Griak Preview

Griak Preview HERE & HERE

Gopher Women at Griak Invitational

#Griak2017 pics are here.

📸👉 https://t.co/rXoR6xEPAO pic.twitter.com/eyx2H38Ydd

— Minnesota W TrackCC (@GopherWCCTF) September 23, 2017

Photo Gallery HERE

Edina's Max Manley first MN finisher in the Boy's Gold race

Edina's Max Manley(3671) on his way to a 6th place finish in the Boy's Gold race.
Trailed by Great Oak's Jacob Korgan(3767)
Photo by Gene Niemi

Lance Elliott's Griak Invitational Photo Album

Lance Elliott's Griak Invitational Photo Album HERE

Gene Neimi's Roy Griak Invitational Gopher Men Photo Album

                                                            Gopher men at the start

                                              Charlie Lawrence(38) in the chase pack

                                         Hamza Ali(42) battles UCLA's John Carter Blunt

Strength Beats Fear for U-Mary's Lexi Zeis

Lexi Zeis defends her Griak Title
Photo by Gene Neimi

U Mary's Lexi Zeis led from start to finish to defend her Griak Maroon DII title. It was more of a time trial than a race as UMD's Emi Trost is still recovering from a foot injury so she wasn't able to continue her rivalry with Zeis.  Both have won national championships and each missed the opportunity to challenge each other.

Zeis has two words tatooed on the back of her shoulder: Strength and Fear.  Strength overcomes the fear says Zeis, who was a national caliber ice skater before she got into running.  She used her mental strength to overcome any doubts she might have going into a competition and the strategy  has been effective.

Gene Niemi's Griak Invitational HS Photo Album

                                  

The pack in the Women's Gold HS Race.
Photo by Gene Niemi

Wayzata Boy's team sprint  toward  the finish
Photo by Gene Niemi

                                        Emily Covert on her way to the HS Girl's Gold Title.
                                                              Photo by Gene Niemi

                                                     Grace Ping. Photo by Gene Niemi

Emily Covert didn't devise an elaborate plan for the Griak girl's HS Gold race.  Her mission was simple.  Stick like glue to the lead pack.  Conserve energy for an attempt to break away from the others during the last mile.  She executed  the plan and was rewarded with her first victory over Grace Ping and Anna Fenske when the trio were running in the same race.

Her confidence boued, Covert will attempt to build on her success with continued improvement through the rest of the season in Minnesota, followed perhaps, by a chance to test herself against the best in the US.

In the boy's race, South Dakotan Derick Peters, who goes to West Central  HS, turned in one of, if not the most impressive performance on Saturday.  Seemingly oblivious to the hot, humid conditions, Peters not only won the 5K, he finished in 15:49.43 and he made it look easy.  "I was really nervous before the meet," Peters said.  "I don't know why." So much so that he couldn't finish the cheesecake he ordered at the hotel. Peters was hoping to finish it after the race.

Derek Peters striding toward the finish.
Photo by Gene Niemi

Peters wasn't expecting a fast time, he said, the objective was winning.  His race plan was to lay back early and to use what he considered to be his strength, running on the hills, where he planned to push the pace going up and down.  Many of the hills were in the later part of the run, fitting into his plan to use that to his advantage. He began the race a bit faster than he'd planned, but he still felt good.  So, instead of slowing down, Peters tried a unique strategy to keep up his rapid tempo.

Eventual runner-up, Dowling Catholic's Matthew Carmody, was in front of the lead pack, and Peters passed him.  Instead of blowing past Carmody, however,  he tried to enlist him instead.  "He was encouraging me," said Carmody.

The reason for this unusual tactic was that Peters believed  two in the lead was better than just one. The tandem attack didn't last for long, though as Peters dropped Carmody when he charged up one of the hills and was on his own for the rest of the race. He looked back at times to make sure that nobody was sneaking up on him.  Peters could obviously have run faster had that been the goal.

Roy Griak Invitational Results

Roy Griak Invitational Results HERE

Gopher women wear message of support on their legs; "Brave like Gabe"
Photo by Doug Hasz

The runners weren't the only ones who had issues with the heat:

Still UNOFFICIAL as we sort through back-up video. Had some heat related timing issues with the chips.

— Sarah Hopkins (@MNXCCoachHop) September 24, 2017

Three Griak winners selected as USTFCCCA AOW

Three Griak winners selected as USTFCCCA Athletes of the Week
Maya Weigel, Lexi Zeis and Brenna Peloquin

Recap from Griak Gold Women's DI Race Winner Brenna Peloquin

Recap from Griak Gold Women's DI Race  winner Brenna Peloquin HERE
Pre-race story on Peloquin from FloTrack HERE.

Recap from Men's Gold DI Winner Jerrell Mock and his Coach

Recap from Griak Men's Gold DI Winner Jerrell Mock and his Coach HERE

Lance Elliott Griak Invitational Photo Gallery

Lance Elliott Griak Invitational Photo Gallery HERE

Emily's Pictures: Photo Gallery from the Griak Invitational

Emily's Pictures: Photo Gallery from the Griak Invitational HERE

Gene Niemi's Griak Photo Gallery

Kimber Meyer attempting to catch Maya Weigel
Photo by Gene Niemi

Obsa Ali(1) and Matt Welch(9) driving toward the finish.
Photo by Gene Niemi

Brenna Colbenson(743) and Ida Narbuvoll(19)
Photo by Gene Niemi

Breanna Colbenson(1743), Emi Trost(1758), and Lexi Zeis

Jerrell Mock(93) and Aaron Baumgarten(196) sprint for the finish

Brenna Peloquin(476) takes the lead from Erin Finn(602)

Griak Maroon DII Races

Kevin Lewis(1468) leads the Maroon DII race.  Lakelhead  U's Kevin Tree(1147)
won the race. Photo by Gene Niemi

Fourth place men's finisher Kevin Lewis, an All American while at Iowa where he ran 13:43 for 5K on the track , tried to run away with the race early.  He couldn't hold that pace because, he said, his training isn't where it should be to run fast.  "I'm out of shape," he declared, and he hopes to figure out how to get in two runs a day as well as keep up with his 40 hour work week.  (Des Moines Register story on Lewis HERE)

"This course is tough on a good day," said Griak Maroon DII Men's champion Kevin Tree.  The slippery conditions on the "soft," rain soaked turf, and that this was his first race of the XC season dictated his conservative approach, waiting until late to make his move. The race was his "rust buster," and bodes well for the rest of the season.

WOMEN

Lexi Zeis(1954) and Emi Trost battle during the first half of the race.
Photo by Gene Niemi

Defending NCAA DII cross country champion Lexi Zeis demonstrated that her training is just fine.  She broke away from UMD's Emi Trost between 3 and 4K and never looked back.  She had black kinesio tape over her collarbone and down her back to help her deal with a structural abnormality and a habit of slouching when she ran which resulted in "losing feeling in my arms and hands."  Xeis didn't have that problem on Saturday, but her legs did get a bit "heavy" late in the race because of the sloppy footing in spots. But she kept the lead and helped U-Mary win the team title over defending champion UMD by two points.

 Trost, who finished second, said that: "the last K it felt like I was going in slow motion.  She is coming back from an injury that cost her the 2016 outdoor track season, Peroneal tendonitis. It's described as a "a rare but aggravating injury that can cause pain on the outside of your foot and up the outside of your lower leg when you run." "A lot of injuries you can push through," she said.  This wasn't one of them.

She did cross training. Swam with a "boot" that covered her ankle and foot, used an eliptical trainer, until she was finally able to do some running barefoot on grass.  Next step being gradually working up to doing more mileage.  She used the time to "get strong," working on the legs, feet, and hips. With the XC season in progress, the final step is to stay injury free and get stronger and faster as the season progresses. 

Summaries
U-Mary Women's summary HERE. Men's summary HERE
UMD Women's summary HERE. Men's HERE

MSU Moorhead summary is HERE
Winona State Women's summary HERE. Men's HERE

MSU Mankato Men's summary HERE. Women's HERE
St. Cloud State Women's summary HERE
Concordia St Paul summary HERE
SMSU summary HERE.
Bemidji State summary not available yet

Other Results:
Minnesota Running Club women 31st. Women 22nd.
No results online on the MRC web site or Twitter.

The Griak: Photos by Gene Niemi

Kids Run. Photo by Gene Niemi

Hall of Fame Banners. Photo by Gene Niemi

The Roy Stone. Photo by Gene Niemi

Mushing through the muck. Photo by Gene Niemi

Traffic jam. Photo by Gene Niemi

UTFCCCA Griak Preview

UTFCCCA Griak Preview HERE

Griak NCAA DII Preview

Big test for the men at the Roy Griak Invitational this weekend – the D2 field will feature 6 teams ranked or receiving votes! pic.twitter.com/VbkAr7QKbt

— Augustana Track/XC (@AugustanaTrack) September 23, 2016

Gopher Men's Griak Preview

Gopher Men's Griak Preview HERE and HERE

Gopher Women's Griak Preview

Gopher Women's Griak Preview HERE and HERE

Photo courtesy of University of Minnesota