Wayne State University Athletics

Marissa Krynak

Thailyia Christansen came home 34th on Friday in Minnesota.

Women's Cross Country 9/22/2023 4:31:00 PM Matthew Jurek, Sports Information Graduate Assistant

Women's Cross Country Third at Roy Griak Invitational

The Warriors had 133 points to claim a podium finish.

SAINT PAUL, Minn. -- The No. 19-ranked Wayne State University women's cross country team continued its strong showing to begin the 2023 campaign, as the squad notched a third-place overall finish at the 37th Roy Griak Invitational on Friday afternoon at the Les Bolstad Golf Course.

The Suzy Wilson Women's Maroon Race was just one of several races at the meet, which was hosted by the University of Minnesota. The women's six-kilometer race featured programs from Division II, Division III, the NAIA, and others, and followed Division I contests and the Men's Maroon Race.

WSU was competing in back-to-back weeks for the first time this fall after winning the Warrior Challenge last Friday. It was the team's first meet outside of Michigan in 2023.

Augustana (S.D.), the eighth-ranked women's team in the nation, claimed first place overall by scoring 80 points. Another Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference (NSIC) school came home second via the University of Mary. They registered 106 points. The Warriors notched 133 points to complete the podium positions. 37 programs had team scores for the race.

Wayne State's showing was better than ranked Division II teams in 20th-ranked Minnesota-Duluth (sixth, 203 points) and 27th-ranked Minnesota State, Mankato (fourth, 175 points). The Green and Gold also finished higher than a pair of GLIAC schools competing at the event -- Michigan Tech (seventh, 209 points) and Northern Michigan (12th, 376 points).

391 athletes posted a finishing time. Gianna Bomarito, a sophomore from Division II Sonoma State won the 6K with a time of 21:44.20.

Leading Wayne State was Reagan Justice (Canton, Mich. / Salem). The junior collected her third top-10 finish in as many meets with a ninth-place showing. Her time was 22:32.30. Crossing the line in 20th was Briana Vojinov (Brownstown, Mich. / Woodhaven) with a mark of 23:13.00. Anna O'Connor (Waterford, Ireland) notched 32nd (23:31.50) in her third meet for the Green and Gold.

After not being able to finish at the Warrior Challenge last Friday, Thailyia Christansen (Flushing, Mich. / Flushing) rebounded with a 34th place effort. Her time for the six-kilometer event was a 23:32.50.

Three other Warriors also came home in the top 100 overall. In 41st was Katherine Ray (Novi, Mich. / Novi) with a time of 23:43.90. Annalee Misch's (Macomb, Mich. / Utica Eisenhower) time of 23:54.80 was enough for 50th. Meanwhile, Robin Bresolin (LaSalle, Ont. / St. Thomas of Villanova) notched 58th (24:04.50).

Other Finishers:
104th - Mattie Drennan (Clarkston, Mich. / Clarkston), 24:43.50
125th - Emily Gordon (Northville, Mich. / Northville), 25:03.80
153rd - Layla Martini (Casnovia, Mich. / Kent City), 25:25.20
162nd - Sarah Greb (Washington, Mich. / Romeo), 25:35.90
205th - Emily Esker (Livonia, Mich. / Franklin), 26:13.90
258th - Natalie Davies (Chelsea, Mich. / Chelsea), 27:05.90
281st - Jillian Vera (Saugatuck, Mich. / Saugatuck), 27:35.50
314th - Rachel Felstow (Leonard, Mich. / Romeo), 28:26.30 after not competing at the Warrior Challenge last Friday.

FROM COACH LOFDAHL
"We weren't quite at full strength today, and some of our best runners didn't have their best days. However, we stayed engaged in the race and we persisted, and to come out in third place against this field -- that shows the quality and depth of our squad. Reagan and Bri up front competed hard on a very challenging course. Anna and Thailyia hung in there pretty well on what was a tough day for them both, and Katherine ran a very solid race and finished the scoring as our #5. Annalee also had an impressive day, moving up through the field. We'll go back to training and I think we'll be a better team in October than we were in September, and hopefully at our very best in November."

UP NEXT
Wayne State will next be in Romeoville, Ill. for the Lewis Crossover Invite on Saturday, October 7 from the Lewis Cross Country Course. The women's six-kilometer race is set to start at 10:45 a.m. Eastern (9:45 a.m. Central). It will be the second consecutive out-of-state meet for the Warriors and the fourth of five regular season events on the calendar this fall.

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Players Mentioned

Robin Bresolin: 5' 4"; Redshirt Sophomore

Natalie Davies: 5' 7"; Junior

Mattie Drennan: 5' 6"; Junior

Emily Esker: 5' 7"; Graduate Student

Rachel Felstow: 5' 8"; Redshirt Freshman

Emily Gordon: 5' 7"; Junior

Sarah Greb: 5' 4"; Redshirt Freshman

Reagan Justice: 5' 4"; Junior

Layla Martini: 5' 5"; Junior

Annalee Misch: 5' 6"; Junior

Players Mentioned

Robin Bresolin
: 5' 4"; Redshirt Sophomore

Natalie Davies
: 5' 7"; Junior

Mattie Drennan
: 5' 6"; Junior

Emily Esker
: 5' 7"; Graduate Student

Rachel Felstow
: 5' 8"; Redshirt Freshman

Emily Gordon
: 5' 7"; Junior

Sarah Greb
: 5' 4"; Redshirt Freshman

Reagan Justice
: 5' 4"; Junior

Layla Martini
: 5' 5"; Junior

Annalee Misch
: 5' 6"; Junior