605 Sports Staff

SAN DIEGO - Rapid City Stevens senior Simeon Birnbaum placed fourth at the 43rd annual Champs Sports Cross-Country Championships on Saturday. 

The future University of Oregon distance runner covered the 5,000-meter distance in 15 minutes and :11.3 seconds. Kole Mathison, of Indiana, won the 5K race in 14:56.6. 

The national competition came after Birnbaum finished in sixth place at the Nike Cross Country Nationals on Dec. 3 in Oregon. Birnbaum won his second Class AA state cross-country championship this past fall and is a multiple-time track and field state champion.