The Meet

South Dakota men's and women's cross country head to the 35th Roy Griak Invitational held this Friday, Sept. 24, at Les Bolstad Golf Course. The Merrill Fischbein Men's Gold Race is scheduled for 10:30 a.m. (8,000 meters) followed by the Jack Johnson Women's Gold Race at 11:15 a.m. (6,000 meters).
 

The Coyotes

South Dakota races for the second time in less than a week, following up last week's performance at Nebraska's Woody Greeno Invitational. Fourth-year junior Merga Gemeda placed third at the Woody Greeno with a career best 8,000-meter time of 24:23.7 to highlight the Coyotes in action. On the women's side, a pack of Coyotes finished in a row led by Ella Byers in 19th with a 5,000-meter time of 18:11.9. Second-year freshmen McKenna Herrmann and Abrielle Jirele followed behind in 20th and 22nd. Gemeda and Byers garnered Summit League Runner of the Week honors for the performance.
 

The Competition

The Coyotes will face their toughest field yet of the season with 21 men's teams and 21 women's teams in the Division I field. Three men's (No. 3 BYU, No. 10 Iowa State, No. 26 Michigan State) and three women's (No. 6 Michigan State, No. 10 Minnesota, No. 30 Iowa State) teams are in this week's national poll. In addition to those three, there are seven more women's teams in the USTFCCCA regional rankings – including USD's women at No. 14 in the Midwest. There are also 10 total men's teams in the USTFCCCA regional rankings.
 

The History

Fitzsimmons' Coyotes return to the Griak for the first time since 2018. The Coyote women finished third as a team that season, led by top-11 finishes from Megan Billington and Madeline Huglen, for the highest Division I finish in program history at the meet. The Roy Griak Invitational has historically been one of the most competitive fields USD faces during the cross country season.
 

One Last Thing

It will be a return "home" for 10 Minnesota Coyotes this week – Charlie Babcock (Forest Lake), Lexi Duscher (Princeton), Alyssa Gerth (Andover), McKenna Herrmann (Belle Plaine), Abrielle Jirele (Eden Prairie), Nikki Kelly (South St. Paul), Haley Miller (Hugo), Audrey Neuerburg-Chapman (Elk River), Melanie Pankow (Hugo), and Lily Provenzano (Minneapolis).