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

track and field Track and field (or athletics in British English) is a sport that includes Competition#Sports, athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name used in North America is derived from where the sport takes place, a ru ...

coach. He was the head cross country and

coach at the

University of Minnesota The University of Minnesota Twin Cities (historically known as University of Minnesota) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in the Minneapolis–Saint Paul, Twin Cities of Minneapolis and Saint ...

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

National Track and Field Hall of Fame National may refer to: Common uses * Nation or country ** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen Places in the United States * National, Maryland, c ...

Early life

Griak was born in

Montana Montana ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It is bordered by Idaho to the west, North Dakota to the east, South Dakota to the southeast, Wyoming to the south, an ...

but raised in

Duluth, Minnesota Duluth ( ) is a Port, port city in the U.S. state of Minnesota and the county seat of St. Louis County, Minnesota, St. Louis County. Located on Lake Superior in Minnesota's Arrowhead Region, the city is a hub for cargo shipping. The population ...

. He served three years in the

US Army The United States Army (USA) is the primary land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of the United Stat ...

Infantry Infantry, or infantryman are a type of soldier who specialize in ground combat, typically fighting dismounted. Historically the term was used to describe foot soldiers, i.e. those who march and fight on foot. In modern usage, the term broadl ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. 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 Medieval Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six years ...

in education and later also obtained his

master's degree A master's degree (from Latin ) is a postgraduate 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 prac ...

Career

Griak taught at Nicollet High School in Nicollet, Minnesota, 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 U.S. state of Minnesota. It is the county seat of Blue Earth County, Minnesota. The population was 44,488 at the 2020 census, making it the 21st-largest city in Mi ...

Public Schools and St. Louis Park High School. In 1962,

Jim Kelly James Edward Kelly (born February 14, 1960) is an American former professional football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 11 seasons with the Buffalo Bills. He also spent two seasons with the Houston Gamblers o ...

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 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, among others) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference in the United States. Founded as the Intercollegiate Conference of Fa ...

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 College athletics in the United States, student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, and Simon Fraser University, 1 in Canada. ...

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 A varsity team is the highest-level team in a sport or activity representing an educational institution. Varsity teams train to compete against each other during an athletic season or in periodic matches against rival institutions. At High school, ...

) 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