Minnesota Women Drop to #9, Men to #29

The Golden Gopher teams dropped a little and a lot, respectively, in the latest NCAA Division I cross country polls released today.

The Minnesota women, who lost 31-48 to Iowa State at last Saturday's Griak Invitational, dropped one spot in the rankings to #9. The Gopher women remain the top-ranked Big Ten team in the poll, although Illinois looms at #10.

The Gopher men, who finished 4th at Griak while running without injured Mike Torchia, dropped 12 places in to poll to #29. The Gophers are the third-ranked Big Ten team in the poll, behind #4 Wisconsin and #23 Michigan.

Find the full women's rankings HERE and the men's HERE.

Duwell, Mead Honored ... Gopher stars Megan Duwell and Hassan Mead were named Big Ten Cross Country Runners of the Week, the conference announced today.

Duwell, a senior from West Bend, Wisconsin, won the Griak Invitational title in the women's Gold Division race in 21:01. Duwell topped Iowa State's Lisa Koll -- the fastest American collegian ever at 10,000 meters on the track -- by 12 seconds in the race.

Mead won the Griak title in the men's Gold Division with a 24:38 clocking, winning by 13 seconds over Iowa State's Guor Majak.

The paired Gopher victories were unprecedented in the 24-year Griak Invitational history, Until last Saturday, Rasa Michnoivaite had been the lone Gopher titlist at the meet.