University of Minnesota Athletics
Friday, September 23
10:30 AM
University of Minnesota
vs
Roy Griak Invitational
Players Mentioned
/ Men's Cross Country
/ Women's Cross Country
/ Men's Cross Country
/ Women's Cross Country
/ Women's Cross Country
/ Men's Cross Country
/ Men's Cross Country
/ Women's Cross Country
/ Men's Cross Country
/ Women's Cross Country
/ Women's Cross Country
/ Men's Cross Country
/ Men's Cross Country
/ Women's Cross Country
Gophers Run to Ninth-Place Finishes at 2022 Griak
9/23/2022 1:24:00 PM | Men's Cross Country, Women's Cross Country
MINNEAPOLIS -- The University of Minnesota cross country team saw both its men and women finish ninth overall at the 36th annual Roy Griak Invitational on Friday, September 23, at the University of Minnesota Les Bolstad Golf Course. Minnesota's top individual finisher was true freshman Ali Weimer finished 26th on the women's side while Emmet Anderson was the men's best finisher at 40th overall.
"We had a solid day on both sides," cross country coach Sarah Hopkins said. "The women, I think we are close. It feels a little disappointing, because I think we could have run a little better today in all honesty. Freshman Ali Weimer had an awesome breakout day today. When we put these pieces together, I think we are there. It's just about getting them all together on the same day and with a young group like we have, that's what you are going to have. We know it is going to be the type of season where every week we are going to grow. Today we maybe didn't make as much of a jump as I would have thought, but we will get there. I have no doubt that this group will keep learning and growing."
Weimer's performance goes down as one of the best true freshman finishes at the Griak in program history. Her 26th overall finish is the best by a true freshman since Bethany Hasz (21st) in 2016 and her time of 21:32.60 is faster than Hasz's 22:22.00 in 2016 and even Kayla Wagner's in 2009, who finished in 14th as a true freshman.
"Ali came out of high school as last year's Griak champion in 2021, and she was a little banged up during her final high school track season so to see her confidence grow back is great," Hopkins said. "You could just see that confidence today. When it was time to go, she went today. She had a great last half of the race and was top 30. I told her coming in that top 25 at this meet would have been an awesome day, and she came in 26th. She's coming into her own, and it is a big jump to go from high school to college, even when you were a stud."
Behind Weimer on the women's side was Anastasia Korzenowski in 33rd in a time of 21:43.00 while Emma Atkinson finished 36th. Atkinson improved her Griak performance by 30 spots from 2021 and dropped nearly a minute off of her time to aid the Gophers finish on Friday. Minnesota's fourth and fifth finishers were Brianne Brewster (64th) and Taylor Kreitinger (69th).
The men's team was led by redshirt freshman Emmet Anderson who was 40th overall in a time of 25:04.30, which dropped over a minute off of his 2021 time where he finished 100th overall. Seth Eliason was 46th, the second-best finsih on the team, with his time of 25:08.50 helping him finish in the top 50 at the Griak for the second time in his career. Eli Hoeft posted his personal best finish at the Griak at 54th in a time of 25:14.90.
Rounding out the Gophers scoring was Leo Goodman in 62nd in a time of 25:21.90 and in 78th was Providence transfer Matt Lepine in a time of 25:36.70 in his first Griak race.
"Overall I thought our guys ran really well," assistant cross country coach Brad Wick said. "We are coming back from some heavy training, but we had a number of guys have their best days ever. Our top four guys all had their best performances as Gophers. I think we'll be able to add a couple of pieces as we go and get people fully healthy. We also had a number of redshirt freshman do really well, which is always fun to see and their training is going really well."
Minnesota had a number of unattached student-athletes compete with Matthew Wilkinson finishing the highest among them at 4th in the men's race. Wilkinson, who only has outdoor eligibility remaining at the 'U', posted the highest individual men's finish at the Griak by a member of the Gophers' program since 2018 (Alec Basten) in a time of 24:18.40. True freshman Griffin Ward finished 82nd overall as an unattached runner in a time of 25:40.20 while Shane Greipentrog was 91st with a time of 25:47.20. On the women's side, the top unattached runner was Zoie Dundon at 144th.
Wisconsin was able to capture the men's title with Michigan State's Aden Smith winning the individual crown in a time of 24:13.40. Utah ran to the women's title, edging out California Baptist for the win. Individually Utah's Emily Venters won the race in a time of 20:33.20, six seconds ahead of the runner-up.
The Maroon & Gold will split up following the Griak Invitational with the men's contingency of Gophers heading to UW-Eau Claire for the Blugold Invitational while the women's team will head to both the Blugold Invitational and the Missouri Preview in Columbia, Mo., which is where the NCAA Midwest Regionals will take place in November.
For more information on the Gophers this summer, continue to check back with GopherSports.com. Keep up with the University of Minnesota cross country and track and field team on Twitter and Instagram (@GopherCCTF) and on Facebook, so you do not miss any content during the 2022 cross country season.
"We had a solid day on both sides," cross country coach Sarah Hopkins said. "The women, I think we are close. It feels a little disappointing, because I think we could have run a little better today in all honesty. Freshman Ali Weimer had an awesome breakout day today. When we put these pieces together, I think we are there. It's just about getting them all together on the same day and with a young group like we have, that's what you are going to have. We know it is going to be the type of season where every week we are going to grow. Today we maybe didn't make as much of a jump as I would have thought, but we will get there. I have no doubt that this group will keep learning and growing."
Weimer's performance goes down as one of the best true freshman finishes at the Griak in program history. Her 26th overall finish is the best by a true freshman since Bethany Hasz (21st) in 2016 and her time of 21:32.60 is faster than Hasz's 22:22.00 in 2016 and even Kayla Wagner's in 2009, who finished in 14th as a true freshman.
"Ali came out of high school as last year's Griak champion in 2021, and she was a little banged up during her final high school track season so to see her confidence grow back is great," Hopkins said. "You could just see that confidence today. When it was time to go, she went today. She had a great last half of the race and was top 30. I told her coming in that top 25 at this meet would have been an awesome day, and she came in 26th. She's coming into her own, and it is a big jump to go from high school to college, even when you were a stud."
Behind Weimer on the women's side was Anastasia Korzenowski in 33rd in a time of 21:43.00 while Emma Atkinson finished 36th. Atkinson improved her Griak performance by 30 spots from 2021 and dropped nearly a minute off of her time to aid the Gophers finish on Friday. Minnesota's fourth and fifth finishers were Brianne Brewster (64th) and Taylor Kreitinger (69th).
The men's team was led by redshirt freshman Emmet Anderson who was 40th overall in a time of 25:04.30, which dropped over a minute off of his 2021 time where he finished 100th overall. Seth Eliason was 46th, the second-best finsih on the team, with his time of 25:08.50 helping him finish in the top 50 at the Griak for the second time in his career. Eli Hoeft posted his personal best finish at the Griak at 54th in a time of 25:14.90.
Rounding out the Gophers scoring was Leo Goodman in 62nd in a time of 25:21.90 and in 78th was Providence transfer Matt Lepine in a time of 25:36.70 in his first Griak race.
"Overall I thought our guys ran really well," assistant cross country coach Brad Wick said. "We are coming back from some heavy training, but we had a number of guys have their best days ever. Our top four guys all had their best performances as Gophers. I think we'll be able to add a couple of pieces as we go and get people fully healthy. We also had a number of redshirt freshman do really well, which is always fun to see and their training is going really well."
Minnesota had a number of unattached student-athletes compete with Matthew Wilkinson finishing the highest among them at 4th in the men's race. Wilkinson, who only has outdoor eligibility remaining at the 'U', posted the highest individual men's finish at the Griak by a member of the Gophers' program since 2018 (Alec Basten) in a time of 24:18.40. True freshman Griffin Ward finished 82nd overall as an unattached runner in a time of 25:40.20 while Shane Greipentrog was 91st with a time of 25:47.20. On the women's side, the top unattached runner was Zoie Dundon at 144th.
Wisconsin was able to capture the men's title with Michigan State's Aden Smith winning the individual crown in a time of 24:13.40. Utah ran to the women's title, edging out California Baptist for the win. Individually Utah's Emily Venters won the race in a time of 20:33.20, six seconds ahead of the runner-up.
The Maroon & Gold will split up following the Griak Invitational with the men's contingency of Gophers heading to UW-Eau Claire for the Blugold Invitational while the women's team will head to both the Blugold Invitational and the Missouri Preview in Columbia, Mo., which is where the NCAA Midwest Regionals will take place in November.
For more information on the Gophers this summer, continue to check back with GopherSports.com. Keep up with the University of Minnesota cross country and track and field team on Twitter and Instagram (@GopherCCTF) and on Facebook, so you do not miss any content during the 2022 cross country season.
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