-Summit League second team honors.
 
Johnson's third-place finish was the best by a Bison at the Summit League meet since 2007, when Greg Liebl took second.
 
 
*The NCAA tiebreaker rule is a comparison of which team won more head-to-head battles among their top five finishers. For example, NDSU's No. 1 finisher vs. SDSU's No. 1 finisher; NDSU's No. 2 finisher vs. SDSU's No. 2 finisher, etc. SDSU ultimately won the tiebreaker count, 3-2.