The Drake men’s and women’s cross country teams placed 14th and 16th, respectively, at the Roy Griak Invitational on Saturday in Falcon Heights, Minn.
Junior Brogan Austin led the Drake men, clocking 25:52 for 42nd place.
Though all seven Drake participants finished within the Top-100, Austin noted the Bulldogs’ rocky performance.
“It wasn’t a pretty meet for us,” he said. “We had a lot of high expectations, and not everything panned out the way we had planned. We had some good workouts leading up to the meet, but we were just a little flat.”
Fifth-year senior Charlie Lapham took 67th place with a time of 26:22. Freshman Rob McCann finished eight seconds behind Lapham to complete Drake’s top three.
Minnesota won the team title with 67 points. Drake tallied 349 points.
Fifth-year senior Kirsten Lake paced the Drake women, clocking 22:13 for 28th place.
Four freshmen trailed Lake to complete Drake’s top five.
Freshman Cassie Aerts claimed 94th place with a time of 23:55. Four seconds later, freshman Taylor Scholl crossed the finish line for 95th place. Freshmen Celeste Arteaga and Emma Hutson completed the Bulldogs’ top five.
The Roy Griak Invitational marked uncharted territory for Arteaga.
“It was very important to me,” she said. “It was a really big meet and my first time ever running at (Roy) Griak (Invitational). Some of the other girls had ran there in high school, but I never ran there in high school. It was a really fun meet, and I mean, I did better than my last 6K.”
Saturday’s improvement boosted Arteaga’s confidence entering next weekend’s Bradley Cross Country Classic.
“It’s exciting to know that I was in the top five for Drake,” she said. “It really makes me happy. I’m hoping for Bradley (Cross Country Classic) and (State Farm MVC) Conference (Championships) to improve my times and get better as the season goes on. I’m so excited. Hard work has paid off.”
With the Oct. 27 State Farm MVC Championships approaching, teamwork tops Drake’s to-do list.
“We all want to do our best, and that’s a really important meet,” Aerts said. “I guess I’m just taking it a day at a time and improving and helping my teammates improve as they help me.”
In-state rival Iowa State captured the women’s team title with 47 points. Drake totaled 429 points.
The Bulldogs are back in action on Oct. 12 at the Bradley Cross Country Classic in Peoria, Ill.
