Mason Phillips should be easy to spot on Saturday morning during the 2018 Roy Griak XC Invitational.

As the defending men’s maroon race champion, the Sioux Falls junior and DII All-American will likely be battling up front for another individual title this year in Minnesota. And if the race plays out like it did in 2017, when Phillips dominated the final two kilometers en route to a 29-second win, the lanky, dreadlocked runner in USF purple will be impossible to miss.

WATCH THE 2018 ROY GRIAK XC INVITATIONAL LIVE ON FLOTRACK

“Everyone knows me by them (the dreadlocks), which is kind of funny,” Phillips told FloTrack over the phone. 

“I see people and (they’re) like, ‘Oh hey, Mason!’” (Laughs) “I’m like, ‘…oh hey! I don’t… what’s up?’”

Mason Phillips of @USFTFCC has been named @NorthernSunConf Men's Cross Country Athlete of the Week for 4th time. Phillips, who won the Augustana Twilight for a 2nd straight year, earned his 7th track & field/ XC athlete of the week honor. | https://t.co/dNuToL2zcO | #CooPride pic.twitter.com/J9UnrBSsNa

— USF Cougars (@USF_Athletics) September 5, 2018

The dreadlocks have become a signature look for Phillips in NCAA Division II circles, where he has quickly ascended to an elite level in cross country. 

At nationals last November in Evansville, Indiana, the Griak champ placed 15th in his first crack at the meet, the best finish in Sioux Falls history. His unique look, coupled with his relatively recent presence among DII’s top class, has made Phillips a distinct figure at the front of the pack. 

The long hair may be the defining feature that makes him familiar to his competitors and fans, even ones he barely knows, but the nearly unblemished season that Phillips enjoyed in 2017 is what has grown his name the most. 

The Bailey, Colorado-native dominated four other races outside of Griak last fall and went undefeated all the way up to NCAAs, winning by an average of 22 seconds in each outing. Developing into a front runner with a habit for pummeling his competition was quite the jump for a guy who sat out the 2016 cross country season and who had never even placed in the top 10 at any meet before last season. Watching him run last year made it hard to believe Phillips was still new to winning on the cross country course.

But with each taste of success Phillips had last year, his confidence grew. So too did his passion for the sport, which Phillips says has steadily been climbing since his high school days when was unsure of himself in races.

“I’m a lot more confident now,” said Phillips.

That’s for sure. Now he knows he belongs up front in every race he runs, and a return to Griak on Saturday will not only offer a chance to defend his title, but will also bring him back to a course that helped propel him to DII superstardom a year ago.

Winning at Griak is never an easy task on the punishing hills of Les Bolstad Golf Course, so when a previously unheralded athlete does so it often signals their arrival to the big stage. 2017’s race did just that for Mason Phillips, who will toe the line on Saturday as the man to beat for a field of challengers hoping to make Griak 2018 their breakout race.

Between the long locks and a reputation for surging hard to crush his competition early in the race, Phillips has quickly made a name for himself in the last year. Now one of the most recognizable DII athletes in the country is hoping to build off of last year to climb his way into the top five at nationals on December 1.

Saturday will offer an opportunity for Phillips to take another step towards that goal, and another chance for him to show curious fans and competitors alike how Griak can be conquered.