Colorado State University Athletics
Cross country preview: CSU enters field of nationally ranked competition
9/23/2010 12:00:00 AM | Cross Country
Sept. 23, 2010
By Chris Feller
Media Relations
FORT COLLINS, Colo. -- The Colorado State men’s and women’s cross country teams will be in great company this weekend at the 25th running of the Roy Griak Invitational. The Rams will run against their toughest competition to date including ranked schools from across the nation.
Fellow Mountain West Conference member New Mexico enters the invitational as the highest nationally ranked competitor (11th) the Rams have faced this season. Both the men’s and women’s teams will face Arizona State, ranked 17th at the beginning of the week, and Iowa State, ranked 21st. In addition, the men will go up against 13th-ranked Oklahoma and 16th-ranked BYU.
The Rams can use this weekend as an opportunity to showcase their talent and see where they stack up against highly regarded conferences foes. Head Coach Bryan Berryhill believes his team is up for the task.
“Our goal is to have a great team race and hopefully knock off some top-ranked teams,” he said.
Ellie Keyser will lead the women in the 6,000-meter race after an off week in which she was named the Mountain West Conference Athlete of the Week for the third time in her career. The men will compete earlier in the day in the 8,000-meter race.
Berryhill expects the team to be well prepared after an impressive week of practice.
“This week has been one of my better weeks of practice in my five years here,” the coach said.
The Rams will look to make that week even better by surprising some of the nation’s elite teams this weekend.