Colfax runners face strong competition at Roy Griak meet

DULUTH – Top teams from all over the country at both the high school and college level competed at the University of Minnesota in the Roy Griak Invitational meet Sept. 26.

The Colfax girls had their best team score ever at the meet by placing 19th in the Maroon Division as Courtney Dressel placed 26th as an individual with a time of 21:04. Erica Kallstrom was 44th at 21:28, Dempsey Fogarty 72nd in 22:03, Abbagail Schotter 162nd at 23:25 and final team points came from Hailey Prince who was 211th in 23:54. Ally Heidorn finished in 253rd place in a time of 24:40.

Zac Arvold led the Viking boys after Tucker Hovde struggled at this meet. Arvold led the boys to a 38th place finish (also in the Maroon Division) as he finished 115th at 19:06 followed by Brett Prince in 147th at 19:28, Brady Simonson in 202nd at 19:57, Hovde was 217th in 20:03 and Jacob Larson was 239th at 20:18. Ike Lee finished in 271st place in 20:38 and Jelani Smit was 392nd in 21:00. There were around 500 competitors in each race.

“This is always a great atmosphere for our kids to run at because they see some of the best runners in the country,” coach Joe Doucette said. “Courtney ran a good race for us and just missed earning a medal for a top 20 spot. Our girls went out a little too fast which hurt us at the end. Zac, Brett and Brady also ran well but Tucker was not feeling well and if you struggle in a race like this, you get a huge number on your team score. The boys should be okay as we get close to the end of the season. This race is a great experience for our kids,” he added.