White Wins Individual Title for Runner-Up Cowboys

ST. PAUL, Minn., – Senior Jacob White won the Merrill Fischbein Men’s 8k to lead the Cowboys to second while the Cowgirls took seventh at the 39th Roy Griak Invitational, Friday morning.

The Cowboys fell just short of being only the third team since 2000 to repeat as champions, finishing second to No. 16 Cal Baptist. With a team score of 54 points, the scoring five went 1-3-6-13-35.

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White, who becomes the first Wyoming runner to win the Roy Griak individual title, avenged his last-second defeat at the Wyoming Invite last month with a time of 24:39.8. White was in second at the first three splits before overtaking South Dakota State’s Larson at the 5k mark and finishing nearly 20 seconds ahead of the competition.

Senior Ryker Holtzen was never far from White throughout the race as he finished third with a time of 24:57.6. In that third position at each split, he nearly broke away for a second-place finish, crossing the line only one second behind.

Newcomer Mathis Chavand finished next for the Cowboys in sixth with a time of 25:10.2, making three Cowboys in the top 10. After sticking in the top 3 at the one-mile mark, Chavand found his pace in the 5-to-6-place position. Senior Mac Zastrow took 13th with a time of 25:32.4 after a tough-fought race. Zastrow was in the top 10 until the 5k split, where he fell to 16th but would eventually make ground on three others to take 13th.

The final scoring Cowboy was redshirt-freshman Tanner Brown in 35th with a time of 26:20.2. Like Zastrow, Brown had to gain back some position after losing ground at the 5k split. He would find his way to his best placement in the final three kilometers and solidify the Cowboys' second-place team finish.

Other finishers for the Cowboys were freshman Colin Olson in his first race in the Brown and Gold. He would finish 45th with a time of 26:36.6. Graduate Aidan Ramsey and sophomore Austin Akers crossed the line together at 56th and 57th with times of 27:00.4 and 27:01.5, respectively. Akers ran his personal best in the 8k by five seconds.

Sophomore Meyer Smith took 66th with his time of 27:24.3, a personal best, and sophomore Nolan Hoffman rounded out Wyoming’s racers in 89th, crossing the line at 28:03.1.

On the women’s side, the Cowgirls finished seventh as a team with 194 points. The scoring five went 31-43-49-52-53. Sophomore Muriel Jones led the Cowgirls with a personal best time of 22:50.9 for 31st. She ran in the top 30 before dropping to 34th at the 3k split. However, she fought back and moved up to 31st.

Senior Rozlyn Slichko finished next for the Cowgirls in 43rd and crossed the line at 23:15.5. She held steady in the 30-to-40 place range. Next was sophomore Gracie Uhre, taking 49th with a time of 23:26.6. Uhre made some ground to 47th at the 3k and 5k split before falling two spots at the finish.

The final two scoring five finished back-to-back in 52nd and 53rd. Sophomore Hanan Aldelemy finished with a time of 23:34.4 while junior Brionna Holso ran a time of 23:35.4. Aldelemy started strong, placing in the top 30 at the first two splits before falling behind on the grueling course. Holso also slowly lost her lead on the competition before taking 53rd.

Redshirt-freshman Claire Engelhardt looked to once again be the top finisher for the Cowgirls, holding the 14th position at every split, before falling in the last kilometer to 56th. She finished with a time of 23:37.0.

Other finishers for the Cowgirls were graduate Marina Trave crossing the line 58th with a time of 23:38.4, senior Libby Berryhill finishing 66th at 23:44.0, redshirt-freshman Elliana Zock in 72nd, after gaining 10 spots in the last kilometer for a time of 23:52.4, redshirt-freshman Megan Doherty running a time of 24:09.6 for 87th and redshirt-freshman Reagan Gilman rounding out the Cowgirls in 95th with a time of 24:20.0.

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Pokes will be back in action next month when they travel to South Bend, Ind., to run at the Joe Piane Invitational hosted by Notre Dame on Oct. 3.

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