MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. – The Drake University men's and women's cross country teams lined up against some of the top teams in the nation on Saturday with the men's team finishing 20^th while the women's squad was 24^th at the Roy Griak Invitational.

The prestigious meet, regarded as one of the toughest in the nation, featured 24 men's and 27 women's teams racing with 549 runners competing in a field that included nearly 15 nationally ranked teams.

“We really had some great efforts across the board,” Drake head coach Dan Hostager said. “The women were able to take a lot of time off their race times at the Oz Memorial from three weeks ago on the same course.”

No. 4 BYU won the men's 8-kilometer race with 62 points while Drake's 591 points checked in 20^th in the tough race.

Ryan Flynn (Bettendorf, Iowa) was Drake's top finisher on the men's side with a time of 25:49.5 to finish 108^th. He narrowly edged teammate Rob McCann (Mississauga, Ontario) who was 109^th in 25:50.2.

Freshman Reed Fischer (Minnetonka) continued his strong debut campaign by finishing third for the Bulldogs in 151^st place and a time of 26:10.7. Senior Doug Brady (Englewood, Colo.) and junior Conor Wells (Des Moines, Iowa) followed closely in 153^rd and 159^th with times of 26:11.2 and 26:15.3, respectively.

As deep and difficult as the men's race was, the women's 6-kilometer race was even more loaded with nine nationally ranked teams lining up in the boxes. No. 5 Arizona won the women's race with a team score of 48. Drake turned in times right at what Hostager was expecting given the team's trading to finish 24^th.

Krista Maguire (Wasau, Wis.) led the Drake women's team with a time of 23:12.70 to finish 173^rd in the 300-runner field. Taylor Scholl (Prior Lake, Minn.) was next across the line in 186^th and a time of 23:19.25. Erin Poss (Antioch, Ill.) was the third Bulldog across the line in 23:32.00 to finish 205^th while Cassie Aerts (David City, Neb.) trailed closely in 209^th with a time of 23:35.85. Emma Huston (Des Moines, Iowa) rounded out the scoring for Drake with a time of 23:57.05 to finish 231^st.

The solid performances for both teams against nationally ranked competition was encouraging for Hostager as he keeps his team's focus on improvement and training for the upcoming championship portion of its season.

“It was some great 'big meet' experience for our younger athletes and we're excited about the rest of our season,” Hostager said of his team's showing at the Roy Griak Invitational.

The team will have two weeks off from competition as they continue their training. They will return to action on Oct. 18 at the Bradley Classic.