No. 1 Adams State, No. 3 Grand Valley State, No. 5 Augustana (S.D.) at Griak Invitational
MINNEAPOLIS -- Top-ranked Adams State ran well on Saturday at the Roy Griak Invitational finishing fourth overall in Minneapolis.
This was the first meet in two weeks for most of Adam States's top runners after the 20th Annual Joe I. Vigil Open two weeks ago in Alamosa, Colo. Adams State joined Grand Valley State as the only two Division II teams competing in the "Gold" (Division I) Division.
Adams State's men finished fourth, beating several Division I schools. The men were lead by Kevin Batt and Tabor Stevens, who finished second and third overall, respectively.
The Grizzlies also received strong performances from Jovanny Godinez and freshman Julian Florez. Godinez finished 21st overall in 24:50, while Florez came across the line in 25:22.
Grand Valley State also came away with some solid performances. The Lakers held their own against the D-I opponents and against fellow Division II powerhouse, Adams State.
Grand Valley State, which entered the race ranked third, came away with a 12th-place finish in the field of 24 that included 21 Division I schools.
As a team, GVSU put its top seven runners between 38th and 97th in the standings. Pacing the way for the Lakers was junior Alan Peterson, who crossed the line 38th in a time of 25:08. Just behind him was senior Larry Julson (47th, 25:14) and senior Brent Showerman (53rd, 25:18).
In the same race, but different classification was No. 5 Augustana (S.D.). The Vikings competed and won the Maroon II section of the Griak Invitational. The team was led by Paul Yak and Adam Braun's two-three finish and took home the title with a 53 point total -- nearly 50 points better than the second-place team. Yak finished with a time of 25:21 Braun was right on his tail with a 25:25 final time.
Tom Karbo's late surge moved him from the middle of the pack to an 11th-place finish and the men's teamwork helped seal the win with John Klecker and Keegan Carda finishing 18th and 19th, respectively.
No. 2 Western State at Rocky Mountain Shootout
BOULDER, Colo. -- Western State finished as the top Division II team at the Rocky Mountain Shootout with 15 points on Saturday.
The Mountaineer men, led by Vegard Olstad, finished ahead of Division II teams Colorado Mines, Colorado Mesa, Colorado Christian, Gillette, South Dakota Mines and Regis. Olstad, the top Division II finisher with a time of 25:38, was third overall, finishing just four second behind first place.
The Mountaineer men finished first through seventh, taking every top Division II spot. Tyler Saiz finished second, Keifer Johnson was third, Garrett Wilson was fourth, Adam Sinda was fifth, Michael Schmidt was sixth and Michael Cernoia was seventh.
No. 6 Colorado Mines at Stanford Invitational and Rocky Mountain Shootout
The No. 6 Oredigger men placed six runners in the top-35 of the 243-runner field at Stanford to win the non-Division I competition out of 16 teams, including No. 4 Chico State.
Among non-Division I schools at the 8K Rocky Mountain Shootout, Mines ranked second out of seven men's squads, totaling 56 points. RMAC rival Western State (15) swept the first seven scoring positions to take the team title.
Leading the men's winning 38-point total – four better than runner-up Chico State – in California was junior Derek Alcorn and senior Andrew Epperson, who finished the 8K 13th and 14th overall in 25:04 and 25:10, respectively.
Sophomore Marty Andrie was 24th (25:31), junior Phil Schneider 26th (25:38), sophomore Drew Kerschieter 29th (25:40) and senior Frank Socha 34th (25:51).
