ST. PAUL, Minn. (September 20, 2024) – The Cowboys secured their second team victory in as many meets and their first in meet history and the Cowgirls finished third at the Roy Griak Invitational, Friday morning. Senior Mason Norman and Kylie Simshauser paced Wyoming as the top finishers on the men's and women's sides for both teams' best finish at the meet.
"Both crews ran really good team races with many individuals stepping up today," said head coach Scott Dahlberg. "They've been showing it in training, but to see that confidence translate into a big race setting was great." On the teams' performance throughout the race he added, "They put themselves in the right place early in the race, held tough in the middle and then competed hard at the end."
The Cowboys, led by senior Mason Norman, finished first in the 8k ahead of 16 other teams with 63 points. The team's top five finished fifth, seventh, eighth, 19th and 24th in their first 8k race of the season with no other team finishing with three in the top 10. This is the first meet victory for the men outside of Wyoming since winning the Montana Invite 10 years ago to the day. Similarly, the men also won their first two meets in that 2014 season.
Norman ran a time of 25:07.7 for fifth overall, rising in his placement after each 3000-meter checkpoint. Juniors Ryker Holtzen and Jacob White finished back-to-back in seventh and eighth place, respectively. Holtzen ran the 8k in 25:11.3 while White crossed the line at 25:14.1. Coming in 19th, senior Asefa Wetzel ran to a 25:29.5 finish. Senior Gus McIntyre finalized the scoring five with a time of 25:35.2.
Other Cowboy finishers were senior Trevor Stephen in 34th, running a time of 25:47.3, Mac Zastrow in 52nd at 26:04.8 and sophomores Riley Nedrow with a time of 26:31.1, Jacob Bach crossing the line at 26:38.4, Austin Akers finishing at 27:06.5 and Meyer Smith running a time of 28:04.9.
The Cowgirls grabbed a third-place finish out of 17 teams with seniors Simshauser and Abigail Whitman finishing in the top 10. The women scored 79 points for their best finish in meet history and finished ahead of Colorado State who received national poll votes and just 26 points behind the second place and No. 25 ranked Utah Valley. The Cowgirls scoring five finished third, eighth, 21st, 22nd and 25th in the 6k race.
"Having two girls and three guys in the top 10 was huge, but there were a lot of gusty performances across the board," said Dahlberg.
Simshauser, with a third-place finish, ran a time of 21:25.4 while Whitman ran to eighth with a time of 21:52.5. Finishing back-to-back were juniors Eowyn Dalbec in 21st with a finish of 22:15.2 and Madelyn Blazo in 22nd and crossing the line at 22:16.4. Rounding out the top five was junior Hailey Uhre with a time of 22:25.4 for 25th place.
Other Cowgirl finishers were senior Leah Christians in 47th with a finish of 22:49.6, graduate Marina Trave Ferrer crossing the line at 23:07.5, freshman Hanan Aldelemy running a time of 23:15.7, junior Rozlyn Slichko with a time of 23:21.9, freshmen Gracie Uhre and Ella Unrein finishing with times of 23:38.0 and 23:59.4 respectively and seniors Libby Berryhill-Worshek crossing the line at 24:04.0, Riley Frankel finishing at 24:35.8 and Brooke Holzworth with a time of 24:45.0.
You can watch interviews from the men's and women's teams by clicking the Gold links below
Men - Ryker Holtzen, Mason Norman and Jacob White
Women - Abigail Whitman and Kylie Simshauser
Wyoming cross country will have one week off from competition before traveling to South Bend, Ind., for the Joe Piane Invitational hosted by Notre Dame on October 4.
Stay up to date with Wyoming cross country by following @wyo_track on X and Instagram.
-WYO-
