Titans Run To First-Place Finish At Griak Invitational

UW-Oshkosh defeated two of the nation's elite, including top ranked and conference rival UW-Eau Claire, as it won the Division III Maroon Race of the Roy Griak Women's Cross Country Invitational held Saturday (Sept. 25) in Falcon Heights, Minn.

UW-Oshkosh, ranked 21st in the NCAA Division III by the United States Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association, placed all five of its scoring runners in the top 23 positions to win the 32-team with 65 points. The Titans also won the Roy Griak Invitational in 1990.

UW-Eau Claire, which captured the NCAA Division III national title a year ago, finished second in the team standings with 89 points. The Blugolds were followed by third-place and 11th-ranked Claremont-Mudd-Scripps Colleges (Calif.) with 115 points, fourth-place Wartburg College (Iowa) with 152 and fifth-place UW-La Crosse with 171.

Rounding out the top 10 teams were sixth-place North Central College (Ill.) with 187 points, seventh-place UW-Platteville with 238, eighth-place Carleton College (Minn.) with 252, ninth-place Lakehead University (Ontario, Canada) with 269 and 10th-place University of St. Thomas (Minn.) with 270.

UW-Oshkosh's top individual finisher was Christy Cazzola (So. • Kaukauna), who completed the 6,000-meter course in a third-place time of 22:19. Alyssa Sybilrud of UW-Eau Claire paced the field of contestants with a first-place time of 22:04, while Simone Childs-Walker of Carleton College finished second in 22:15, Amanda Laesch of North Central College fourth in 22:22 and Linda Keller of the University of Minnesota-Morris fifth in 22:38.

Also contributing to UW-Oshkosh's team score were Jennifer Piskor (Sr. • Eagan, Minn.), Brittany Haas (Sr. • St. Charles, Ill.), Mallory Burk (Sr. • Athens) and Allison Gehl (Sr. • Sherwood). Piskor finished eighth with a time of 22:48, while Haas placed 15th in 23:12, Burk 21sr in 23:28 and Gehl 23rd in 23:32.

UW-Oshkosh had seven other runners at the meet as Cassie Petersen (Sr. • Marinette) finished 26th with a time of 23:37, McKenzie Kelly (So. • New Richmond) 59th in 24:22, Janelle Brooks (Jr. • Janesville) 90th in 24:39, Samantha Helgesen (Jr. • Bristol) 86th in 24:47, Allie DeBaker (Fr. • Green Bay) 168th in 25:54, Morgan Engelhart (Fr. • Oregon) 212th in 26:24 and Heather Bassett (Sr. • Minocqua) 229th in 26:36. A total of 453 runners completed the race.

UW-Oshkosh splits its squad on Friday (Oct. 1) to compete at both the Notre Dame Invitational in South Bend, Ind., and the Carthage College Invitational in Kenosha.