Wissel, Hefferon Lead Jayhawks at Roy Griak
Sept. 29, 2007
FALCON HEIGHTS, Minn. –
Competing in one of the largest and most competitive meets of the season, the University of Kansas men’s cross country team placed 13th out of 23 teams at the Roy Griak Invitational on Saturday at the Les Bolstad Golf Course in Falcon Heights, Minn. The Jayhawk women placed 16th out of 26 teams.<?xml:namespace prefix=”o” ns=”urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office”?>
The men were once again led by Senior Colby Wissel as he finished three spots up from last year to finish seventh. His time of 24:42 was also an improvement of last season’s Roy Griak time of 24:53.8. Fellow Senior Paul Hefferon was not far behind as he finished 18th in the 8K race (24:55).
There was a wide gap between the Jayhawks’ No. 2 and No. 3 runner Bret Imgrund. The sophomore improved his place and time greatly from a year ago by finishing in 82nd place, 181 spots better than last year, with a time of 26:09, an improvement of just over two minutes.
“Anytime you have two All-American’s they are going to create a gap between your No. 2 and No. 3 (runners),” Head Coach Stanley Redwine said. “There was definitely more gap than expected, but it was a combination of things. Paul and Colby ran well and they ran more to their potential than the other guys.”
A pair of freshman rounded out the <?xml:namespace prefix=”st1″ ns=”urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags”?>Kansas scoring. Nick Caprario finished 102nd with a personal best time of 26:35. Dan Van Orsdel was right behind with a place of 106 (26:42).
The women’s team was led by sophomore Lauren Bonds. The Hutchinson, Kan. native covered the 6K course in a personal best time of 22:47 while placing 57th.
Three seniors were next to finish for the Jayhawks as Hayley Harbert (87th, 23:28), Alicia McGregor (94th, 23:35) and Lisa Morrisey (102nd, 23:45) were all within 17 seconds of each other. Sophomore Allison Knoll was the fifth finisher for the Jayhawks placing 110th.
Redwine was pleased with the improvement of the women’s team after finishing 23rd a year ago.
“They ran better as a team,” Redwine said. “They competed better and there is room to get better, but I think they are moving in the right direction.”
The 22nd annual Roy Griak Invitational was the largest race in its history with approximately 4,000 student-athletes making up 350 teams in ten separate races (four high school and six collegiate). Kansas competed in the Gold Division comprised of mostly NCAA Division I schools.
Lopez Lomong of Northern Arizona won the men’s competition (24:05) while Emily Harrison of Virginia took home the women’s title (20:52).
Kansas will now have two weeks to prepare for the NCAA Pre-Nationals Invitational in Terre Haute, Ind. on Oct. 13th.
Kansas Men Results
7 Colby Wissel 24:42
18 Paul Hefferon 24:55
82 Bret Imgrund 26:09
102 Nick Caprario 26:35
106 Dan Van Orsdel 26:42
(121) Jason Schweitzer 27:01
(148) Patrick McGowan 28:18
Kansas Women Results
57 Lauren Bonds 22:47
87 Hayley Harbert 23:28
94 Alicia McGregor 23:35
102 Lisa Morrisey 23:45
110 Allison Knoll 23:57
122 Amanda Miller 24:10
127 Megan James 24:14
