Great Lakes Wire

After a weekend off, Northern Michigan University's cross country team is set to compete at the Roy Griak Invite in Minnesota on Friday, September 20.

Hosted by the University of Minnesota, the Roy Griak Invite is one of the largest collegiate cross country events of the season. The Wildcats will participate in this 6K event at Les Bolstad Golf Course in St. Paul at 11:45 a.m. ET.

For updates leading up to and during the race, follow @NMU_Track_Field and @NMU_Wildcats on X (formerly known as Twitter).

The Wildcats previously finished sixth out of ten teams at the Phoenix Open two weekends ago. Dani Van Lente led with a time of 23:05.2 for 19th place, followed by Emma Sweeney with a time of 23:16.1 for 24th place. Celia Wallace, Lola Korpi, and Anya Vansweden made their Wildcat debuts and finished in the top 50 alongside Lamar Gordon and Beverly Harper.

Returning standout All-GLIAC junior Madi Szymanski from Alpena, Michigan aims to build on her successful 2023 season where she placed eighth at the GLIAC Championships and twelfth at Regionals with a personal record time of 20:55.83. Junior Gianna Hoving and senior Skylar Grubb are also expected to contribute significantly this season.

In addition to Szymanski, Hoving, and Grubb, sophomores Emma Sweeney, Dani Van Lente, Lamar Gordon, along with freshmen Celia Wallace and Lola Korpi are all vying for top-ten team finishes this season for Northern Michigan's Green and Gold squad.

The roster includes nine new freshmen and one transfer addition. Most team members hail from Michigan, with two from Wisconsin and one from Minnesota.

Last year at the Roy Griak Invite, Northern Michigan finished twelfth out of thirty-eight teams. Madi Szymanski placed fifteenth overall with a time of 22:52.7 while Skylar Grubb finished ninetieth with a time of 24:34.3.