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St. Olaf 11th of 48 at Roy Griak Invite

Lars Finanger
October 1, 2001

The St. Olaf Men's Cross Country team finished 11th at the Roy Griak Invitational in a strong field of 48 Division II and III teams.

Annually one of the nations' premier cross country events, hosted at the University of Minnesota Golf Course, this years' "Maroon 8k" included 364 runners and featured the number one ranked Division III UW-LaCrosse.

While LaCrosse did run away with the team title, the Oles 11th place finish was the third best amongst a strong Divison III field, which also included UW-Oshkosh, UW- Eau Claire, UW-Whitewater, St. John's University and Carleton College.

The Oles continued to show their pack running ability as the first through fifth runners finished within 29 seconds of one another, the lowest spread of the meet. Leading the way for the black and gold was Andrew Cole (Sr, North Mankato, Minn). Cole crossed the line in 42nd place with a time of 26:24. He was followed closely by Kelly Fulton (Fy, Billings, Mont.), who hit the shoot in 26:34, good for 50th overall. Malcolm Richards (Fy, Minneapolis, Minn.) and Peder Arneson (So, Montevideo, Minn.) finished in 62nd and 64th with times of 26:42 and 26:43. Christopher Coffey (Jr, Dubuque, Iowa) finished 76th in 26:53 and secured the final scoring position, when he edged teammate Joel Tortomasi (Jr, Beloit, Wisc.) at the line. Robert Hillard (Columbia, Missouri) followed Tortomasi's 26:53, 77th place finish, and claimed the final varsity slot with his 92nd place finish in 27:08.

Senior captain Josh Steffen (Sr, Lake Geneva, Wisc.) led the five remaining Oles with his 27:18, 114th place finish. Mark Sullivan (Jr, West Bend, Wisc.) crossed the line in 27:52 for 165th and was followed by Lars Finanger (Sr, Decorah, Iowa), who claimed 176th place in 28:03. Mark Murakami (Sr, Chicago, Ill.) and Nick Reichenbach (So, Hastings, Minn.) finished in 205th and 218th in 28:26 and 28:34 to round out the twelve registered Oles.

The black and gold harriers will lace up this Friday, October 5th, at the BlueGold Invitational in Eau Claire, WI. The race will begin at 4:00 PM.

Contact Judy Stromayer at 507-786-3315 or stromaye@stolaf.edu.