Men's Cross Country Takes 3rd Place at Roy Griak Invitational

MINNEAPOLIS, MN - The Hawkeye Community College men's and women's cross country teams took to the Les Bolstad Golf Course in Minneapolis, Minnesota to compete in one of the largest cross country meets in collegiate sports, the Roy Griak Invitational.

The meet consisted of six collegiate races and four high school races, and is one of the largest meets in the entire country, in all NCAA Divisions. Forty-three schools competed in the second division, and over 40 schools competed in the top division as well.

The men's team came away with a podium finish, as their 83 team points would secure a 3rd place finish in the team standings. Running in the Men's Maroon III Division, the RedTail runners finished behind only NIACC (80) and Wisconsin-Oshkosh, who would win the flight with 33 team points. Leading the way for the RedTails was Ryan Milliken with a 14th place finish and a time of 28:51.9. Finishing right behind Milliken would be teammate Peter Torkelson at 28:59.9. Hot on Torkelson's heals would be David Thompson (29:01.9) and Malcolm Meyers (29:02.4) who took 16th and 17th respectively. Landon Boomsma finished fifth for the RedTails and 21st overall to round out the team scoring with a final time of 29:21.8. Paden Maschmann (29:47.0) and Isaac Connolly (30:32.4) finished 6th and 7th for the all freshman RedTail team.

Associate Head Coach Tyler Mulder noted that it was a hot and humid fall day, and having both the DII and DII divisions running together made for a tough course with a lot of runners. Mulder added he was very proud of how the team handled the meet and things are looking good as they prepare over the next month for regionals and ultimately nationals.

The Hawkeye Community College men's cross country will be in action next at the Dan Huston Invite beginning at 10:30 on September 30.