University of St. Thomas Athletics
Friday, September 20
Falcon Heights, Minn. / Les Bolstad Course
10:00 a.m. Central
vs
Roy Griak Invitational
Photo by: Patrick Hart
Cross Country sends both teams to Griak Invite on Friday
9/18/2024 1:24:00 PM | Men's Cross Country, Women's Cross Country
Tommie men and women to run at same meet for first time this season
ST. PAUL, Minn. -- St. Thomas men's and women's cross country are both ready for their second meet of the season Friday as they will run at the Roy Griak Invitational hosted by the University of Minnesota.
The men begin the day with the 8K race at 10 a.m. in the Merrill Fischbein Men's Gold Competition followed by the women in the 6K race at 10:45 a.m. in the Jack Johnson Women's Gold Competition. These races will take place at the Les Bolstad Golf Course in Falcon Heights, Minn.
Live Results
Live results of the Roy Griak Invitational can be found HERE.
Season Opener Recaps
Men – Oz Memorial
Sophomore Max Westerlund paced St. Thomas men's cross country's season opener Aug. 30 as he took second at the Oz Memorial hosted by Minnesota at the Les Bolstad Golf Course.
Westerlund ran the 5,000-meter race in 16:04.8 to place second among 34 runners from St. Thomas, Minnesota and unattached runners. Sophomore Adam Lueth ran 16:20.0 to take 10th while freshman Ethan Foote placed 12th in 16:29.1 and junior Sean McNiesh took 13th in 16:30.7.
It was the first 5K race run by each of the St. Thomas runners, including seven freshmen.
Women – Phoenix Open
The senior duo of Ava Pankratz and Molly Desotell recorded top 10 finishes Sept. 6 during the St. Thomas cross country season opener at the Phoenix Open in Green Bay, Wis.
Pankratz led the Tommie pack with a sixth-place finish of 22:25.1 on the 6,000-meter course while Desotell placed 10th in 22:37.3. The Purple's top five, point-scoring runners included sophomore Elsie Kmecak who set a personal record of 22:57.6 to finish 16th overall and the freshmen duo of Sophie Yetter (23:12.2) in 22nd and Olivia Pauly (23:15.2) in 23rd.
As a team the Tommies placed third among 10 teams, tallying 77 total points. Winona State took the team win with 39 points, including two of the top three finishers, followed by Purdue Fort Wayne with 66 points.
2023 Roy Griak Review
The men and women both finished 15th of 18 teams at last year's Roy Griak Invitational. The men finished with an average time of 26:15.9 while the women finished with a collective time of 23:18.7 on the challenging, hilly course. Graduate student Colton Halla paced the men with a 60th place finish of 25:24.7 followed closely by senior Charlie Caven in 62nd with a time of 25:26.0, both improving their previous times at the Griak. Junior Molly Desotell led the Tommies, finishing 66th Friday with a time of 22:41.2, while four of the team's top five runners either set meet personal records or ran the race for the first time in their careers.
Up Next
Both teams will take a two-week hiatus from competition with their next meets schedule for Oct. 4. The men and women will both send student-athletes to the Joe Piane Invitational in South Bend, Ind., while the women will also send athletes to the Blugold Invite in Colfax, Wis.
Follow Along
For more information on St. Thomas Cross Country, follow along on X (formerly Twitter) at @TommieXCTF. For more information on St. Thomas Men's and Women's Cross Country, follow along on Instagram at @tommiemtfxc and @tommiewxctf
-- St. Thomas Athletics --
The men begin the day with the 8K race at 10 a.m. in the Merrill Fischbein Men's Gold Competition followed by the women in the 6K race at 10:45 a.m. in the Jack Johnson Women's Gold Competition. These races will take place at the Les Bolstad Golf Course in Falcon Heights, Minn.
Live Results
Live results of the Roy Griak Invitational can be found HERE.
Season Opener Recaps
Men – Oz Memorial
Sophomore Max Westerlund paced St. Thomas men's cross country's season opener Aug. 30 as he took second at the Oz Memorial hosted by Minnesota at the Les Bolstad Golf Course.
Westerlund ran the 5,000-meter race in 16:04.8 to place second among 34 runners from St. Thomas, Minnesota and unattached runners. Sophomore Adam Lueth ran 16:20.0 to take 10th while freshman Ethan Foote placed 12th in 16:29.1 and junior Sean McNiesh took 13th in 16:30.7.
It was the first 5K race run by each of the St. Thomas runners, including seven freshmen.
Women – Phoenix Open
The senior duo of Ava Pankratz and Molly Desotell recorded top 10 finishes Sept. 6 during the St. Thomas cross country season opener at the Phoenix Open in Green Bay, Wis.
Pankratz led the Tommie pack with a sixth-place finish of 22:25.1 on the 6,000-meter course while Desotell placed 10th in 22:37.3. The Purple's top five, point-scoring runners included sophomore Elsie Kmecak who set a personal record of 22:57.6 to finish 16th overall and the freshmen duo of Sophie Yetter (23:12.2) in 22nd and Olivia Pauly (23:15.2) in 23rd.
As a team the Tommies placed third among 10 teams, tallying 77 total points. Winona State took the team win with 39 points, including two of the top three finishers, followed by Purdue Fort Wayne with 66 points.
2023 Roy Griak Review
The men and women both finished 15th of 18 teams at last year's Roy Griak Invitational. The men finished with an average time of 26:15.9 while the women finished with a collective time of 23:18.7 on the challenging, hilly course. Graduate student Colton Halla paced the men with a 60th place finish of 25:24.7 followed closely by senior Charlie Caven in 62nd with a time of 25:26.0, both improving their previous times at the Griak. Junior Molly Desotell led the Tommies, finishing 66th Friday with a time of 22:41.2, while four of the team's top five runners either set meet personal records or ran the race for the first time in their careers.
Up Next
Both teams will take a two-week hiatus from competition with their next meets schedule for Oct. 4. The men and women will both send student-athletes to the Joe Piane Invitational in South Bend, Ind., while the women will also send athletes to the Blugold Invite in Colfax, Wis.
Follow Along
For more information on St. Thomas Cross Country, follow along on X (formerly Twitter) at @TommieXCTF. For more information on St. Thomas Men's and Women's Cross Country, follow along on Instagram at @tommiemtfxc and @tommiewxctf
-- St. Thomas Athletics --
Players Mentioned
/ Men's Cross Country
/ Women's Cross Country
/ Men's Cross Country
/ Men's Cross Country
/ Women's Cross Country
/ Men's Cross Country
/ Men's Cross Country
/ Women's Cross Country
/ Women's Cross Country
/ Men's Cross Country
/ Women's Cross Country
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