Cross Country Teams Set to Compete at Roy Griak Invitational
9/22/2006 12:00:00 AM | Cross Country
Sept. 22, 2006
MILWAUKEE -- The Marquette men's & women's cross country teams travel to St. Paul, Minn. to race in the 21st Annual Roy Griak Invitational on Saturday, Sept. 23. The race is the first which will count toward earning points for the NCAA Championship, will be held at the Les Bolstad Golf Course, on the campus of the University of Minnesota.
The Golden Eagles will compete in the gold race, which will begin at 11:20 a.m. for the men's five-mile race, followed by the women's six-kilometer race at 12:10 p.m.
"We always enjoy going to the Roy Griak Invitational, as it is consistently one of the top meets in the country." head coach Dave Uhrich said. "It is a good early season test to see where we match up against the many nationally ranked teams that are in attendance.
On the women's side, the #18 ranked Golden Eagles are among six ranked squads in the 29-team field. Arizona State (#9), Baylor (13), Minnesota (16), Michigan State (23), and Virginia (26) join MU as the other nationally ranked teams in the race.
For the men, a record 36 teams will compete in the gold race. Nine teams rank among the top 30 nationally, including top-ranked Wisconsin, Arizona (#8), Kansas (10), Arizona State (20), Minnesota (23), Virginia (26), Iowa (27), Michigan State (28) and Butler (29).
MU is coming off two solid performances a week ago at the National Catholic Championships, held at Notre Dame. The Golden Eagles tied for the team title with Notre Dame on the women's side, while the men finished close behind the #12 Fighting Irish on the men's side.
"I feel that we are a little more prepared for the meet this year than in previous years because of having one extra meet beforehand." Uhrich explained. "Both of our previous meets were much less competitive than the Griak meet, but still served as good tune-up races. I think both teams are ready to go and will be competitive this weekend."