By Rich Winter

605 Sports

Heading into last weekend’s North Star Athletic Association cross-country championships in Dickinson, North Dakota, Valley City State freshman Dom Santiago wasn’t sure exactly what to expect. 

Slowed this season by several nagging injuries, and short on training, the former Chamberlain prep athlete dug in deep after a pre-race pep talk from coach Steven Brown put him in the right frame of mind. 

“Coach was a big pusher this week on being tough,” Santiago said. “He said there were going to be some easy minutes and tough minutes and you just have to keep pushing, otherwise you are going to fall off.” 

The conference finals sprawled out over 8,000 meters, a distance the freshman had only competed at a few times. Santiago went out with the leaders, a large contingent of Dakota State runners and found himself in fifth place after the first 3,000 meters. He never fell below 11th place and picked up a few positions over the final 3K to earn ninth place. He was the third-best individual finisher outside the winning team, Dakota State, which qualified him to compete at the NAIA National Championships, Nov. 18 in Tallahassee, Florida.

Santiago’s time was a personal best by over 50 seconds. He was the only Viking athlete to qualify for the national meet and the first since 2018 to reach nationals. 

"I'm excited for Dom to qualify as a true freshman," said VCSU cross country coach Steven Brown in a press release. "He's faced a tough season of minor injuries, and it was great to see him qualify today."

While those injuries didn’t prevent him from making the national meet they did curtail his training for a good chunk of the season. 

“I had a little bit of tendonitis in my knees when the season started,” he said. “Three days before the Jamestown meet on Sept. 7 I stepped in a hole. I tried to rehab for a couple of days and had to pull out halfway through the race.”

Accustomed to running 50-60 miles at the start of his season Santiago crossed over to running and swimming to stay in shape. His best finish at a South Dakota Class A state cross-country meet was eighth so at the end of his conference meet he relished the moment. 

“It was huge and I kinda just laid on the floor in shock and disbelief,” he said. “I went out with the Dakota State guys and trusted in my training from the coach and just grinded it out.” 

Next week Santiago hops on an airplane for the first time in his life. He said he hopes to arrive a few days early to acclimate the Florida temperatures after experiencing cool weather during his freshman season in North Dakota. 

 Dakota State University men send multiple South Dakotans to nationals

The Dakota State men earned their fifth consecutive conference title led by New Underwood sophomore Cody Farland who claimed the individual championship. Other Dakota State team members from South Dakota are, Tyler Kennedy, Jefferson and Colter Elken, Brandon Valley. 

 Former Ethan/Parkston runner, Lindsey Roth, a freshman at Dakota State finished in second place at the conference meet and punched her ticket to the NAIA national meet.