Plethora Of Positives At Roy Griak
Concordia had two individuals finish in the Top 10 and placed fourth at the Roy Griak Invite.
ST. PAUL, Minn. (9/23/17)--- A pair of Top 10 individual finishes led to a fourth-place team finish as Concordia returned to the prestigious Roy Griak Invite for the first time since 2015.
The even more optimistic news for Concordia head coach Garrick Larson is that all the positive results came without two of the team's Top 5 runners on the year. The Cobbers' No.1 runner Eric Wicklund missed the meet due to an academic conflict and senior Brandon Quibell was unable to compete because of a lower leg injury.
"While there weren't a lot of teams at the meet, we still had to beat some quality teams to get into the Top 4," commented Larson. "It's a good team victory and I am pleased with our individual results on a very demanding course."
The positives didn't stop with the two Top 10 individual finishes and fourth-place team finish as the Cobbers had four harriers cross the finish line on the 8K course in under 30:10. The last time the Concordia ran in the Griak, back in 2015, they didn't have a single athlete finish in under 30:15.
Freshman Munir Isahak led Concordia for the second straight meet. He finished in fourth place with a time of 28:07.9. He was 42 seconds behind the Top DIII finisher.
Junior Erik Larson stepped into the team's No.2 runner. He ran a 28:37 to earn the first Top 10 finish of his collegiate career by coming home in eighth place. Larson's time is a almost a full 3-minutes faster than his time at the 2015 Roy Griak.
Freshman Noah Kneeskorn and senior Nick Solheim, who have been around the Top 5 for the Cobbers all year long, were the No.3 and No.4 finishers for CC. Kneeskorn clocked a 29:10 and was 19th while Solheim posted a 29th-place finish in a time 30:01. His time is 13-seconds faster than the fastest CC athlete at the 2015 Griak.
Connor Haugrud completed the team's Top 5 at the meet. He crossed the line in 30:17 in his very first Roy Griak Invite.
WHAT'S NEXT: Concordia will host the annual Cobber Homecoming 5K Fun Run/Walk on Saturday, Sept. 30 at 9 a.m. CC will return to competition when they compete in the Jamestown Invitational on Friday, Oct. 6 at 4 p.m. at the Pipestem Dam in Jamestown.