The ASU women’s cross country team heads to Minneapolis this weekend to showcase its talents among some of the nation’s best runners.
The Sun Devils, who are ranked fifth regionally and received votes in the national poll but did not crack the top 30, head into the Roy Griak Invitational confident that the hard work they have put in will pay off.
“We’re really ready to go,” ASU coach Louie Quintana said. “I think more so than anything, it’s now just trying to get [the women] mentally ready to compete.”
Saturday’s meet, hosted by No. 28 Minnesota, is loaded with talent and has seven teams ranked inside the nation’s top 30.
No. 7 Duke, No. 14 Providence, No. 15 Iowa State, No. 18 New Mexico, No. 24 UA, and No. 27 Penn State are just six of the 29 teams competing at Les Bolstad Golf Course.
“We have our work cut out for us,” Quintana said. “I think it’s still the expectation to go in there and compete with some of the best teams out there, and ultimately see how we stack up against teams that are considered top ten.”
Historically, ASU has fared well at Griak, with four team crowns (’05,’03, ’01, ’99) and two individual titles, the most recent being Kari Hardt’s 2008 victory.
The Sun Devils will look to continue to build upon that success this weekend, where they will run in the Jack Johnson Women’s Gold (Division I) section of the race.
“We have our own standard of what we want to accomplish this year,” senior Anna Sperry said. “We have to do all of our own work. We can’t just ride on the credit of teams of the past and expect good things will happen because they have before.”
Weather is expected to be in the mid-60s, a far cry from the blistering heat that ASU is used to competing in.
“I love it,” junior Kauren Tarver said of the prospect of racing in a cooler climate. “It’ll be a good change for us, I think.”
While the temperature and the level of competition might differ from what the Sun Devils are used to thus far, ASU will try and keep everything the same in an event that is its first chance to garner at-large bid points for the year end national meet.
Junior Lindsay Prescott said beating the top teams is crucial and added that the Griak offers ASU an opportunity to get a peek at squads it will see again down the road at the pre-national and national meet.
If each harrier sticks to the game plan and takes care of their individual responsibility, ASU should enjoy the same success at Griak they’ve had in years past, Quintana said.
“We need to have everybody focus on their role,” Quintana said. “Someone’s going to have to be our 4th or 5th girl, so they need to [be] the best 4th or 5th girl they can possibly be.”
For ASU fans looking to catch the lady harriers in action, Flotrack.org will broadcast the 25th running of the Griak Invitational free of charge. Fans can watch the event live by logging onto their site. The event begins at 11:10 a.m. Arizona time.
Reach the reporter at kyle.j.newman@asu.edu
