Cross country ready for first scored meet of season
After sitting out at the Spartan Invite, CMU’s top runners will compete Saturday at the Roy Griak Invite.
The Chippewas will have seniors Nate Ghena, Silas Dekalita and sophomore Emmanuel Joesph returning for the men’s team. Seniors Breanne Lesnar and Alyssa Dyer return for the women’s team along with junior Michaela Bundy and sophomore Kirsten Olling.
The Roy Griak Invite marks the first scored meet of the season for the Chippewas.
The men’s team will not face against any other Mid-American Conference competition, while the women will compete with Northern Illinois University.
“They have a couple national level ladies on their roster,” said Head Coach Matt Kaczor. “We will have to see how our top five stacks up against their top five.
Newcomers Samantha Allmacher and Megan O’Neil have earned the opportunity to run Saturday for the women’s team. Luke Anderson, Mark Bechman and Ben Yagiela have been training with the top six for the men’s team and will run on Saturday as well.
“Hopefully they can follow their upperclassmen’s lead and help the team to a top-half finish,” Kaczor said.
The race starts at 9 a.m. and takes place at Les Bolstad Golf Course in Falcon Heights, Minnesota.
Roy Griak served as the head coach of the Minnesota men’s cross country team from 1963-1996 and lead the Golden Gophers to three Big Ten titles.
