MINNEAPOLIS – In one of the largest cross country competitions in the nation, the University of Sioux Falls Cross Country Men's and Women's Team stepped up.

On Saturday at the Roy Griak Invitational at the Les Bolstad Golf Course, the USF Teams, which were among the 54 teams and 700 men and women's runners in the collegiate division alone, had an overall solid performance, noted USF Director of Track and Field Doug Petersen.

"I was really pleased with how both teams performed today at Griak," said USF Director of Track and Field/Cross Country Doug Peterson. "We really competed well and stepped up in a very competitive environment. I felt really good about the performances across the board. It was really solid effort as both of these young teams continues to show what they are capable of doing as we move forward," he said.

Freshman Morgan Gehl had another top-10 performance at yet another big meet as she continued to lead the USF Women's Team in 2021. Gehl finished eighth in the 6,000-meter race in 22:47.2 which was the third-fastest ever by a USF runner at the Griak competition. USF also had two others in the top 65 with freshman Khot Juac finishing 24^th in 23:18.3 while junior Tianna Voigt was 65^th in 24:09.6. USF placed 10^th overall (252 points) in the women's collegiate division among 27 teams with 327 runners.

As for the USF Men's Team, they were led by junior Aaron Voigt who was 29^th in 26:21.5 in the 8,000-meter race. Also in the top 53 for USF, was freshman Ben Morrison, 37^th, 26:27.3; junior David Ecker, 49^th, 26:43.2; and junior Jakob Hanna, 53^rd in 26:46.6. This group helped the Cougars placed eighth in the team race with 235 points. USF was second among NSIC schools. The competition included 27 teams and 374 runners.

Results – USF Men's Team
Aaron Voigt, 29^th, 26:21.5; Ben Morrison, 37^th, 26:27.3; David Ecker, 49^th, 26:43.2; Jacob Hanna, 53^rd, 26:46.6; Micade Shumway, 67^th, 27:12.9; Caleb Rivera, 73^rd, 27:24.6; Christian Lietz, 92^nd, 27:50.2; Kade Bullion, 132^nd, 28:02.5; Chase Lather, 139^th, 28:19.9; Zach Matzner, 144^th,28:14.1; Miles Olofson, 167^th, 28:30.9; Ethan Kraft, 181^st, 28:40.1; Will Modjeski, 199^th, 28:51.7; Lucas Steiger, 206^th, 28:57.7; Seth Overholt, 238^th, 29:22.7; Avery Sanford, 240^th, 29:23.0; and Juan Castaneda, 255^th, 29:35.9.

Clayton Sayen of Michigan Tech took the individual honors with a 25:17.7 clocking while Wayne State with two of the top three individuals captured the team Roy Griak Men's Maroon title with 68 points.

Results – USF Women's Team
Morgan Gehl, 22:47.2, 8th; Khot Juac, 23:18.24^th; Tianna Voigt, 24:09.6, 65^th; Jessica Lutmer, 24:21.6; Karlee Simmons, 24:25.6, 79^th; Annika Aho, 24:37.5, 88^th; Cassidy O'Meara, 25:07.8, 107^th; Zoe Cigard, 25:11.5, 138^th; Josie Boyd, 25:45.8, 173^rd; Ella Kolb, 25:46.9, 174^th; Hannah Ebert, 26:08.8, 197^th; Moriah Bullerman, 26:19.1, 207^th; Gracie Bucher, 26:24.6, 210^th; and Marcella Sierra, 26:59.1, 233^rd.

The individual medalist was Lindsay Cunningham of Winona State, 21:44.9. U-Mary captured the Roy Griak team crown with 64 points as they placed two runners in the top five.