The Wayne State men’s and women’s cross country teams competed at the third largest cross country meet in the nation on Saturday.

The Roy Griak Invitational cross country meet is held every year at the Les Boltstad golf course in St. Paul, Minnesota. The meet draws colleges from all over the country, including some of the top NCAA Division I teams in the nation. Both the men’s and women’s divisions are divided into three different races—Division III, Division II and Division I.

But the biggest story line of this year’s meet may have been the weather that was a factor on the condition of the course. It did not rain on Saturday, but it had rained on Friday, creating soft and muddy conditions on an already hilly and challenging course.

“The conditions of the course were a big factor,” head coach Marlon Brink said. “Times were about a minute slower than a usual 8k course. Athletes were slipping around and it was hard to maintain a good pace.”

There were 463 runners in the men’s Division II race and 40 teams that scored. WSC finished in 36th place with 1010 points. Augustana won with 88 points, followed by UC-San Diego (130), Black Hills St. (149), Manitoba (152) and Western Washington (154) to round out the top five.

Antoine Bardou once again led the WSC team, finishing in 70th with a time of 27:43 on the 8k course. He was followed by Isaias Solorio in 239th (29:27), Corbin Lehn in 340th (31:03), Kak Ayaj in 351st (31:23) and Joey Black in 394th (32:32).

“It was pretty muddy and hard to keep traction,” Solorio said. “Today was a little rough, the hills get to you.”

There were 398 runners in the women’s Division II race and 40 teams that scored. WSC finished in 38th place with 1120 points. The University of Mary won with 93 points, followed by Duluth (95), Northern Michigan (122), UC-Colorado Springs (149) and UC-San Diego (209) to round out the top five.

Andrea DeSimone was the top finisher for the WSC women’s team in 188th with a time of 26:26 on the 6k course. She was followed by Lexi Oswald in 266th (27:43), Jamie Larson in 286th (28:10), Josephine Peitz in 336th (29:32) and Sarah Post in 386th (34:53).

“Overall, we ran better than other races, but we can do better,” Brink said. “Antoine had a decent race. He was 17th among other NSIC runners, which is a good sign. Right now we are where we expected to be.”