Griak Invitational Central | Results | Live Video
SANTA CLARA, Calif. — Santa Clara cross country takes its longest trip of the season as the team heads to St. Paul, Minn. for the Roy Griak Invitational on Saturday. The Broncos will face some of the country's top programs on the Les Bolstad Golf Course for the nationally-renowned competition.
Santa Clara has eight runners from the men's team and nine runners from the women's team making the trip; seven of the 17 Broncos entered in the race are in their first season with SCU cross country. The men head back to the Griak Meet for the second straight year while the women are making their first trip to the event this season.
"We are looking forward to bringing both a men's and a women's team to this year's Griak Invitational," head coach Felipe Montoro said. "The staff at Minnesota that put on the meet do a great job — from a student-athlete experience, I think it's the gold standard for collegiate cross country.
"This race is an important step in the process of preparing for championship meets in Spokane and Seattle later this season."
Men's Info/SCU Entries
Merrill Fischbein Men's Gold (Division I) Competition — 8000m — 12:20 p.m. CDT (10:20 a.m. PDT): 27 Teams, 270 Total Entries
Ranked Teams: Colorado State (22), Michigan State (25), Cal (29)
Joey Berriatua, Aaron Brumbaugh, Will Burschinger, Bryan Crook, Ryan Greenough, Andrew Melendez, Evan Misuraca, John O'Hagan
Crook and Berriatua finished with an identical 8k time of 25:59.5 at the season opening USF Invitational, and Crook finished in first place overall in the 7250m race at the San Francisco State Quad Meet. Greenough led the Broncos at last year's Griak meet with an 8k time of 25:56, good for 50th place in the field of 301.
Women's Info/SCU Entries
Jack Johnson Women's Gold (Division I) Competition — 6000m — 1:20 p.m. CDT (11:20 a.m. PDT): 26 Teams, 328 Total Entries
Ranked Teams: Iowa State (2), Michigan State (6), Boise State (20), Minnesota (26), Cal (30)
Camille Dyer, Jamie Ferris, Mary Kriege, Kaitlyn Kuehn, Heather LaPlante, Allison Martinez, Bevin McCullough, Grayson Murphy, Hannah Wood
Murphy and Kriege finished in first and second place, respectively, as the women defeated Saint Mary's at the San Francisco State Quad Meet Thursday, Sept. 17 at Hellman Hollow Meadow. Murphy has been the fastest Bronco runner at both meets this season.
"It also is one of the more competitive early season meets in the country and will provide us with an opportunity to compete against the best and measure our progress this season," Montoro said. "The fields are very big and for some of our more inexperienced athletes it's a chance to learn about what it is like to be constantly surrounded by competitors where a few seconds can mean a big swing in points.
GO BRONCOS!