DURHAM, N.C. - Two weeks after claiming the James Madison Invitational team title, the Duke men's cross country squad will travel to Falcon Heights, Minn., this weekend to take part in the 24th Annual Roy Griak Invitational, hosted by the University of Minnesota. The 8K Men's Gold Race held at Les Bolstad Golf Course is scheduled for 1:10 p.m. (EST) on Saturday, Sept. 26.
The Blue Devils will look to continue their early season success against a tough field of 18 teams, including nationally-ranked Minnesota (No. 17) and Iowa State (No. 25). Saturday marks the first time Duke has faced ranked opposition in the young 2009 season.
In 2008, James Osborne led the Blue Devils with a 38th-place finish in 25:15 at the Griak Invitational, followed closely by Andrew Brodeur in 42nd place (25:17) and Bo Waggoner in 49th place (25:20). Josh Brewer, Dominick Robinson, James Kostelnik, Cory Nanni, Stephen Clark and Jonathan Sanchez will join Osborne, Brodeur and Waggoner as Duke looks to improve upon its eighth-place finish from a year ago.
"We were extremely pleased with our team effort at the James Madison Invitational," head coach Norm Ogilvie said. "Now we get a chance to test ourselves against nationally-ranked opponents. This is an important meet for our team, but we're healthy and ready to go."
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