Women’s: Houlihan takes the No. 1 spot at the Roy Griak Invitational
This year’s Roy Griak Invitational marked the 12th time the women’s team participated and they continued its success by finishing in 10th place overall against some of the top-ranked schools in the country.Junior Shelby Houlihan continues to dominate for the women’s cross-country team, finishing with the top spot at the prestigious Roy Griak Invitational.
Saturday was the second time in Houlihan’s career that she won an event, the first being at the George Kyte Invitational in Flagstaff last year.
Houlihan finished with a time of 20:35.45, ahead of all other top competitors in the field.
Women’s coach Ryan Cole said Houlihan was in top form last week going into the first big test of the season for ASU.
Cole had expected a good finish from his team at Griak and said he was not disappointed with Saturday’s result.
“There were definitely some opportunities that we left out there, we’re going to take this finish and learn from it into the following competitions,” Cole said.
Sophomore Adriana Oliva showed top form once again Saturday, finishing with one of her best races, coming in 30th overall with a time of 21:45.30.
Cole said earlier in the season that the freshman have really stepped up this season and Saturday was no different as they made their presence known in this event.
Kala Stone, Jenna Maack and Chelsey Totten continue to gel well with the squad, as they were able to round out the top 100 in the 6,000-meter race.
ASU’s top-10 finish makes them a dangerous team headed into the rest of the season.
Men’s: ASU men’s cross-country takes third place at the Griak Invitational
ASU’s men’s cross-country team just missed out on qualifying for the NCAA championships the last three years.Saturday’s third place finish gives ASU a huge confidence boost and some momentum as the Sun Devils gear up for the Wisconsin Invitational in Madison on Oct. 19.
Senior Garrett Seawell had a solid performance with a personal best run with a time of 24:42.2 in the 8,000-meter event.
Seawell’s time boosted the team into third place falling only 20 seconds behind the men’s winner, Tyler Thatcher from BYU, the No. 4 ranked school.
Another notable finish for the Sun Devils was sophomore Ryan Herson, who continues to run well on the season, finishing with a 24:57/1 time, 27th overall just ahead of ASU freshman Bernie Montoya.
Montoya continues to impress with another strong showing against top competition.
Montoya finished with a top-10 finish at his first competition in Flagstaff earlier in the season and finished 28th overall in a field of over 200 runners on Saturday at the Roy Griak Invitational.
Montoya said the rainy conditions posed a problem for the team but they were confident in their strategy.
“We all kept a positive attitude about the weather, we felt real good and controlled,” Montoya said.
Montoya said he applied what coach Louie Quintana said to the team prior to the meet.
“He told me to be smart, be conservative and work with my teammates,” he said.
Montoya said the team worked well together today and it shows with the third place finish.
The Sun Devils will have another week of practice next week as they try to rest up for the remainder of the season.
Reach the reporter at lzazueta@asu.edu or follow him on Twitter @lorenzozazueta
