Loughlin Leads Huskies at Roy Griak Invitational
MINNEAPOLIS — Senior Hannah Loughlin finished seventh overall to highlight the Michigan Tech cross country teams efforts at the Roy Griak Invitational at the Les Bolstad Golf Course hosted by the University of Minnesota on Friday afternoon.
"We had a rough day out there today," head coach Kristina Owen said. "I think it was a confluence of variables that added up to not racing to our overall ability as a team. Although, we did have some bright spots–Hannah Loughlin's 7th place finish was a highlight, and Sawyer Fowler dropped over a minute from his time last year. We'll make some adjustments and move forward."
Indiana Wesleyan won the men's team race with 58 points, while the No. 8 nationally ranked Vikings of Augustana won the women's race with 80 points.
The No. 17 nationally-ranked men's team finished ninth overall with 260 points, while the women's team placed seventh overall with a point total of 209.
Loughlin ran a strategically sound race, moving up throughout the entirety of the race and three spots over the last 1k to finish in 22:26.1, placing seventh in the race.
The Huskies' youth was on display, as the next two runners for Michigan Tech were first-years Sophia Rhein (23:24.8) and Hailee Zimpel (23:44.3).
Rhein worked with Loughlin through the first mile and ultimately finished in 28th place.
Meanwhile, Zimpel moved up 20 spots from the 3k marker to the finish, placing 42nd overall.
Ingrid Halverson and Anabel Needham were also point-scorers for the Huskies, finishing next to one another.
Halverson placed 70th overall (24:15.7), while Needham picked up five places in the final 1k, placing 71st in the race (24:19.5).
Overall, the team's average time was 23:38.1.
The men were led by Sam Lange, making his season debut with a 36th-place finish in 26:43.6.
Lange ran a conservative race, picking off at least a dozen runners at every course marker.
Henry Snider broke 27 flat to be the second finisher for Michigan Tech, placing 59th overall (26:55.5).
The Huskies relied on big pushes through the final 3k as both Sawyer Fowler and Stanley Elder passed multiple runners from 5k to the finish.
Fowler finished third for the Huskies, placing 61st in 27:03.3, while Elder was right behind in 62nd, clocking in at 27:04.2.
Callen Carrier rounded out the top five for Michigan Tech with his time of 27:11.1, placing 69th in the field.
"I know we are better than we put on display today but sometimes that happens," mentioned assistant head coach Robert Young. "There's some lessons we can learn and I expect we will have a better day next time out. I'm proud of how many of our student-athletes competed despite not feeling their best."
Up Next
The Huskies will return to action on Saturday, Oct. 7, traveling to Romeoville, Illinois, for the Lewis Crossover.