NMU women take on Division I runners at Griak Invite
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MARQUETTE -- The women's cross country team at Northern Michigan University travels to one of the premier collegiate cross country meets of the season in the Twin Cities today.
The Wildcats trek to Minneapolis and the University of Minnesota for the 40th annual Roy Griak Invitational, a meet that includes runners from both colleges and high schools.
In a change this year, NMU and other NCAA Division II schools will run alongside their Division I brethren in the Suzy Collins College 6K race that starts at 11:30 a.m. EDT. More than 530 women runners are expected to take to the course.
Fans can follow the action @NMU_Track_Field and @NMU_Wildcats on X for updates around race time, or visit the Northern athletics website at nmuwildcats.com and look under the women's cross country schedule for links to live video, live results and a preview.
Wildcats head coach Jenny Ryan said in an NMU Sports Information news release previewing the event that she was pleased with her team's runner-up finish at the Phoenix Invitational last Saturday.
"It went really well for the first week," Ryan said. "We had three (runners) right in the top six, which is really exciting.
"It will be interesting running with really good D-I and D-II teams, and I'm excited to see where we're at against them."
Northern opened the regular season in a field of seven teams at the event hosted by Wisconsin-Green Bay in the city of the same name. Junior Ella DeBruyn led the Wildcats with a fourth-place finish in 22 minutes, 46.9 seconds on the six-kilometer course, breaking her personal record by nearly 45 seconds.
Sophomore teammate Ashley Choponis and senior Lamar Gordon were right behind her in fifth and sixth places, respectively, Choponis clocking 22:49.9 and Gordon 22:51.7.
Ishpeming product and NMU junior Lola Korpi was 12th in 23:13.0, with senior Dani Van Lente 26th in 23:52.6 and junior Anya VanSweden 27th in 23:53.2 to round out NMU scorers.
Freshman Addison Jones was barely more than a second after VanSweden in 31st in 23:54.6.
Division I St. Thomas (Minnesota) won with 28 points as the Wildcats scored 50. Both were well ahead of third-place Marquette and Wisconsin-Stevens Point, each with 121.
Olivia Pauley of St. Thomas won in 22:18.3 as DeBruyn was within 30 seconds of her.
In the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference coaches poll taken preseason, Northern was picked runner-up only to national powerhouse Grand Valley State, which has won 25 consecutive league championships dating back to 2001. NMU won titles in 1992 and 2000.
Choponis returns after earning GLIAC Second Team honors as a freshman, while Gordon also gained All-GLIAC recognition a year ago.
DeBruyn won the Wildcat Open intrasquad meet near the Superior Dome and along Lake Superior on Aug. 21.
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Northern Michigan University's Lamar Gordon runs to a runner-up finish in the NMU Wildcat Open cross country meet held near the Superior Dome and along Lake Superior in Marquette on Aug. 21. (Photo courtesy Cara Kamps)