Men’s XC: Ohio State Finishes 13th at Roy Griak Invitational – Ohio State Buckeyes
9/27/2008 12:00:00 AM | Men's Cross Country
Redshirt freshman Taylor Williams led Ohio State with a 25th-place finish
COLUMBUS, Ohio After a few weeks off, the Ohio State men’s cross country team was back in action at the Roy Griak Invitational at the Les Bolstad Golf Course on the campus of the University of Minnesota. Ohio State flew north to Minnesota to race a strong field in the 8K Men’s Gold Race that consisted of five teams who are currently ranked within the Top 30 teams in the country and finished 13th in a field of 25 teams.
Leading the field were the men from Adams State University, who placed first overall as a team with an average team time of 24 minutes and 38 seconds. The top overall individual finisher was Elkanah Kibet from the University of Auburn. The junior torched the course with a time of 25:55 seconds to win the race by more than 12 seconds.
The Buckeyes were once again led by redshirt freshman standout Taylor Williams, who has finished first for Ohio State in every race this season. Williams placed 25th overall in a time of 25:01 and finished second amongst all freshmen competing at the meet. The second Buckeye to cross the finish line was Christopher Olinger, who placed 47th with a time of 25:19.
“I was a little disappointed at our overall finish and the spread we had, but the team did a good job of getting out hard,” head coach Robert Gary said. We have a couple weeks to continue some hard training before the NCAA Pre-Nationals. We will run the All-Ohio, but rest half the team. Taylor Williams continues to run like a potential All-Big Ten performer for us.”
Finishing third for the Buckeyes was sophomore Jake Edwards, who ran a time of 25:52 and finished just two slots ahead of freshman Adam Green, who placed 85th overall in 25:54. Sophomore Skyler Schmitt rounded out the scoring for the Buckeyes with an 88th place finish in 26:56.
The young Buckeyes are back in action at 2 p.m. Friday, Oct. 10 at the All-Ohio Cross Country Championships in Delaware, Ohio.
