MARSHALL INDEPENDENT (© 2002 story reprinted with permission)
9-28-2002
-Tiger Boys 4th, Girls 19th at Roy Griak
By Tom Berg
Independent Sports Editor
ST. PAUL � The breakout season for the Marshall boys cross country team continues.
The Tigers, running in one of the state�s toughest meets, finished fourth out of 51 teams at the Roy Griak Invitational Saturday at the Les Bolstad Course in St. Paul. The Tiger girls also posted a strong showing, finishing 19th out of the 45 teams competing.
The event features teams from Iowa, Wisconsin, South Dakota and Minnesota and included some of the best cross country teams in the region. �It was a pretty incredible run for our guys,� Tiger coach Mike Jacobs said. �The team did very well. They came away with great feelings from this meet. I can�t remember having a counter average of 16:57; we�ve never had an average under 17 minutes that I can remember. The guys were really pumped.� Yahya Iman enjoyed a huge day, finishing fifth out of the 465 runners. His time of 16:02 was impressive.
�Yahya was at a 4:50 split on his first mile, and a 10:08 on his second � he�s unbelievable. He ran right there with the big dogs,� Jacobs said. �He�s won three meets, and been second in two of them. He ran a 16:02 on a rugged course. It was his best showing.�
Tom Allen battled tough as well, finishing in the top 50 with a time of 16:57. �It was a career best for Tom Allen. He broke 17 minutes on a 5K course, and that was one of his goals for this year,� Jacobs said. �He was really pumped.� Jon Tauer was 59th and Salah Mohamed 61st. �Salah and Jon are like money in the bank. They�re improving all the time,� Jacobs said.
Abdillahi Awali was 99th, and Akey Jumale, who has been battling a cold, was 130th, as the Tigers showed they are among the elite in Minnesota. �It puts the boys in great position to move up in the rankings,� Jacobs said. �And if Akey would have been 10-15 seconds behind Yahya like he usually is...we would have been right there with (Mankato) West. If he�s healthy, we�ll factor nicely against West (at sections).�
Julia Schultz led the Tiger girls with a 29th place finish as the team broke the top half in the field of 45 teams. �Twenty-ninth place � that�s really good,� Jacobs said. �She continues to improve. The thing that impressed me was, she was trying all the time to gobble up bodies. She was moving up and ran an aggressive race.�
Traci Pagel was 93rd with a time of 21:11.3, and Breha Holcomb was 128th with a time of 21:43. Laura Johnson also had a solid run, taking 147th at 22:01. �Traci and Breha � they had to fight through a lot of crowds,� Jacobs said. �That hindered them, but they certainly didn�t lack for effort. They seemed to have a lot of enthusiasm afterwards. Laura Johnson just had an excellent race. She really fought hard.�
Haley Meyer crossed the line in 157th place, followed closely by Sam Tauer in 158th. �The highlight for us was cracking the top half,� Jacobs said. �Everybody ran aggressively once thing got going. It was a good experience for them to see such a big meet.�
Roy Griak Invitational
Boys
Top 20 teams (51 teams): Des Moines Roosevelt 43, Hopkins 104, Mankato West 236, Marshall 271, Mpls Southwest 3044, Ankeny (Iowa) 351, Sioux Falls O�Gorman 360, Wayzata 373, Shawnee Mission 374, Hudson 374, Mounds View 387, Duluth East 431, Eau Claire North 433, Lakeville 453, Mpls Edison 455, St. Louis Park 476, Minnetonka 497, Wausau East (Wisc.) 562, Rosemount 576, Sioux Falls Roosevelt 601
Marshall individuals: 5. Yahya Iman, 16:02.9; 47. Tom Allen, 16:57.4; 59. Jon Tauer, 17:05.4; 61. Salah Mohamed, 17:07.4; 99. Abdilliahi Awali, 17:33.8; 130. Akey Jumale, 17:45; 172. Bart Johnson, 18:04.2; 308. Paul Carlson, 18:57 326. Blaine Kuiper 19:09; 454. Eric Ahmann, 21:22
Girls
Top 20 teams (41 complete): Hopkins 109, Minnetonka 141, Shawnee Mission 165, Lakeville 200, Sioux Falls O�Gorman 245, Mounds View 254, River Falls 266, Grand Rapids 267, Grand Forks Central 325, Elk River 346, Duluth East 374, Forest Lake 439, Sioux Falls Roosevelt 439, Jackson County Central 528, Amery 535, Minnehaha Academy 539, Eastview 553, Maple Grove 553, Marshall 554, Brainerd 562
Marshall Individuals: 29. Julia Schultz, 20:10.4; 93. Traci Pagel, 21:11.3; 128. Breha Holcomb, 21:43.9; 147. Laura Johnson, 22:01.1; 157. Haley Meyer, 22:11.8; 158. Samantha Tauer, 22:12.1; 215. Allison Schultz, 22:54.0
-Courtesy Marshall Independent