CEDAR CITY, Utah -- The University of North Dakota men's cross country team earned itself an eighth-place finish at the 2015 Big Sky Conference Cross Country Championship on Saturday at Southern Utah's Cedar Ridge Golf Course.

Freshman Alec Anderson placed inside the top half of the field of 84 runners, finishing 36th overall. He ran a time of 27 minutes, 3.5 seconds to lead UND for the fourth time this season.

Junior Cataldo DiDonna just missed a top-half finish for himself. He clocked a time of 27:25.3 to place 45th. Senior Mark Harries was next for North Dakota, coming in 49th with a time of 27:32.3.

The host Thunderbirds were crowned Big Sky champions, with 26 team points. SUU's Hayden Hawks was first among all runners with a time of 24:56.6.

Junior Drew Campbell was fourth among UND runners and 54th overall with a finish of 27:48.0. Sophomore Connor Danielson was right behind him in 55th; he crossed the line in 27:51.2.

That rounded out the top-five for North Dakota, but freshman Nathan Engstrom also ran a pretty good race in the first conference championship meet of his career. He ran the 8K course in a time of 28:09.7 to finish 60th.

With the Big Sky meet now in the books, UND will look ahead to the NCAA Division I Midwest Regional two weeks from now on Friday, Nov. 13, in Lawrence, Kan.

Team Results
1. Southern Utah, 26
2. Northern Arizona, 43
3. Weber State, 96
4. Eastern Washington, 118
5. Idaho State, 144
6. Montana, 198
7. Montana State, 202
8. North Dakota, 231
9. Portland State, 233
10. Sacramento State, 255
11. Idaho, 256
12. Northern Colorado, 318

UND Participants
36. Alec Anderson, 27:03.5
45. Cataldo DiDonna, 27:25.3
49. Mark Harries, 27:32.3
54. Drew Campbell, 27.48.0
55. Connor Danielson, 27:51.2
60. Nathan Engstrom, 28:09.7
65. Scott Kvidera, 28:19.0
72. Darin Baltezore, 28:28.2