St. Cloud State Cross Country Returns to Roy Griak Invitational

ST. CLOUD, Minn. – St. Cloud State Cross Country travels to the 38^th annual Roy Griak Invitational, hosted by Minnesota, on Friday. The Suzy Wilson Maroon Race (DII & DIII Women) is set to begin at 12:15 p.m. CT at the Les Bolstad Golf Course in Minneapolis. It is the Huskies second race of the fall but will be their first 6,000-meter race of the season.

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TEAMS AT THE MEET
Augustana (S.D.), Buena Vista (Iowa), Central Missouri, Coe (Iowa), Concordia-St. Paul, Dakota Wesleyan (S.D.), Luther (Iowa), Macalester, Michigan Tech, Minnesota Running Club, Minnesota State, Minnesota Crookston, Minnesota Duluth, Minot State, MSU Moorhead, Northern Michigan, Northern State, Northwestern (Iowa), Northwestern (Minn.), Northwest Missouri State, Sioux Falls, South Dakota Mines, St. Cloud State, St. Scholastica, UMary, Winona State, UW-Parkside and Wis.-Stevens Point

LAST TIME OUT
St. Cloud State Cross Country opened its 2024 season with a strong performance at the Toni St. Pierre Invitational on Friday, Sept. 6 at Boulder Ridge Golf Course in St. Cloud. The Huskies recorded five new 5k cross country personal bests and placed four runners in the top 20 runners.

Seniors Greta Freed (Rochester, Minn.), Cambrie Kowal (Lake of the Ozarks, Mo.) and Lauren Sertich (Cloquet, Minn.) along with sophomores Paige Beason (Ankeny, Iowa) and Alena Donahue (West Salem, Wis.) all raced to new 5k cross country personal bests.

Kowal was ninth in 19:15.6, running 1:51 faster than a year ago and 1:21 faster than her personal best from two years ago. Freed was 13^th in 19:34.4, cutting 36 seconds off her personal best from 2022. Beason placed 14^th in 19:36.8, after running 20:24 last season. Donahue finished in 19:56.6 to place 18^th knocking nine seconds off last years' time. Sertich's new personal best of 20:23.4 was 21 seconds faster than her previous best from 2022. She rounded out the top seven for the Huskies.

Sophomores Tegan Michalak (Arcadia, Wis.) and Mady Muehr (Greendale, Wis.) along with freshman MerriAnna Johnson (Osceola, Wis.) all made their Huskies Cross Country debuts. Johnson was fifth on the team and Michalak was sixth.

St. Cloud State at the Toni St. Pierre Invitational
Sept. 6, 2024 | Boulder Ridge Golf Course | St. Cloud, Minn.

9. Cambrie Kowal – 19:15.6 PR
13. Greta Freed – 19:34.4 PR
14. Paige Beason – 19:36.8 PR
18. Alena Donahue – 19:56.6 PR
31. MerriAnna Johnson – 20:15.9
34. Tegan Michalak – 20:22.6
36. Lauren Sertich – 20:23.4 PR
52. Hannah Little – 21:00.7
81. Mady Muehr – 23:08.5

1. UW-Stout – 26
2. St. Benedict – 61
3. Bethel – 69
4. St. Cloud State – 82
5. UW-Superior – 138
6. Northwestern – 167
7. Bemidji State – 169

Full Results

PR SPOTLIGHT (OLD --> NEW)
Cambrie Kowal – 20:36.5 --> 19:15.6
Greta Freed – 20:10.3 --> 19:34.4
Paige Beason –20:24.3 --> 19:36.8
Alena Donahue – 20:05.9 --> 19:56.6
Lauren Sertich – 20:44.6 --> 20:23.4

FAMILIAR TERRITORY
Five Huskies on this year's roster ran at Griak last year. Paige Beason was the first Husky across the line, finishing in 25:38.8, placing 164^th. She was followed by Cambrie Kowal (25:40.4 / 167^th), Alena Donahue (27:38.0 / 283^rd), Hannah Little (28:27.8 / 315^th) and Mady Muehr (31:31.8 / 375^th). The Huskies finished 31^st of 37 teams in the field that featured nearly 400 runners.

SEASON PREVIEW
St. Cloud State was selected to finish 14^th in the 2024 Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference (NSIC) Coaches' Poll. Additionally, senior Cambrie Kowal (Lake of the Ozarks, Mo.) has been named an NSIC Athlete to Watch.

"I am excited for both the leadership and growing talent within this group," said second-year head coach Gabrielle Brown, "They are a predominately young group of individuals who are back and ready for more. The leaders of this team compliment the talents, vision, and efforts needed to make incremental change."

The Huskies roster is comprised of three seniors – Greta Freed (Rochester, Minn.), Kowal and Lauren Sertich (Cloquet, Minn.), one junior – Hannah Little (Grimes, Iowa), five sophomores – Paige Beason (Ankeny, Iowa), Alena Donahue (West Salem, Wis.), Tegan Michalak (Arcadia, Wis.), Mady Muehr (Greendale, Wis.) and Audrey Rabitz (Manitowoc, Wis.) and two freshmen – MerriAnna Johnson (Osceola, Wis.) and Abbygail Nunez (South St. Paul, Minn.).

"This past season Cam [Kowal] was one of the athletes who realized just how much she was capable of," said Brown, "I am excited to see her step up fully and confidently into the amazing athlete that she is. She will be foundational for the growth needed to move us forward."

For all the latest on St. Cloud State Cross Country, stay tuned to SCSUHuskies.com and follow the team on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.

St. Cloud State Cross Country Returns to Roy Griak Invitational

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Players Mentioned

Paige Beason

Alena Donahue

Greta Freed

MerriAnna Johnson

Cambrie Kowal

Hannah Little

Tegan Michalak

Mady Muehr

Abbygail Nunez

Audrey Rabitz

Lauren Sertich

Saint Cloud State University Athletics