Saturday was Roy Griak Day in Minneapolis

If Saturday seemed like a good day for track and field, that might have been because Minneapolis mayor R.T. Rybak had declared it "Roy Griak Day."

As part of the the 40th anniversary reunion and celebration of the University of Minnesota's 1968 Big Ten outdoor track and field championship, former Golden Gopher coach Roy Griak was honored by his former athletes with an official proclamation from the Minneapolis mayor naming July 19, 2008 as “Roy Griak Day in the city of Minneapolis."

Thirty-five members of the 1968 squad returned to the University of Minnesota for the reunion, which proved to be as much an appreciation of Griak (pictured front row, center) as a celebration of the team's surprise one-point victory in the meet, held at Memorial Stadium.

Photo of the 1968 team in 2008 by Charlie Mahler -- click to enlarge.