The cross country teams had their biggest meet of the season Saturday at the Roy Griak Invitational at the University of Minnesota.

The results didn’t turn out the best for the Cyclones.

The ISU men placed 25th out of 30 teams, placing ahead of two Big 12 teams, while the women placed 26th out of 26 teams. While ISU runners said they expected better, there were some positives from the first big meet of the year.

“It gave us something to start on, a good starter for us,” senior Jessica Huff said.

Huff was the first finisher in the 6-kilometer race for the Cyclones and was 113th overall, running 22:45.

Aside from sophomore Dan Taylor, who ran the 8-kilometer race in 25:11, good for 49th place, no Cyclone on the men’s side finished in the top 100.

“We realize that we have a lot of work to do,” junior Ben Fogarty said.

Fogarty ran 26:15 and was the fourth ISU finisher. “It gives us some good motivation for the rest of our season,” he said.

As a whole, the ISU runners had a slow start that was too difficult to recover from, Fogarty said.

Huff said the ISU women are already looking forward to their next competition. “There are a lot of big meets coming up, so we will gain more experience,” Huff said.

“We want to do well at the conference tournament [and finish] in the top half of the Big 12. Individually, I hope to be all-Big 12, and do my best at the regional.”

The ISU men have similar goals, Fogarty said.

“With the regional meet coming up, we need to run well at that meet by hopefully performing better,” he said. “As a team, we are looking to place in the top half in the Big 12 [meet]. Also, we want to qualify for nationals.”

The men’s and women’s teams are back in action at the ISU Memorial, the last home meet of the season, at 6 p.m. Friday.

Roy Griak Invitational — ISU results

Men’s 8 kilometers: Overall place-Athlete-Time. 49. Dan Taylor, 25:11. 144. Ryan Pence, 26:08. 148. Craig Cartier, 26:10. 163. Ben Fogarty, 26:15. 167. Ricky Reusser, 26:20. 175. Corey Ylinen, 26:28. 186. Kyle Rasmussen 26:38.

Women’s 6 kilometers: Overall place-Athlete-Time. 113. Jessica Huff, 22:45. 157. Karen McCormick, 23:34. 162. Amanda Ganser, 23:44. 166. Monica Erickson, 23:47. 169. Lindsey Nye, 23:54. 173. Krysta Metz, 24:02. 175. Lacey Leinbaugh, 24:10.