The Hamline men’s and women’s cross-country teams competed in the Roy Griak Invitational this past Saturday at the University of Minnesota’s golf course. This was the second meet of the season so far for the Piper cross-country runners, and a chance for them to prepare for the championship meets later in their season, which is the team’s main focus.

In the days leading up to the meet, senior reporter Gino Terrell got a chance to sit down with co-head coaches Paul Schmaedeke and Adam Frye. Both coaches discussed their expectations and goals going into the Roy Griak Invitational as well as the remainder of the season.

When asked about the start of the season, Coach Schmaedeke expressed his happiness with the team overall.

“I think we have had a good start. A majority of them came in well prepared…which is crucial to their success this season,” Schmaedeke said.

Coach Frye was also optimistic about the start to this season.

“I think they are getting fitter [sic] each week, hopefully we can continue to do that until our championship meets,” Fry said.

As for the Roy Griak Invitational, the coaches see it as a chance to prepare for later in the season when the races are worth the most.

“Unlike other sports, the outcomes during the season don’t really count towards anything. It’s all about what happens at the conference meet and region meet…we just look at [this weekend] as another step in the process,” Frye said.

Coach Schmaedeke agreed that the most important part of the season lies a few months ahead.

“What we are really trying to get ready for is our championship meets in November,” he said.

The men’s cross-country team is very young this season and will look for leadership from their fifth year senior Colin Rogers, who missed last year with an injury to his leg.

“Colin had a good track season and a great summer and that set him up for the fall obviously,” Schmaedeke said. “Unfortunately he got dinged up and probably won’t compete this week.”

Rogers did sit the Roy Griak Invitational out in an attempt to get healthy, and the Piper men’s team finished 14 out of 26 teams in the men’s D-III competition. Hamline’s best finish came from junior runner Chris Gill who finished 48 overall out of 296 runners, in a time of 27:42.5.

Other notable finishes included sophomore Cole Knoczal who finished 55 with a time of 27:50.4, junior Ryan Peterson who placed 72 with a time of 28:14.7, and first-year James Logan who came in 112 with a time of 29:27.1. The men’s team finished second out of the five MIAC teams who competed in the Roy Griak Invitational finishing ahead of Concordia, Bethel, and Augsburg. Macalester was the only MIAC team to finish higher than the Pipers.

The Piper women runners are led by an experienced group who has been preparing all summer for this season.

“We have a lot of seniors and it’s an experienced group. As a whole, they probably put in more running over the summer than any group we have ever had on the women’s side, which is really exciting,” Frye said.

Unfortunately the women have been battling the injury bug as three of their runners missed the first meet of the season including last year’s top runner Maria Theisen.

“I think if we can get [Theisen] and the other two back we’ll have a really good pack and I think they can be a really strong team,” Frye said.

Theisen was able to run on Saturday, and finished 134 overall and was the fourth Piper to cross the finish line with a time of 26:01.9.The top finisher this past Saturday was Hannah Toedter who finished 98 with a time of 25:27.4. Other notable finishes include Heather Hollinger who finished 131 in 25:55.5, and Cassie Ernst coming in 132 with a time of 25:57.0. Overall, the Piper women finished 22 out of 29 teams at the Roy Griak Invitational.

Both the men’s and women’s cross-country teams with look to improve for their championship meets in two weeks at the St. Catherine Invitational on Oct. 12. When asked about their thoughts on the season, beyond the Roy Griak Invitational, both coaches stressed the increase in competition that they expect to see in the MIAC this year.

“There are some very good teams coming back that are going to be favored to win on the men’s side and the women’s side,” Schmaedeke said.

Coach Frye believes that finishing higher than last year is a realistic goal, and would be a great accomplishment for each team.

“I think either team would probably feel pretty good if they can improve their conference finish from last year … I think it would be a successful conference meet if we were able to do that,” he said.

The two most important meets for the Hamline cross-country teams are the MIAC championship on Nov. 2 in St. Paul and the NCAA D-III regional in Northfield, MN on November 16. Depending on the results of the regional, the NCAA finals would be on November 23 in Hanover if any of Hamline’s runners were to qualify.