Lady Vols Finish Third at 35th Roy Griak Invitational, Vols Place Eighth

Friday, September 24

St. Paul, MN

University of Tennessee

Roy Griak Invitational

Lady Vols Finish Third at 35th Roy Griak Invitational, Vols Place Eighth

September 24, 2021 | Track & Field

Results

ST. PAUL, Minn. – The Lady Vol cross country team placed three runners in the top-20 Friday at the 35th Roy Griak Invitational as they raced their way to a third-place finish overall. On the men's side, the Vols finished eighth at the Roy Griak.

"We are very pleased with the results today," director of track & field and cross country Beth Alford-Sullivan said. "It was a competitive race and we'll analyze it, but keep our eyes looking forward. With the short season it's still considered early season racing and we'll go back to the drawing board and keep working hard."

WOMEN'S RACE RECAP
Sydney Seymour, Katie Thronson and Olivia Janke led UT on the day as the Lady Vol trio finished third, 11th and 18th, respectively. The triumvirate helped Tennessee to a third-place team finish ahead of No. 6 Michigan State.

Seymour led the pack with a third-place individual finish in 21:02.1. It is her second top-three finish this season after winning the Tennessee Dual to open the year. Thronson placed 11th in 21:13.0, while Janke crossed the finish line in 21:44.9 to place 18th.

Brooke Dixon and Kayla Gholar rounded out the Tennessee top-five with placements of 33rd and 35th. Dixon finished the 6K in 22:07.2, with Gholar closing in 22:09.0.

"That was outstanding for us," Alford-Sullivan said. "Sydney had a wonderful debut of a full course race today, beating some tremendous athletes and out-kicking the top Minnesota runner at the finish line to nab that third-place finish.

"Katie Thronson looks to be in top form as well with 11th-place and then Olivia Janke really was the swing factor for us. She had to come through late in the race. We gave her some people to point up to and to catch and make sure she beat and she responded to all of that and was tough as nails. We rounded out well with Brooke Dixon and Kayla Gholar. The top-five was really working hard and working well together."

MEN'S RACE RECAP
Karl Thiessen led the men's squad Friday as he finished 13th overall. As a team, the Vols placed eighth in the men's 8K.

"We competed well off the line," Alford-Sullivan said post-race. "But about 200-300 meters in Canaan Anderson fell and Riley Buchholz's shoe came off, so we had a little bit of adversity at the start. But Karl ran well today and fought hard on what is a tough 8K course. He did a great job.

"Will Cronin had a breakthrough race in his opener today for us. It was a bit disappointing today, we felt we could have finished a bit higher, but we had some bright spots and I have a lot of faith in the men and I know they'll be hungry and ready to go in a couple of weeks."

Alex Crigger finished 38th for the men, crossing the line in 25:25.3. In his first race of the season, Cronin ran a 25:49.8 8K to place 62nd, while Conner Hawkins was 70th in a time of 25:56.7. Eli Nahom rounded out the top-five group in 90th with a finishing time of 26:09.7.

UP NEXT
Tennessee's next competition comes Oct. 15 at the Florida State Invitational / Pre-Nationals meet. That will be UT's final regular season race before the SEC Championships on Oct. 29.

RESULTS
Men's 8K (241 points – 8th of 21)
13. Karl Thiessen - 24:57.0
38. Alex Crigger - 25:25.3
62. Will Cronin - 25:49.8
70. Conner Hawkins - 25:56.7
90. Eli Nahom - 26:09.7
--
106. Tom Gardiner - 26:25.5
113. Fuji Anday - 26:28.9
132. Riley Buchholz - 26:45.6
156. Canaan Anderson - 27:01.2
167. Tim Thacker - 27:13.8

Women's 6K (100 points – 3rd of 21)
3. Sydney Seymour - 21:02.1
11. Katie Thronson - 21:13.0
18. Olivia Janke - 21:44.9
33. Brooke Dixon - 22:07.2
35. Kayla Gholar - 22:09.0
--
49. Callie Tucker - 22:24.4
83. Jasmine Fehr - 22:57.7
96. Rachel Sutliff - 23:08.9