University of Minnesota Athletics
No. 26 Gophers Ready for Griak Invitational
9/22/2015 12:00:00 AM | Women's Cross Country
| 2015 Roy Griak Invitational | |||||||||||
| Date | Saturday, Sept. 26, 2015 | ||||||||||
| Location | Les Bolstad Course | Falcon Heights, Minn. | ||||||||||
| Meet Info | Roy Griak Invitational | Tickets | ||||||||||
| Time | 9 a.m. (Women's Division I Race at 1:20 p.m.) | ||||||||||
| Coverage | @GopherWCCTF | FloTrack Stream | Results | ||||||||||
Sept. 22, 2015
MINNEAPOLIS - The University of Minnesota is pleased to host the 30th annual running of the Roy Griak Invitational as part of homecoming festivities at Les Bolstad Golf Course in Falcon Heights, Minn., this Saturday. One of the largest meets in the country, the Griak includes six collegiate races and four high school races.
The No. 26 Golden Gopher women's cross country team will race in the Jack Johnson Women's Division I Gold Competition at 1:20 p.m., but the first race gets underway at 9 a.m. with the Suzy Wilson Women's Maroon Division III Competition. Tickets are on sale now through MyGopherSports.com.
2014 Griak Invitational Rewind
The Gophers finished seventh of 35 teams at the 2014 Roy Griak Invitational. Kaila Urick and Danielle Anderson led the Gophers. Urick placed 25th overall in 22:01.1, and Anderson, running just her third collegiate cross country race, was 35th in 22:09.9.
Minnesota returns six of its top seven runners from last year's Griak in Kaila Urick, Anderson, Liz Berkholtz (47th), Bailey Ness (52nd), Haley Johnson (66th) and Jamie Piepenburg (77th).
Roy Griak Invitational Hall of Fame Debuts
As part of the 30th annual Griak Invitational festivities, Gopher Athletics has announced the formation of the Roy Griak Invitational Hall of Fame with eight inductees slated to be honored in the inaugural class. The inductees are Kiel Uhl (Iowa State), Morgan Place (Minnesota Duluth), Dick Skogg (Duluth East High School), Ben Noad (Providence), Bill Bergan (Iowa State), Fran ten Bensel (Nebraska), Lefty Wright (longtime official), and Roy Griak himself.
Last Time Out: Oz Memorial
Liz Berkholtz cruised to the individual title at Minnesota's season-opening Oz Memorial, leading the entire race and finishing the 6K race in 21:48.3, nearly 10 seconds ahead of runner-up Emma Huston of Drake (21:56.6). The Gophers edged Iowa State, which did not run a full squad, by a score of 33-37 for the team title. South Dakota State (72) and Drake (87) finished third and fourth, respectively.
Behind Berkholtz, fellow Gopher captain Haley Johnson also earned a top-five finish, placing fifth in 22:21.0. Tamara Gorman (seventh, 22:34.5), Madeline Strandemo (eighth, 22:42.2) and Courtney Alama (12th, 22:51.7) rounded out Minnesota's top five runners.
USTFCCCA Ranks Gophers 26th
Minnesota ranks 26th in the nation and second in the Midwest region according to this week's U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) national poll and regional rankings. The Gophers climbed one place after holding the No. 27 ranking last week.
No. 1 New Mexico, No. 2 Iowa State, No. 3 Colorado, No. 4 Georgetown, and No. 5 Stanford make up the nation's top five teams this week. Four Big Ten foes are among the nation's top 30 in No. 6 Michigan State, No. 9 Michigan, No. 11 Wisconsin, and No. 17 Penn State.
Gopher Quintet Named Captains
Seniors Liz Berkholtz and Kaila Urick, and redshirt juniors Taylor Mikkalson, Haley Johnson and Kate Shelerud are serving as captains this season as Minnesota looks to continue its ten-year streak of NCAA Championship berths.
Up Next: Greater Louisville Classic & Blugold Invitational
The Gophers will be back in action next week as the team's top 12 runners have another tough test at the Greater Louisville Classic on Saturday, Oct. 3. Minnesota will also send 24 runners to the UW-Eau Claire Blugold Invitational on Friday, Oct. 2.
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Players Mentioned
