What's Ahead: The Drake women's cross country squad will head up north to compete at the Roy Griak Invitational in Falcon Heights, Minn. on Saturday (Sept. 29). The Women's Gold Division race, run on the 6,000-meter course at Lee Bolstad Golf Course, will begin at 1:10 p.m.

Last Time Out: Freshman Celeste Arteaga (Rock Island, Ill.) claimed her first title in a Bulldog uniform at the Grand View Invitational. Arteaga stormed her way to finish in a time of 19:08 on the 5-kilometer course.

Junior Amanda Marwitz (Crystal Lake, Ill.) came in just behind the winner in 19:12 and freshman Emma Huston (Des Moines, Iowa) closed out the top-three with a time of 19:26.

Drake earned a total score of 17, two above the lowest possible score of 15. Aside from the top-three, freshmen Cassie Aerts (David City, Neb.) finished fifth in 19:48 and Emma Johnson (Mora, Minn.) was sixth in 19:50.

A Year Ago: A young Bulldog contingent finished in 26th-place in the Women's Gold Division at the Roy Griak Invitational. The field of 272 runners from across the nation included seven teams ranked in the United States Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association National Poll.

Kirsten Lake (Parker, Colo.) led the charge for Drake, netting a 158th-place finish in 23:29. The trio of Mariel Fulton (Louisville, Colo.), Krista Maguire (Wausau, Wis.) and Melissa Parks (Norfolk, Neb.) finished in 165th, 167th, and 172nd places respectively. Fulton came in at 23:39, while Maguire finished in 23:42 and Parks in 24:08.

Next Up: The Bulldogs will head to Illinois to compete in the Bradley Cross Country Classic. The meet looks to be a good precursor to the Missouri Valley Conference Meet to be held on October 27th.