FALCON HEIGHTS, Minn. – Cruising to the biggest win of her young career, University of Mary All-American Alexis Zeis captured the prestigious Roy Griak Invitational. The sophomore captured the women's Maroon Division II titles by nearly 13 seconds and the Marauders women's cross country team placed fifth.
The Marauders men's harriers had their best performance at the Griak, placing eighth out of 37 teams as senior
Chris Jessop took 12
th individually.
"As I am on the bus ride home from Minneapolis/Saint Paul, Minn., and the 30th Roy Griak Invitational, I reflect upon what a GREAT day it is to be a Marauder at the University of Mary," wrote Marauders head men's and women's cross country coach
Dennis Newell. "We showed something special today. Our training has us fit and our team cohesion has created a family and community atmosphere within the TEAM. The result of today will give us confidence on what we are doing daily, and the faith to continue down the path we have chosen. We have some things we need to maintain, and also some areas we need to improve upon in the coming weeks. I like the direction we are going and we need to continue to find creative ways to continue to get better on and off the cross country course.
"Today was the fifth consecutive top five finish for our women at the Roy Griak Invitational, with our first-ever school champion in U-Mary history. Our men earned the highest finish in our universities history today with an 8
th place finish. These are positives to build upon as we move forward.
Zeis covered the 6,000 meter course in a scintillating time of 22:13.6. The next closest competitor was Moriah Palmer of Wisconsin-Parkside, who posted a time of 22:26.2. Since joining the Marauders last season, the Bismarck, N.D., native has been the team's top finisher each time out.
"Lexi Zeis had a very good day up front today to lead the women's team," said Newell. "Any time you have a student athlete win a competition of this magnitude, it deserves to be recognized. This was simply a remarkable performance from Lexi. We performed well in the middle with some great efforts by sophomore Katelynn Engh, freshman Jaiden Schuette, sophomore Kaycie Stewart and junior Chelsea Bennis. We need to move this group and our next group up so our depth is stronger when we come back to this course for the Northern Sun championships on October 24."
This was the fifth straight year the Marauders women's squad has finished in the top five of the Griak, one of the top meets in the country. Engh claimed 23
rd for U-Mary in a time of 23:38.5 and Schuette posted a clocking of 24:04.6 to take 30
th and give the Marauders three runners in the top 30. Also scoring for U-Mary was Stewart in 48
th place overall (24:29.9) while Bennis was 75
th in 24:55.5.
After missing last season, Jessop led the men's squad for a second straight outing. The senior from Corvallis, Mont., ran the 8,000 meter course in 26:32. He was second among competitors from the Northern Sun.
Two other Marauders placed in the top 50. Sophomore
Kevin Carpenter raced through the course in 27:08 to place 35
th and senior
Thomas Neale took 46
th in 27:28. Also scoring for U-Mary was junior
Steven Gordon, who took 70
th overall in 27:45, and sophomore
Tyler Erickson (28:32) was 131
st.
"The men were led by
Chris Jessop and he looked very strong today," said Newell. "Chris is very fit and is getting his legs back under him each week more and more from a year off. The men looked good in the middle with Carpenter, Neale and Gordon. However, we need to close some gaps and get the back end pulled back in to the group before we enter our Championship racing season in four weeks' time.
"Overall, I was very proud today to see the efforts on such a large stage. We will continue to train hard, come together as a family, and grow in our faith in each other and in God. At the end of the day, we want to train hard to perform well, but more importantly we are learning the values of living life as a GREAT human beings."
The Marauders return to action at the Jimmie Open on Oct. 9.
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