University of Minnesota Athletics
Griak Feature: Tyler Sigl
8/9/2016 12:00:00 AM | Women's Cross Country
The University of Minnesota will celebrate the 31st annual Roy Griak Invitational on Saturday, Sept. 24 at Les Bolstad Golf Course in Falcon Heights, Minn.
Gopher Athletics has announced the second annual Roy Griak Invitational Hall of Fame class, including eight honorees. As the Griak Invitational approaches, GopherSports.com will highlight each of the honorees including this week's inductee -- UW-Platteville alum Tyler Sigl.
MINNEAPOLIS (GopherSports.com) – Despite growing up just across the border in neighboring Wisconsin and following a National Football League team that is not too popular in Minnesota, Tyler Sigl, nonetheless, found a home of sorts in the land of Paul Bunyan. At least one day each fall Sigl made his home at the Les Bolstad Golf Course.
Sigl, who starred at UW-Platteville, won three-straight individual titles at the prestigious Roy Griak Invitational. He, along with seven other people, will take his place in the meet's hall of fame on Sept. 24 during the 31st running of the Griak, one of the nation's top competitions.
“It is a great honor,” Sigl said of his selection to the Roy Griak Invitational Hall of Fame. “(The Griak) was always the biggest invitational we went to … and the meet itself speaks volumes for the dedication that meet organizers have always had in putting on such an outstanding meet.
“To be among the many athletes, coaches, and others who have contributed to the success of the meet is one of the highlights of my career,” Sigl added.
A late-comer to the sport of running, Sigl played football as a sophomore while attending Seymour (Wis.) High School, just a stone's throw away from Green Bay, and followed the Packers as a youngster. An all-around athlete, Sigl also wrestled during his prep career and credits that sport with plenty of his success as a runner.
“(Wrestling) really pushes you to stay strong mentally,” Sigl explained, “and teaches you to push through the times when you are hurting.”
Sigl's gridiron career came to an end after that sophomore year, and he joined the cross country team for each of his final two years as a prep athlete. Success soon followed.
He finished 20th at the state meet in his first appearance and climbed to fifth place as a senior. He also enjoyed similar success in track & field and capped his prep career with a third-place finish in the two-mile and a fourth-place showing in the mile before graduating from Seymour High School in 2004.
Looking for a college where he could continue his athletic career along with his academic endeavors, Sigl opted for UW-Platteville based largely on its reputation as one of the top engineering schools in the region.
“I took a tour of the campus and just really liked everything that I saw,” Sigl said.
Just like success quickly followed once Sigl embarked on his running career, he wasted little time in becoming one of the greats in the history of the Roy Griak Invitational.
He placed 15th in the prestigious meet in his first appearance in 2004. He covered the course in a time of 26:01.3 and finished less than 80 seconds behind Wartburg's Josh Moen, who won the meet in 24:44.1.
Sigl never looked up to another competitor in his three remaining appearances at the Griak, and the 2005 crown still resonates in his mind more than a decade later.
“It was the second race of the season, and it was the first big race I ever won,” said Sigl, who clocked a time of 25:12.6 on his way to the title as a sophomore.
He edged South Dakota's Tony Turgeon (25:14.4) to win for the first time at the prestigious meet. It turned out to be the narrowest margin of victory Sigl in his run of Griak titles. His winning time of 25:33.7 as a junior was nearly 17 seconds better than the 25:51.0 turned in by runner-up Carlos Handler at the 2006 meet. Handler competed for Concordia (Calif.) College.
The following year, the Griak expanded and Sigl continued to etch his name in the meet's history.
After winning his first two titles in the Division II portion of the meet, the Griak added a Division III portion in 2007 and Sigl continued to display the same sort of dominance as he had in each of the two previous seasons. He won the 2007 meet in 25:20.9 and defeated Iowa Central Community College's Joshua Sawe (25:36.1) by 15.2 seconds to become the first person in the history of the Griak to capture three-straight championships in any of the college divisions of the meet.
Former Minnesota-Duluth standout Morgan Place joined Sigl in that exclusive club by claiming three-straight Division II women's titles (2008-10). Place, who missed out on her bid to win four straight Griak titles by placing 10th at the 2011 meet, was among the inaugural Griak Invitational Hall of Fame class in 2015.
Sigl graduated from Platteville in 2009 with a degree in mechanical engineering. An avid outdoorsman, he spends time taking advantage of the great hunting and fishing opportunities that abound in Wisconsin and the upper Midwest. He has also competed in several half marathons since obtaining his degree, and he qualified for the 2012 U.S. Olympic Trials in the marathon, where he placed 46th. Since then, he has participated in several ultra-marathons of 50 miles. He and his wife, Jessica (Scott), who also competed in cross country at UW-Platteville, dated throughout their collegiate careers and are the parents of two daughters.
“I keep dragging (Jessica) along with me while training and hopefully one day she will join me in an ultra-marathon,” Sigl said.
By Ray Maloney
Roy Griak Invitational Historian
