University of Minnesota Athletics
University of Minnesota
Roy Griak Invitational
Welch, Ali Lead Gophers at Griak
9/24/2016 12:00:00 AM | Men's Cross Country
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FALCON HEIGHTS, Minn. (GopherSports.com) - Matt Welch and Obsa Ali posted top-10 finishes for the Gophers as the Minnesota men's cross country program finished ninth in the Merrill Fischbein Men's Gold Competition on Saturday at the 31st annual Roy Griak Invitational.
"This was about as competitive of a field as we've seen for this race," Minnesota Director of Men's Track & Field and Cross Country Steve Plasencia said. "To be in the top six like Matt and Obsa were, you have to be doing something right."
Welch, a redshirt junior from Duluth, Minn., battled his way to a second-place finish at Les Bolstad Golf Course to match his best finish as a Gopher. His time of 25:07.7 was second only to individual champion Jerrell Mock of Colorado State who clocked a 25:06.4.
"It felt awesome," Welch said of his finish. "I wasn't expecting a finish like that going into it. I know that this was a really stacked field all-around.
The runner-up showing for Welch was his fourth career top-10 finish and his second of the year after opening the season with a fifth-place performance at the Oz Memorial. The performance also ranks tied for second-highest ever by a Gopher at the Griak (Hassan Mead also finished second in 2008 and won the event in 2009).
Meanwhile, Ali made his season debut on Saturday in the Griak Invitational, coming in sixth. The All-Big Ten and NCAA All-Regional performer finished the eight-kilometer course in 25:16.5.
Redshirt junior Charlie Lawrence picked up an 83rd-place finish for the Maroon & Gold with a time of 26:20.1 while redshirt freshman Joey Duerr and junior Derek Wiebke closed out the team's scoring. Duerr clocked a 26:25.1 to finish 88th (85th among attached runners) while Wiebke came across the finish line at 26:25.6 to place 90th (87th among attached runners).
Also competing for the Gophers were Connor Olson (26:54.7, 134th), Evan Ferlic (27:12.3, 166th), Wayde Hall (27:17.8, 173rd), Shane Streich (27:21.1, 178th) and Eric Colvin (27:51.7, 215th).
The following freshmen competed unattached for Minnesota - Nick Rink (26:39.2, 106th), Hamza Ali (26:48.8, 125th), Alec Basten (26:54.9, 135th), Jack Manderscheid (26:56.4, 139th), Hunter Staack (28:04.7, 223rd), Alex Plasencia (28:04.9, 224th) and Owen Hoeft (28:15.4, 234th).
The Maroon & Gold return to action with the Nuttycombe Wisconsin Invitational in Madison, Wis., on Friday, Oct. 14 while another group will be in action on Saturday, Oct. 15 at the Jim Drews Invitational in Ettrick, Wis.
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Players Mentioned
