Roy Griak (October 5, 1923 – July 9, 2015) was a cross country and

track and field Track and field is a sport that includes athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name is derived from where the sport takes place, a running track and a grass field for the throwing and some of the jumping eve ...

coach. He was the head cross country and

coach at the

University of Minnesota The University of Minnesota, formally the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, (UMN Twin Cities, the U of M, or Minnesota) is a public land-grant research university in the Twin Cities of Minneapolis and Saint Paul, Minnesota, United States. ...

from 1963–1996. In 2001, he was inducted into the

National Track and Field Hall of Fame The National Track and Field Hall of Fame is a museum operated by The Armory Foundation in conjunction with USA Track & Field. It is located within the Armory Foundation (the former Fort Washington Avenue Armory) at 216 Fort Washington Avenue, ...

Early life

Griak was born in

Montana Montana () is a state in the Mountain West division of the Western United States. It is bordered by Idaho to the west, North Dakota and South Dakota to the east, Wyoming to the south, and the Canadian provinces of Alberta, British Columb ...

but raised in

Duluth, Minnesota , settlement_type = City , nicknames = Twin Ports (with Superior, Wisconsin, Superior), Zenith City , motto = , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top: Downtown Dul ...

. He served three years in the

US Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cla ...

Infantry Infantry is a military specialization which engages in ground combat on foot. Infantry generally consists of light infantry, mountain infantry, motorized infantry & mechanized infantry, airborne infantry, air assault infantry, and mar ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

. After the war, he enrolled at the

, where he was a letter-winner in both cross country and track and field. Griak earned his

bachelor's degree A bachelor's degree (from Middle Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate academic degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to si ...

in education and later also obtained his

master's degree A master's degree (from Latin ) is an academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice.

Career

Griak taught at Nicollet High School in

Nicollet, Minnesota Nicollet is a city in Nicollet County, Minnesota, United States. The population was 1,143 at the 2020 census. It is part of the Mankato— North Mankato Metropolitan Statistical Area. U.S. Route 14 and Minnesota State Highways 99 and 111 a ...

, where he started a track and field program and coached 5 sports. He later went on to teach and coach at

Mankato Mankato ( ) is a city in Blue Earth, Nicollet, and Le Sueur counties in the state of Minnesota. The population was 44,488 according to the 2020 census, making it the 21st-largest city in Minnesota, and the 5th-largest outside of the Minnea ...

Public Schools and St. Louis Park High School. In 1962, Jim Kelly retired from the

and Griak filled his vacancy, taking a pay cut from $12,000 to $8,500. He spent 33 years as the head coach, and continued for 19 years as an assistant coach. On July 9, 2015 Roy Griak died at the age of 91. Gophers athletics director

Norwood Teague Norwood Teague (born 1965) is the former athletic director at the University of Minnesota. Early career Teague graduated from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC) in 1988 with a B.A. in political science and later earned a master ...

said in a statement that "Roy went to Minnesota, coached here for more than 30 years, worked here for more than 50 years and impacted more lives than almost anybody in the history of athletic department."

Coaching accomplishments

* 10 years, St. Louis Park High School * 33 years, head coach, University of Minnesota * 19 years, assistant coach, University of Minnesota *

Big Ten Conference The Big Ten Conference (stylized B1G, formerly the Western Conference and the Big Nine Conference) is the oldest Division I collegiate athletic conference in the United States. Founded as the Intercollegiate Conference of Faculty Representati ...

cross country titles in 1964 and 1969, and runners-up in 1968 * Fourth place finish at

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges ...

cross country finals * Big Ten Conference Conference title, 1968 * Coached 47 cross country and track and field All-American athletes, including three NCAA champions and 60 Big Ten individual champions.

Other accomplishments

* Roy Griak co-founded the Twin Cities Race for the Cure, which over the years, has raised millions of dollars towards breast cancer research. * Over his time coaching at the U of M, Griak raised more than two million dollars for the Gopher cross country and track and field teams.

Roy Griak Invitational

The Roy Griak Invitational was named in his honor and has become one of the nation's largest cross country events. The meet consists of six collegiate races (Division I-III) and four high school races ( varsity and

junior varsity Junior varsity (often called "JV") players are the members of a team who are not the main players in a competition (such as any football, basketball, or baseball game), usually at the high school level–– and formerly at the collegiate level ...

) totaling over 4,000 runners.

References

External links

Roy Griak Bio on Gopher SportsRoy Griak Invitational
{{DEFAULTSORT:Griak, Roy 1923 births 2015 deaths Minnesota Golden Gophers men's cross country runners Minnesota Golden Gophers men's track and field athletes Minnesota Golden Gophers cross country coaches Minnesota Golden Gophers track and field coaches American track and field coaches Sports coaches from Minnesota Sportspeople from Duluth, Minnesota United States Army personnel of World War II