The Arizona Wildcats No. 10 ranked women’s cross-country team and unranked men’s team travel north to compete in the Roy Griak Invitational on Saturday in St. Paul, Minn. After winning handily against a weak field at the Dave Murray Invitational the previous weekend, the Minnesota-hosted event should provide the first true test for the UA as well as give an early look at what each roster has to offer.
The competition will be stiff in St. Paul, as the women go up against No. 8 Iowa State, No. 11 Washington, No. 18 Penn State, No. 21 NC State, No. 23 BYU, and 20 other universities around the country.
The men will compete against No. 10 Portland, No. 11 N.C. State, No. 24 Minnesota and 22 other schools.
For the women, sophomore Elvin Kibet and nine Wildcat teammates will run in St. Paul on Saturday. Freshman Lawi Lalang and six others will represent the Arizona men.
The race will be held at Minnesota’s Les Bolstad Golf Course. The men begin their 8,000-meter race at 12:20 p.m. and the women’s 6,000-meter race will follow at 1:10 p.m.
Men’s tennis sends two to Baylor Invite
Sophomore Mario Urquidi and freshman Andre Vidaller travel to Waco, Texas, this weekend, representing the Arizona men’s tennis team at the 11th annual Baylor-HEB Invitational.
The tournament is the second of the season for the Wildcats and will be much more competitive than the Aggie Invitational they attended on Sept. 9.
The Baylor-HEB Invitational features four players ranked in the top-50 of the ITA preseason singles rankings, yet only No. 17 ranked Costin Paval, a junior from Oklahoma, is inside the ITA Top 40. The tournament also includes three players ranked in the ITA top-10 freshmen.
The No. 23 ranked doubles team from Baylor will also be at the invitational.
Since Vidaller only played during the team season last spring, this will be his first individual event as a Wildcat. Urquidi is coming off a third-place finish at the Aggie Invitational, the highest finish of any UA player at that event this season.
The Baylor-HEB Invitational will be a real test for the young Wildcats, yet considering there is only one upperclassman on the roster, this is only the start of a difficult, yet potentially rewarding, fall season for Arizona.
Play starts today at Baylor’s Hurd Tennis Center and continues through Sunday.