University of Minnesota Athletics
Roy Griak - M Club Hall of Fame
Roy Griak
Men’s Track & Field, 1948-49
Men’s Cross Country, 1948-49
Men’s Track & Field Coach, 1963-96
Men’s Cross Country Coach, 1963-96
HOF Class of 1996
Duluth native Roy Griak ran both cross country and track and field when he came to the University of Minnesota in the late 1940s. He became a high school teacher and coach, and then returned to become Gophers head coach in 1963, taking over for his former coach Jim Kelly.
Griak became a legend over the next three decades, leading his Gophers to Big Ten cross country titles in 1964 and 1969. His 1968 cross country team finished second at the Big Ten meet, and fourth at the NCAA Championships. He added a Big Ten track and field title in 1968. His cross country squad also won three second-place and seven third-place finishes at league meets.
Griak coached 47 track and field and cross country All-Americans, including three NCAA champions. His athletes also collected 60 Big Ten individual titles.
When Griak closed his coaching career in 1996 (becoming a U of M administrative assistant for cross country and track and field), Minnesota honored him by renaming its Michigan Invitational meet, the nation’s largest annual cross country meet, the Roy Griak Invitational.
Griak was inducted into the Drake Relays Coaches Hall of Fame in 1993, and the U.S. Track Coaches Hall of Fame in 2001.