Men and Women Both Place 15th at Roy Griak Invitational
9/26/2015 12:00:00 AM | Cross Country
MEN’S RESULTS | WOMEN’S RESULTS
MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. – Led by junior Chris Montgomery and freshman Gillian Schriever, the University of Pittsburgh men’s and women’s cross country teams both placed 15th overall at the highly competitive Roy Griak Invitational.
“My expectation was a top-10 finish on both sides, but Gillian Schriever has been really steady in every race. She has been very solid for us,” head coach Alonzo Webb said. “On the men’s side, the pack was running really well together, but they lost each other as the race when on. This was a great learning experience for us. Although they might be disappointed, you can always find a silver lining and we will improve upon this.”
For the men, Chris Montgomery was Pitt’s top finisher in 61st place with a time of 26:15. He was followed by Chris Pastore in 76th place (26:32) and Ryan Hughes in 81st (26:36).
Rounding out the Pitt scoring was Aaron Lauer (26:52 – 99th), Wes Roberts (26:56 – 102nd), Sebastian Curtin (27:17 – 122nd) and Eric Stratman (27:26).
Michigan State won the team competition and was followed by Southern Utah, Cal, Colorado State and Minnesota.
“I think we are better than what we showed today, but it was a solid day in a hot competition,” men’s coach Bryan Jackson said.” We didn’t necessarily pass with an ‘A,’ but we definitely can walk away with a valuable experience. The men got out aggressively and asserted themselves into the race but then relaxed a little too much.”
On the women’s side, Freshman Gillian Schriever continues to impress as she led the Pitt contingency in her first career 6K race with a time of 22:46. Senior Hillary Boxheimer was Pitt’s second finisher in 63rd place (22:57), while sophomore Ariel Pastore-Sebring was the Panthers’ third finisher in 107th place.
Boise State took the overall team title, and was followed by 2014 NCAA Champions Michigan State, Minnesota, Weber State and Cal.
“If you look at the 1,000 meter split and the 2,000 meter split, we were with the top three teams. I think it was good for them to be up there, but maybe this is the learning experience we needed,” women’s Adam Bray said. “Down the road this experience will be good for us. Today’s result is what it is, and we just need to move on to the next challenge. I am proud of the way they raced. They went out with no fear and that is the way we need to race.”
The Panthers are off next weekend and will resume action on October 10 in Pittsburgh when they take part in the CMU Invitational.