MINNEAPOLIS – Running against several ranked programs, the University of Wyoming men’s and women’s cross country teams claimed 11th and 19th, respectively, at the prestigious Roy Griak Invitational on Saturday at the Les Bolstad Golf Course. No. 4 BYU won the men’s title over No. 29 Arizona State, while No. 5 Arizona finished ahead of four other ranked teams in the women’s race.

“The men came in here and fought hard,” UW head coach Bryan Berryhill said. “We had a 22-second split which is by far the best we’ve had in the last two years. We keep that up and move that pack up 10-15 seconds and we are really getting somewhere. The women’s race was stacked today, but we fought hard, though. We have a young team and you always get a little scared with a young team when you have 350 athletes on the starting line.”

Senior Garrett Zans led the Cowboys for the second time this season and seventh time in his career with a 25:08 over the 8-kilometer course to finish 40th overall in the field of 246 runners. Sophomore Amos Bowen crossed the line in 25:13 for 46th, followed five seconds later by senior Mike Banks in 53rd. Sophomore Aaron Derner placed 61st in 25:22 and sophomore Mike Seas rounded out UW’s scorers in 61st at 25:30. UW had just a 22-second gap between its first to fifth runner to help the Cowboys finish just four places behind No. 24 North Carolina State.

“The men beat some really solid teams today and finished right behind a ranked team,” Berryhill said. “If we have a couple guys run a couple seconds faster we beat a national-ranked team. Overall, a good, solid effort on the guy’s side today.”

Junior Holly Page paced the Cowgirls for a ninth-consecutive race and placed 61st overall in 22:13 against a very competitive field of 300 runners. Freshman Megan Brunette finished 10 seconds behind Page in 99th, while sophomore Audra DeStefano was 147th in 23:03. Junior Devon England crossed the line one second later for 149th and freshman Ali Walker was 167th in 23:11.

“Megan Brunette really stood out on the women’s side,” Berryhill said. “She started maybe 170th at the mile and ended up catching about 100 people by the finish line. For a young team, today’s performance was okay, but we have a lot of work to do.”

Wyoming is off the next two weekends, before returning to action at the Highlander Invitational on Oct. 19 in Riverside, Calif.

2013 Roy Griak Invite
Men’s Team Results
1. No. 4 BYU – 62
2. Colorado State – 74
3. No. 29 Arizona State – 139
4. Adams State – 147
5. Oklahoma – 152
11. Wyoming – 263

Wyoming Men Individual Results
40. Garrett Zans – 25:08
46. Amos Bowen – 25:13
53. Mike Banks – 25:18
61. Aaron Derner – 25:22
69. Mike Seas – 25:30
148. Dylan Morin – 26:10
206. Michael Rotellini – 26:58
216. Michael Kesy – 27:13

Women’s Team Results
1. No. 5 Arizona – 48
2. No. 13 Michigan State – 72
3. No. 29 Butler – 94
4. No. 19 Minnesota – 104
5. No. 26 Iowa State – 119
19. Wyoming – 527

Wyoming Women Individual Results
61. Holly Page – 22:13
99. Megan Brunette – 22:33
147. Audra DeStefano – 23:03
149. Devon England – 23:04
167. Ali Walker – 23:11
202. Emily Swigart – 23:32
253. Cassidy Meade – 24:26
274. Mary Kozlowski – 25:05