MOORHEAD, Minn. -- MSU Moorhead cross country will look to build on its solid start to the season this Friday as the Dragons compete at the 38th annual Roy Griak Invitational in Falcon Heights, Minn. The men's race is slated for 11:30 a.m. with the women's race to follow at 12:15 p.m.

Live results and video will be available at msumdragons.com. Please note that the Big Ten Network is a pay-per-view service. 

MSUM began the 2024 season last Friday as part of the 9th annual Dragon Twilight. Both the Dragon men and women earned runner-up team finishes. 

Action began with the women's Randy Smith 5000m where senior Grace Dorsher would be the top finisher for the Dragons. Dorsher would clock a new personal-best 5k time of 18:52.4 to finish 12th overall with the time now being the 13th-fastest in school history. Sophomore Katelyn Kennedy finished in 21st place with a mark of 19:33.6, which is also a new personal record and within the top 25 in school history. Abbie Christen and Kaela Traugott would finish just behind Kennedy at 24th and 25th place, respectively. Christen ran a personal best time of 19:41.6 while Traugott did the same with a 19:45.9 mark. 

Freshman Sophia Ness would finish her first collegiate race in 31st place with a time of 20:12.4 with Brooke Baumann finishing just behind Ness with a mark of 20:26.9. Rounding out the MSUM contingent was Madison Kepner, who crossed the finish with a personal best time of 20:54. MSUM finished second in the team scoring with 78 points. North Dakota took home the team title as unattached Fighting Hawk Yonca Kutluk would clock a meet record time of 16:56.4.

On the men's side, Adnew Stueven would lead the way for MSUM in the Fred Dahnke 6000m, finishing in fifth place overall with a time of 17:59.4, a personal best time for the senior. Freshman Salman Mohamed would showcase his raw talent in his first collegiate race by finishing 10th with a time of 18:25.5. Colin O'Farrellwould place just behind Mohamed with a mark of 18:26.4. Redshirt freshman Chase Hoechst aided the Dragon team scoring after a 13th-place finish behind a time of 18:27.5. The times for O'Farrell and Hoechst are both personal bests. 

Brett Kurschner would also clock a personal best mark of 18:44.0 to finish within the top 20 as James Dorado would finish 22nd with a time of 18:54.2, another personal best. Freshmen Luke Buentello (19:14.2) and Lander Lahtinen (19:20.3) would finish 29th and 33rd, respectively for MSUM. Janis Riekstins (19:30) and Joel Brault (19:41.8) would wrap up the MSUM competitors. The Dragons finished second to North Dakota in the team standings, scoring 45 points. 

For their efforts last week, Dorsher and Stueven swept the NSIC's weekly cross country awards. In the first USTFCCCA regional rankings, MSUM's men's program is listed eighth in the Central Region. 

Ryan Milner is in his eighth season as MSUM's head cross country coach.