Friday Morning Harrier Round-Up ...

Here's a quick round-up of links and information as a big weekend of cross country approaches ...

Meet Roy Griak ... The U of M media folks published THIS Q/A with former Gopher men's cross country and track coach Roy Griak.

Griak High School Teams ... The best listing of the top teams for across the Midwest that are converging on the Griak Invitational tomorrow can be found on THIS page of Dyestat's "Minnesota Talk" section. The ever-thorough "KenA55" can be thanked for the effort.

In a nutshell, eight top-ten-ranked Heartland Region boys teams will battle in the Griak Gold HS race -- Heartland #2 Bismarck (ND), #3 Wayzata, #4 Burlington (IA), #5 Iowa City, #6 Edina, #7 Marquette University HS (WI), #8 Pleasant Valley (IA), and #10 Iowa City West.

(Heartland #1 Eden Prairie is racing at Apple Valley's Eagle Invitational this weekend.)

The girls' side of the competition isn't quite as loaded, although Heartland #1 Des Moines Dowling and #2 Iowa City High will battle on the Bolstad grass. Heartland #8 Sioux Falls Roosevelt is the only other top-ten ranked team in the competition.

Milaca Mega-Meet ... The Griak isn't the only big cross country meet taking place this weekend. You can see the starting line assignments for all four varsity divisions of the Milaca Mega-Meet HERE.

Latest D2 and D3 Polls ... There were some minor readjustments, by and large, for Minnesota teams in the NCAA Divsion II and III cross country polls this week.

The Minnesota State - Mankato men dropped two places to #11 this week. The Minnesota - Duluth women fell one spot to #10.

In D3, Bethel University rose three spots to #10 in the women's poll. The St. Thomas women dropped three spots to #14, while Carleton held steady at #19.

St. John's University slid four places to #24 in the D3 men's poll. St. Olaf, which was #32 last week, fell out of the rankings.

Find complete collegiate ranking details HERE.