Roy Griak Invitational Meet Notes
TEMPE – The Sun Devil cross country program heads north to Minnesota for its biggest challenge of the season as the two squads will line up against a contingent of some of the nation's top-ranked teams at the Roy Griak Invitational Saturday.
Arizona State is one of 20 teams scheduled to toe the line at the Les Bolstad Golf Course. The entries include eighth-ranked San Francisco and No. 19 host Minnesota on the women's side, Nos. 18 and 20 men's squads Colorado State and UCLA, and a couple of programs that are ranked on both sides in Michigan State (M. 25/W. 20) and Iowa State (13/23).
"It's kind of what a lot of cross country coaches call the 'kickoff weekend' in order to be viable and competitive to get to the national meet," head coach Jeremy Rasmussen said. "In terms of what we want to see and how we want to walk away from this weekend, for our men, it's about making the next step forward.
"Last race, we didn't do a great job of doing what we talked about, so we want to go out and execute well and be able to walk away from the course feeling confident in the ability to work together and move through the field. The field is usually a very large field so being able to manage and navigate through that is going to be super important for them," Rasmussen said.
The 8k and 6k races for the men and women will be ASU's longest of the season, but nothing new for the Sun Devils. The distances for the meet in Minneapolis are the same as the Pac-12 Championships, and two kilometers short of the NCAA West Regional and NCAA Championships distances.
Although ASU didn't make the trip to the Gopher State in either of the past two campaigns, The Sun Devils competed there in back-to-back seasons from 2013-14.
The time between entries means only two Sun Devils on the current roster have run the course collegiately in Chelsey Albertson, who finished 106th in 2013, and Bernie Montoya who finished 28th in both of his appearances.
"We've kind of faced the same teams these first two meets, so we're getting out of our comfort zone – not only from a competitive standpoint, but also the course is going to be a challenge, the environment is going to be a challenge and we have a lot of new and young individuals running in this," Rasmussen said.
Despite the lack of experience on the course collegiately, Sun Devil junior Samantha Ortega ran in the Roy Griak Invitational in high school.
"On the women's side, it's a little bit different in terms of what we're looking for out of them," Rasmussen said. "It's about trying to beat as many teams as we can, but also put us in a position to walk away and truly build momentum as we head into the championship part of the season."
The women have earned two second-place team finishes so far this season, but the race in Minnesota will pit the women of ASU against its toughest opponents of the 2017 gauntlet.
The Roy Griak Invitational will be streamed live on FloTrack with a valid subscription.
What to Watch For
The races this weekend in Minnesota will undoubtedly be the Sun Devils' toughest outing of the year so far, but both squads will be as close to full strength as they have been this season.
While the Sun Devil men have already raced the top-ranked Lumberjacks of NAU, the meet in the Land of 10,000 Lakes features four top-30 teams and another receiving votes.
As for the women, the Dons of San Francisco are the highest-ranked of the four top-30 teams entered.
This will be the first meet of the season that will be available on a live stream, brought to fans by FloTrack.
The women introduce Daan Haven back into the lineup after she was held out at the Dave Murray Invitational.
Anna Pruter is the only Sun Devil who has finished in the top-10 in both competitions this year. She finished ninth at both the George Kyte Classic and Dave Murray Invitational.
Chelsey Albertson finished just four-seconds off the win in her season debut and Cecile Lejeune and Samantha Ortega finished just behind her in fifth and sixth, respectively.
It was Ortega's first cross country race since 2015.
On the men's side, team captain John Reniewicki will likely lead the way for the Devils just like he did in Tucson, but the Sun Devil top-five, beyond Reniewicki, has yet to establish an order with freshman Jackson Lewis and Nick Dale as the only other Sun Devils to score for ASU in each of the Sun Devils' first two races. Dale was the top-finisher in Flagstaff, then was the No. 3 man in Tucson, while Lewis was the Devils' No. 4 and 3, respectively.
Albertson Carries Women to Second-Place Finish in Tucson
Senior Chelsey Albertson led the Sun Devil women to a runner-up finish with 32 points at the Dave Murray Invitational when she crossed the line in second-place Friday in Tucson.
Albertson made her season debut, but looked in mid-season form as she ran with the leaders for the entire race and clocked a 14:04.3 in the 4k race at the Randolph Golf Course.
All five of ASU's scorers finished in the top-10, including newcomer Cecile Lejeune, Samantha Ortega, Anna Pruter and Alexis Nichols.
Lejeune didn't disappoint in her highly anticipated Sun Devil debut. The France international crossed the line in fifth in 14:33.3. Pruter picked up where she left off two weeks ago in Flagstaff where she took ninth and earned another ninth-place finish Friday.
Ortega laced up for her first cross country race since 2015 and ran a 14:40.7, good enough for sixth overall.
Nichols took 10th, true freshman Angela Saitta finished 13th, Billie Jo Dytrt 16th, Emily Gallegos-Francksen 17th and freshman Anastasia Hancock finished 23rd.
The men opened the day of competition with a 6k race that saw senior John Reniewicki take fourth in his season debut.
Reniewicki was a part of the lead pack that broke away early. He ran in fifth for most of the race and moved up into third after the second loop around the course before ultimately grabbing the fourth-place finish with a time of 19:41.9.
Ryan Normand (11), Jackson Lewis (12), Nick Dale (14) and Erik Gonzalez (16) rounded out the Sun Devil top-five. Brandon Boys finished just behind the freshman Gonzalez in 17th and Michael Renner took 24th. The men finished third with 57 points.
Sun Devil Entries – Roy Griak
Men: Brandon Boys, Nick Dale, Erik Gonzalez, Ryan Normand, Jackson Lewis, John Reniewicki, Michael Renner
Women: Chelsey Albertson, Billie Jo Dytrt, Daan Haven, Cecile Lejeune, Courtney Lewis, Alexis Nichols, Samantha Ortega, Anna Pruter, Angela Saitta
Sun Devil Women Remain in Top-10 Regionally
After finishing second at the Dave Murray Invitational in Tucson this past weekend, the Arizona State Sun Devil women's cross country team held onto a top-10 rank in the USTFCCCA's West Regional ranking.
ASU swapped spots with Arizona and entered the week at No. 9.
The Pac-12 continues to dominate the West Region, claiming all but three of the top-10 spots in the region, with Oregon and Stanford leading the way at Nos. 1 and 2, respectively.
On the men's side, the Sun Devils fell two spots to make room for a surging Grand Canyon team and Dave Murray Invitational champion Arizona.
Coming in at 14, ASU is one of eight Pac-12 squads in the top-15, along with Stanford, Oregon and Washington State, who once again are the top-three teams in the region.
Sun Devil XC to Host ASU Invitational in October
Arizona State's annual home meet the ASU Invitational is back for the 2017 season and scheduled for Oct. 20 at the Karsten Golf Course.
The men's four-mile and women's three-mile runs will begin at 8:30 and 9:15 a.m. Friday morning. A course map and complete meet information is available online at thesundevils.com.
Teams interested in competing in the events can enter online at direct athletics, and individuals can do so by contacting the meet director Jeremy Rasmussen.
All entries must be submitted by Oct. 16 at 5 p.m. PT and entries will be considered final. The opening day for entries will be Oct. 1 at 10 a.m. PT.
More information about the meet is available online on the Sun Devil cross country page at thesundevils.com.
TEMPE – The Sun Devil cross country program heads north to Minnesota for its biggest challenge of the season as the two squads will line up against a contingent of some of the nation's top-ranked teams at the Roy Griak Invitational Saturday.
Arizona State is one of 20 teams scheduled to toe the line at the Les Bolstad Golf Course. The entries include eighth-ranked San Francisco and No. 19 host Minnesota on the women's side, Nos. 18 and 20 men's squads Colorado State and UCLA, and a couple of programs that are ranked on both sides in Michigan State (M. 25/W. 20) and Iowa State (13/23).
"It's kind of what a lot of cross country coaches call the 'kickoff weekend' in order to be viable and competitive to get to the national meet," head coach Jeremy Rasmussen said. "In terms of what we want to see and how we want to walk away from this weekend, for our men, it's about making the next step forward.
"Last race, we didn't do a great job of doing what we talked about, so we want to go out and execute well and be able to walk away from the course feeling confident in the ability to work together and move through the field. The field is usually a very large field so being able to manage and navigate through that is going to be super important for them," Rasmussen said.
The 8k and 6k races for the men and women will be ASU's longest of the season, but nothing new for the Sun Devils. The distances for the meet in Minneapolis are the same as the Pac-12 Championships, and two kilometers short of the NCAA West Regional and NCAA Championships distances.
Although ASU didn't make the trip to the Gopher State in either of the past two campaigns, The Sun Devils competed there in back-to-back seasons from 2013-14.
The time between entries means only two Sun Devils on the current roster have run the course collegiately in Chelsey Albertson, who finished 106th in 2013, and Bernie Montoya who finished 28th in both of his appearances.
"We've kind of faced the same teams these first two meets, so we're getting out of our comfort zone – not only from a competitive standpoint, but also the course is going to be a challenge, the environment is going to be a challenge and we have a lot of new and young individuals running in this," Rasmussen said.
Despite the lack of experience on the course collegiately, Sun Devil junior Samantha Ortega ran in the Roy Griak Invitational in high school.
"On the women's side, it's a little bit different in terms of what we're looking for out of them," Rasmussen said. "It's about trying to beat as many teams as we can, but also put us in a position to walk away and truly build momentum as we head into the championship part of the season."
The women have earned two second-place team finishes so far this season, but the race in Minnesota will pit the women of ASU against its toughest opponents of the 2017 gauntlet.
The Roy Griak Invitational will be streamed live on FloTrack with a valid subscription.
What to Watch For
The races this weekend in Minnesota will undoubtedly be the Sun Devils' toughest outing of the year so far, but both squads will be as close to full strength as they have been this season.
While the Sun Devil men have already raced the top-ranked Lumberjacks of NAU, the meet in the Land of 10,000 Lakes features four top-30 teams and another receiving votes.
As for the women, the Dons of San Francisco are the highest-ranked of the four top-30 teams entered.
This will be the first meet of the season that will be available on a live stream, brought to fans by FloTrack.
The women introduce Daan Haven back into the lineup after she was held out at the Dave Murray Invitational.
Anna Pruter is the only Sun Devil who has finished in the top-10 in both competitions this year. She finished ninth at both the George Kyte Classic and Dave Murray Invitational.
Chelsey Albertson finished just four-seconds off the win in her season debut and Cecile Lejeune and Samantha Ortega finished just behind her in fifth and sixth, respectively.
It was Ortega's first cross country race since 2015.
On the men's side, team captain John Reniewicki will likely lead the way for the Devils just like he did in Tucson, but the Sun Devil top-five, beyond Reniewicki, has yet to establish an order with freshman Jackson Lewis and Nick Dale as the only other Sun Devils to score for ASU in each of the Sun Devils' first two races. Dale was the top-finisher in Flagstaff, then was the No. 3 man in Tucson, while Lewis was the Devils' No. 4 and 3, respectively.
Albertson Carries Women to Second-Place Finish in Tucson
Senior Chelsey Albertson led the Sun Devil women to a runner-up finish with 32 points at the Dave Murray Invitational when she crossed the line in second-place Friday in Tucson.
Albertson made her season debut, but looked in mid-season form as she ran with the leaders for the entire race and clocked a 14:04.3 in the 4k race at the Randolph Golf Course.
All five of ASU's scorers finished in the top-10, including newcomer Cecile Lejeune, Samantha Ortega, Anna Pruter and Alexis Nichols.
Lejeune didn't disappoint in her highly anticipated Sun Devil debut. The France international crossed the line in fifth in 14:33.3. Pruter picked up where she left off two weeks ago in Flagstaff where she took ninth and earned another ninth-place finish Friday.
Ortega laced up for her first cross country race since 2015 and ran a 14:40.7, good enough for sixth overall.
Nichols took 10th, true freshman Angela Saitta finished 13th, Billie Jo Dytrt 16th, Emily Gallegos-Francksen 17th and freshman Anastasia Hancock finished 23rd.
The men opened the day of competition with a 6k race that saw senior John Reniewicki take fourth in his season debut.
Reniewicki was a part of the lead pack that broke away early. He ran in fifth for most of the race and moved up into third after the second loop around the course before ultimately grabbing the fourth-place finish with a time of 19:41.9.
Ryan Normand (11), Jackson Lewis (12), Nick Dale (14) and Erik Gonzalez (16) rounded out the Sun Devil top-five. Brandon Boys finished just behind the freshman Gonzalez in 17th and Michael Renner took 24th. The men finished third with 57 points.
Sun Devil Entries – Roy Griak
Men: Brandon Boys, Nick Dale, Erik Gonzalez, Ryan Normand, Jackson Lewis, John Reniewicki, Michael Renner
Women: Chelsey Albertson, Billie Jo Dytrt, Daan Haven, Cecile Lejeune, Courtney Lewis, Alexis Nichols, Samantha Ortega, Anna Pruter, Angela Saitta
Sun Devil Women Remain in Top-10 Regionally
After finishing second at the Dave Murray Invitational in Tucson this past weekend, the Arizona State Sun Devil women's cross country team held onto a top-10 rank in the USTFCCCA's West Regional ranking.
ASU swapped spots with Arizona and entered the week at No. 9.
The Pac-12 continues to dominate the West Region, claiming all but three of the top-10 spots in the region, with Oregon and Stanford leading the way at Nos. 1 and 2, respectively.
On the men's side, the Sun Devils fell two spots to make room for a surging Grand Canyon team and Dave Murray Invitational champion Arizona.
Coming in at 14, ASU is one of eight Pac-12 squads in the top-15, along with Stanford, Oregon and Washington State, who once again are the top-three teams in the region.
Sun Devil XC to Host ASU Invitational in October
Arizona State's annual home meet the ASU Invitational is back for the 2017 season and scheduled for Oct. 20 at the Karsten Golf Course.
The men's four-mile and women's three-mile runs will begin at 8:30 and 9:15 a.m. Friday morning. A course map and complete meet information is available online at thesundevils.com.
Teams interested in competing in the events can enter online at direct athletics, and individuals can do so by contacting the meet director Jeremy Rasmussen.
All entries must be submitted by Oct. 16 at 5 p.m. PT and entries will be considered final. The opening day for entries will be Oct. 1 at 10 a.m. PT.
More information about the meet is available online on the Sun Devil cross country page at thesundevils.com.