FALCON HEIGHTS, Minn. – Minnesota State men's cross country placed second among 23 schools Friday at the 39^th annual Roy Griak Invitational 8K at Les Bolstad Golf Course. For the second straight meet, the Mavericks were led by freshman Luis Pfister (Ottobeuren, Germany). Pfister crossed the finish line second with a time of 26:39.4, behind only race winner Michael Dennis (Michigan Tech), who ran the course in 26:39.0.
 
Michigan Tech took the team title with four runners inside the top ten (35 pts.). Minnesota State was second (100 pts.). Freshman Jack Kendall (Virginia, Minn.) helped the Mavericks in 18^th position with a time of 27:11.0. Freshman Wallace Kigen (Mumias, Kenya) was 20^th in 27:17.0. For MSU, Friday was the highest finish at the Roy Griak Invitational since 2012 (second).
 
"Our young group is coming along really well," said head coach Ben Held. "It's a tough course but the weather was favorable and our energy was really good from start to finish. Our goal was to hang tough with the teams in our conference, and we exceeded our expectations."
 
The Mavericks improved from a 15^th place team finish at the same event in 2024. Other finishers included Jacob Bennett (26^th, 27:28.3), Dominic Ripperda (34^th, 27:44.6), Luke Scholtes (36^th, 27:45.2), Biruk Killeen (44^th, 27:54.7), Audi Thom (48^th, 27:58.0), Erek Ross (60^th, 28:10.7), Maquanet Collins (80^th, 28:26.2), Jaden Miller (90^th, 28:34.9), Jonathan Owen (137^th, 29:13.9), and Grant Mayers (161^st, 29:39.4).
 
Up next for men's cross country is the Lucian Rosa Invite in Kenosha, Wisconsin on Sept. 27 at 10:15 a.m.