Results | Interview with Marie Borner

ST. PAUL, Minn. - For the second consecutive year, Marie Borner (Jr., Cottage Grove, Minn.) finished the Griak Invitational cross country meet in second place behind Becca Jordahl of UW-River Falls. However, as a testament to the strength of the entire team, the Royals finished in 7th place out of 36 teams at the 23rd annual event, which took place at the Les Bolstad Golf Course on the St. Paul campus of the University of Minnesota.

Borner's time of 22:01.1 was one second better than the previous record, held by Jordahl, set at last year's race. Jordahl beat her own record by two seconds with a time of 21:59.9.

Of the 36 teams that participated, eight were nationally ranked in the latest United States Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) poll. The Royals, who entered the race in a tie for sixth in the USTFCCCA regional rankings, finished second among MIAC schools, and the highest of the non-nationally ranked teams, performing significantly better than two of them.

Alex Potter (So., Windom, Minn.) was the next highest finisher for the Royals, placing 16th out of 497 runners, with a time of 23:19.5. Heather Jelen (Sr., Sioux Falls, S.D.) ran the 6,000 meter course with a time of 24:04.4, which was good for a 51st place finish. Janelle Crary (Jr., Grand Forks, N.D.) and Kristin Mork (So., Cambridge, Minn.) rounded out the top five finishers for Bethel.

The Royals will now set their sights on the NCAA Pre-National Meet, which is scheduled to take place next weekend at Hanover College in Hanover, Ind. The site will also serve as the course for this year's NCAA National Championship meet in November.

Click on the links above to see the full results, and also to watch a post-race interview with Marie Borner.