MINNEAPOLIS—South Dakota fourth-year junior
Merga Gemeda cruised to a 37th-place finish at the 35th Roy Griak Invitational on Friday morning at Les Bolstad Golf Course.
Gemeda, a product of Sioux City North in Iowa, clocked a time of 25:24.4 for the 8,000-meter course. It marked the fourth-fastest time by a Coyote at Les Bolstad in the Division I era. Gemeda was the top Summit League finisher in the 225-person field.
Third-year sophomore
Charlie Babcock placed 73rd with a time of 25:59.8. The time is the eighth-fastest by a Coyote on the course in the Division I era. Babcock, back in his home state for the race, consistently moved up throughout the race, climbing 26 spots between the 3,000-meter and 5,000-meter markers and then another 16 places going to into the finish.
The duo of third-year sophomore
Ella Byers and second-year freshman
Abrielle Jirele led the Coyote women in 72nd and 73rd place, respectively. Byers clocked 22:46.0 for the 6,000-meter course and Jirele was a second behind in 22:47.0. There were 239 women in the field.
Other Coyote women's scorers were second-year freshman
McKenna Herrmann in 95th place (23:08.7), freshman
Melanie Pankow in 106th (23:22.1) and third-year sophomore
Helen Gould in 112th (23:27.5). Fourth-year junior
Haley Arens and second-year freshman
Lizzy Kramer were the Coyote pushers in 134th and 144th place, respectively.
Rounding out USD's men's scorers were third-year sophomore
Alec Atwood in 131st (26:43.6), freshman
Mason Sindelar in 175th (27:21.3) and fourth-year sophomore
Jacob Waymire in 183rd (27:28.7). Second-year freshman
Jarek Glenn and third-year sophomore
Braden Peters were the Coyote pushers on Friday. Glenn took 210th and Peters was a spot behind.
South Dakota's women finished 14th in the team race with 401 points, while the men took 16th with 474 points. No. 10 Minnesota was the winner of the women's race and No. 3 BYU captured the men's team title. There were three women's and three men's nationally ranked teams in the field.
The Coyotes will send a contingent of runners to the Briar Cliff Invitational on Friday, Oct. 1, held at Adams Homestead in North Sioux City, South Dakota.
