Women place 16th, men finish 18th at Roy Griak Invitational
For the first time this season, the Central Michigan cross country program laid down their top seven cards for its first scored meet of the season Saturday during the 25th annual Roy Griak Invitational in Minneapolis, Minn.
A number of teams were on display at the Les Bolstad Golf Course, giving CMU an opportunity to see where it matched up against other teams from around the country.
Junior Raeanne Lohner emerged as the leader once again for the Chippewas, finishing the 5k in 21 minutes and 45 seconds, good for 26th place.
She helped lead the women’s team to a 16th place finish with 441 points.
“It was good to get a real race under my belt,” Lohner said. “Now I know what to expect the rest of the way.”
CMU director of cross country Willie Randolph said the women’s team started off stronger compared to the two earlier meets.
But freshman Krista Parks, who finished 22nd at the Spartan Invitational on Sept. 17 did not finish due to a medical issue.
“She is going to be fine, we don’t expect any lost time for her,” Randolph said.
Other finishers on the women’s side included senior Kylee Kubacki placing 83rd (22:41), junior Holly Anderson 90th (22:45) and senior Danielle Dakroub coming in 95th (22:49).
The women’s team from Arizona University took first place with 76 points. Minnesota finished in seventh place with 185 points. Toledo again was the first MAC team to finish at 13th place with 285 points.
Men
Senior Chris Pankow paced the way for the men’s team in the 8k race, crossing the line in 70th place in 20:45. The men placed 18th, finishing with 503 points.
“Chris had a pretty solid performance, showing his leadership mentally and physically,” Randolph said.
Freshman Nathan Huff showed a lot promise in his first ever collegiate race, finishing 115th place with a time of 26:47. Sophomore Jason Drudge finished 87th in (26:06), senior Cory Arnold finished 102nd (26:19) and freshman Zach Tranter came in 129th (27:07).
Duke University finished in first place with 79 points, while host Minnesota finished fifth with 131 points.
The University of Toledo was the first Mid-American Conference team to finish, placing 16th place with 454 points.
The Chippewas are off for two weeks before they head to the Michigan Intercollegiate Championships in Rochester, Mich., on Oct. 8.
