ST. PAUL, Minn. — The Concordia-St. Paul men's and women's cross country teams are slated to compete in the Roy Griak Invitational hosted by the University of Minnesota on Friday Sept. 19. The men's 8K will begin at 11:30 a.m. and the women's 6K race is scheduled for 12:25 p.m. at the Les Bolstad Golf Course.
As the team's only meet in the Twin Cities metro area, it serves as a home event of sorts for the Golden Bears.
Meet Info
The Roy Griak Invitational is named after the legendary Minnesota men's cross-country coach who led the team from 1963-1996. Griak served the Gophers cross country team for 51 years before his passing in 2015.
The 2025 invite is the 39th annual Roy Griak Invitational, the meet features both high school and college races. The high school competition will begin at 9 a.m. and run throughout the day, The Division I competition starts at 10 a.m.
The Joe Rider Men's Maroon 8K Race and the Suzy Wilson Women's 6K Race will feature Division II and III competition. Information about parking, tickets and the live broadcast can be found in the link above.
Last Season
The CSP men's cross country team placed 13th out of 25 teams at the 2024 Roy Griak Invitational. Matt Krummel was the Golden Bears top finisher, placing 52nd in the 8K with a time of 27:20.2.
Andrew Alexander finished 86th at last year's meet with a time of 28:04.9, improving from his 267th-place finish at the Roy Griak in his freshman season. Northwest Missouri came in first on the men's side with Augustana finishing in third as the top NSIC squad.
On the women's side the Golden Bears finished 22nd in 2024, with Anna Sajdak leading the way as CSP's top individual finisher with a time of 27:43.3 in the 6K.
Nyadio Chan finished with a time of 27:26.7 to place 202nd, Elise Atkins placed 296th with a time of 34:06.8 last season.
Augustana won the team race last season, followed by UMary in second and Winona State in third.
Last Time Out
The Golden Bears opened the 2025 season at the Augie Twilight in on Friday Sept. 5. The men placed 14th out of 25 teams and the women placed 22nd out of 26 teams.
Andrew Alexander was the top finisher on the men's side, running a personal best four mile time of 20:17.36 to finish 46th.
Andrew Boyum also ran a personal best at the Augie Twilight with a time of 20:34.99 to finish in 67th. Ethan Blischke also bested his 2024 Twilight finish with a time of 20:42.56.
Freshman Brock Johnson made his collegiate debut and came in with a time of 20:50.61, Travis Tock rounded out CSP's five with a time of 20:54.52.
Naydio Chan was the top finisher on the women's side with a personal best 5K time of 19:48.66, placing 81st. Freshman Kayla Anderson finished just behind Chan with a time of 19:49.74 to finish 84th.
Freshmen Lauryn Rosenthal and Kathryn Stroede finished with times of 20:06.79 and 29:07.90,Elise Atkins rounded things out with a time of 23:50.41.
