Men Have Strong Finish at Roy Griak Invitational
Sept. 24, 2005
LAWRENCE, Kan. –
The <?xml:namespace prefix=”st1″ ns=”urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags”?>University of Kansas men’s cross country team beat three ranked teams on Saturday en route to an eighth place finish at the 20th annual Roy Griak Invitational in Minneapolis, Minn. Arizona State, Providence, and Butler, ranked 11th, 27th, and 17th, respectively, all finished behind the Jayhawks. Kansas also finished just three points behind the 25th-ranked University of Minnesota Golden Gophers. BYU, ranked fifth in the nation, was the overall team winner.
<?xml:namespace prefix=”o” ns=”urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office”?>
In his first race of the season, junior Benson Chesang had another excellent performance. He finished the race as the second overall finisher in an 8k time of 24:05. Wisconsin’s Simon Bairu, last year’s NCAA cross country champion, was the only runner to beat Chesang. Sophomore Colby Wissel continued his impressive start to the season with a 22nd place finish.
“Overall, I think we did really well,” commented Head Coach Stanley Redwine after the meet. “We need to continue to build on this result. Our goal at the end of the year is to place in the NCAAs. We just need to continue to work hard and hopefully we’ll be there at the end of the season.”
The women’s team finished 26th in the 6k race. Sophomore Connie Abbott was the top Jayhawk finisher, finishing 116th in a time of 23:16. The next finisher for KU was sophomore Lisa Morrisey, who finished 144th out of 287 runners in a time of 23:43.
“I expected us to do better,” commented Coach Redwine. “We need to try and pack a little better during our races.”
The Jayhawks will be off until October 15 when they travel to Terre Haute, Ind., for NCAA Pre-Nationals.
