Tallahassee, Florida (VCSU) Valley City State freshman Dom Santiago finished in 284th place at the NAIA Cross Country National Championships on Friday.

Racing early Friday morning in Tallahassee, Florida, Santiago completed the men’s 8K national race in a time of 27:35.4. That is the second best time of Santiago’s career.

A native of Chamberlin, S.D., Santiago is the first Viking since 2018 to qualify and race at the NAIA national meet. This year’s meet was held at Apalachee Regional Park in Tallahassee, Fla.

A total of 326 runners competed during the men’s national championship race.

Up next: Santiago and the rest of VCSU’s runners shift their focus to the Indoor Track & Field season, which begins Dec. 2-3 with a meet at NDSU in Fargo.