Lobo XC Set for Big Test at Griak Invite
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – New Mexico Cross Country is set for its first big test of the 2023 season at the 37th Annual Roy Griak Invitational in Minneapolis, Minn. on Friday, with a field that includes a combined six teams ranked in the USTFCCCA National Polls between the men’s and women’s races.
Both races will be the first showing against national powers for a new-look roster under first-year Head Coach Darren Gauson, with seven newcomers on both the men’s and women’s squads. The UNM women enter the race ranked No. 19 nationally and No. 4 in the Mountain Region, with the Lobo men No. 9 in the region.
On the men’s side, the Griak field includes No. 9 Portland and a Gonzaga squad in the RV category that has been ranked among the Top 30 in the nation the past two weeks. The women’s field includes No. 22 Cal Baptist, No. 24 Utah, No. 29 Colorado State and Boise State (RV).
Friday’s collegiate racing at the Les Bolstad Golf Course will open with the Men’s 8K race at 9 a.m. MT, followed by the Women’s 6K at 9:45. Live results for both races will be available via the 2023 Cross Country schedule page on GoLobos.com. Follow @UNMLoboTFXC on Instagram and @UNMLoboXCTF on X for live coverage, race content and more.
A BIT OF HISTORY
The Lobos have competed at Griak twice, but this will be their first return to Minneapolis since 2010. Both of UNM’s appearances at the race have provided the program with momentum on the national stage.
In the Lobos’ first appearance in 2008, the men finished tied for sixth against a strong field that included five ranked teams, led by Top-20 finishes from David Bishop (17th) and Jacob Kirwa (18th). The women, in the receiving votes category in the USTFCCCA polls at that time, defeated several teams ranked above them – including No. 20 Duke and No. 22 BYU – in finishing third, catapulting into No. 18 nationally and remaining in the Top 25 through the end of the season.
The second time the Lobos competed at Griak, the men entered the meet ranked No. 11 in the nation while the women were ranked No. 18, with big team performances from both squads providing momentum that carried them all the way to the national championship race.
In the 2010 men’s race, UNM placed three runners in the top six, with Nicholas Kipruto finishing second, Rory Fraser fifth and Keith Gerrard sixth to lead the Lobos to a third-place team finish that propelled them into the national conversation. The UNM men went on to win both the Mountain West and Regional team titles, finishing 16th in the nation at the NCAA Championship race. Kipruto, Fraser and Gerrard all went on to qualify for the NCAA Track & Field Championships later that spring.
On the same day, the Lobo women placed three in the Top 20 – Ruth Senior took 8th ahead of Sarah Waldron (17th) and Kirsty Milner (19th) – to help defeat five ranked teams en route to a second-place finish that similarly boosted their national prospects. They also took home team titles at both conference and regional championships, and at the end of the year UNM finished 5th at the NCAA Championship – at that time the best finish ever for a Lobo group.
POLL WATCHING
The UNM women were picked to finish second in the Mountain West Preseason Polls with 98 points and three first-place votes, with the men picked to finish sixth with 31 points to match their sixth-place finish in conference in 2022.
In the USTFCCCA Regional and National Polls released for Week One, the women ranked No. 4 in the Mountain Region and No. 21 nationally, with the men ranked No. 9 in the region. In this week’s polls, the Lobo women moved up to No. 19 nationally while both teams stayed put in the regional rankings.
The Lobo women have won 15 straight Mountain West titles and finished as runners-up at the NCAA XC Championship race last year, extending their streak of top-10 national finishes to 12 consecutive years.
NEW COACHING STAFF
For the first time since 2007, UNM enters the fall with a new head coach after the departure of Joe Franklin in the offseason, with Gauson’s adding assistants Brian Maty and Elisabeth Danis for a new-look distance coaching staff.
Prior to being named as the Lobos’ next head coach for cross country and track & field, Gauson spent the last eight years as the head coach of the track and field and cross country programs at Bradley University in Illinois. He led the Braves to 10 Missouri Valley cross country titles — six by the men and four by the women. Prior to arriving in Peoria, Gauson was the cross country coach and assistant track and field coach at Lamar University, where he guided the Cardinals to back-to-back Southland Conference men’s and women’s cross country titles in 2013 and 2014.
Head Coach Darren Gauson discusses taking the reigns of the Lobo program and the upcoming fall slate.
Last season, Maty helped coach Bradley to a sweep of Missouri Valley Conference titles in men’s and women’s cross country in 2022, while Danis was the lead assistant for a Gonzaga women’s program that reached its highest national and regional rankings in program history in 2022.
FOLLOW THE ACTION
Live results for both races will be available via the 2023 Cross Country schedule page on GoLobos.com. Follow @UNMLoboTFXC on Instagram and @UNMLoboXCTF on X for live coverage, race content and more.