Roy Griak Invitational Preview
9/25/2014 12:00:00 AM | Cross Country
EAST LANSING, Mich. - After a week off, the Michigan State men's and women's cross country squads will return to action this weekend on Saturday, Sept. 27, at the 29th Annual Minnesota Roy Griak Invitational. The event will take place at Les Bolstad Golf Course in Minneapolis, beginning with the men's collegiate 8K race at 1:20 p.m., followed by the women's 6K race at approximately 2:10 p.m. ET.
"From both a men's and women's standpoint, this meet will be a good opportunity for both teams against some really solid competition with four to six ranked teams on each side," said assistant coach Lisa Senakiewich. "It's still early in the year, so we just want to go in and compete to our best ability."
The Spartan women's squad will enter Saturday's competition ranked third in the Division I Cross Country National Coaches Poll for the second straight week. MSU moved up three spots from its preseason No. 6 ranking after winning the Oregon Bill Dellinger Invitational on Sept. 5, followed by another strong performance at the Auto-Owners Insurance Spartan Invitational on Sept. 12.
Rachele Schulist and Leah O'Connor have led the early season charge for Michigan State as the duo has finished first and second in each of the past two meets. Schulist earned National and Big Ten Women's Athlete of the Week honors after winning the Dellinger Invitational with a time of 19:38. O'Connor was right behind her in second place with a time of 19:53 and Lindsay Clark (20:11) finished third. MSU had the top four individual finishers at the Spartan Invitational, led by O'Connor (21:03) and Schulist (21:05) in first and second place, respectively. Clark (21:19) and Sara Kroll (21:24) rounded out the top four for Michigan State. The Spartans are currently the No. 2 ranked squad in the NCAA Great Lakes Region behind top-ranked Michigan.
"The girls are ranked very high in all the polls right now, but I think they're smart enough to not look too much into that," stated Senakiewich. "I think they recognize that we're good, but they're staying motivated and still training at a really high level."
The Michigan State men's team is ranked No. 5 in the Great Lakes Region behind fellow Big Ten schools Indiana, Wisconsin and Michigan as well as Butler from the Big East. Returning 2013 All-American Caleb Rhynard has finished third in each of the past two events to lead the Spartans, who took second at the Bill Dellinger Invitational. Senior Ben Carruthers has also recorded back-to-back top 10 finishes for MSU, while sophomore Nick Moon was the Big Ten Athlete of the Week (Sept. 2) after winning the Central Michigan Jeff Drenth Memorial to open the season on Aug. 29.
"Our guys made nationals two years ago and we feel that this team is right on that level and can be even better," added Senakiewich. "They've been consistently training at a high level since the start of summer and have stayed committed to getting better every day. From a team and a coaching standpoint, that's huge."
Fans can watch both of Saturday's races via live video. For additional meet information, click here.
Players Mentioned
