Huskers Finish Second at Woody Greeno

Lincoln -- With a record number of runners and some of the top-ranked schools in the nation in attendance, Saturday's Woody Greeno/Nebraska Invitational at Pioneers Park proved to be one of the most competitive races in meet history. The 11th year of the meet saw its largest field ever, with nearly 600 competitors from 35 schools vying for top honors.

With close to 300 runners covering the 5,000-meter course, the Husker women battled to a second-place finish in the university division, compiling 53 points. Head Coach Jay Dirksen said he was impressed with how his team handled the congestion along the route.

"I thought our effort was excellent," Dirksen said. "There were so many teams on the course that it was really difficult to run the way you wanted to. Some people got into positions where they really shouldn't have been, but we handled it pretty well."

Nebraska was led by freshman Ann Gaffigan, who finished eighth in 18:25.70. The race marked the first of the season for the Springfield, Ill., native and she wasted no time impressing Dirksen.

"Ann Gaffigan had an outstanding race," Dirksen said. "She really put in a tremendous performance."

Sophomore Kathryn Handrup used a strong final 2,000-meters to finish in 12th-place (18:44.50), while senior Amie Jorgensen was right on her heels finishing13th in 18:47.10. Dirksen described Jorgensen's effort as "the best race I've ever seen her run in cross country." Sophomore Jenna Lucas (21st, 19:02.9) and senior Jaimie Kruger (35th, 19:20.9) rounded out the top five for the Huskers.

Other Nebraska finishers included freshmen Hillary Laird (43rd, 19:36.8) and Morgan Hartman (71st, 20:04.9), and sophomores Christy Linnell (86th, 20:18.4) and Melissa Drozda (124th, 20:52.8).

Overall Dirksen said he was pleased with how the women ran.

"We're going to get a lot better as we go along," Dirksen said. "I'm very encouraged by what I've seen."

For the second consecutive year, Kansas State claimed the top four places in the women's race, led by Amy Mortimer, who joined former Husker Fran ten Bensel as the only women to win back-to-back titles. The Wildcats, who sit at No. 4 in the latest FinishLynx poll, won the university title with 15 points, the lowest possible score.

"Kansas State is an awesome team," Dirksen said. "We hope we're going to get our program up to that level in the next couple of years. We've been there before and I think we can get there again."

The U.S. Air Force Academy (73), Creighton (90) and Wichita State (114) were the other university competitors.

In the college division, Central Missouri State (78 points) upset defending champion Nebraska at Omaha (129 points). The title is the first for the Jennies. Hastings finished third (134), followed by Wisconsin-La Crosse (159) and Doane (181).

Meanwhile in the men's 8,000-meter race, the U.S. Air Force Academy edged out Nebraska for the university title. The Falcons, who last season tied with the Huskers for the championship, collected 43 points to NU's 58. Kansas State (76), Wichita State (88), OK Racing (123) and Creighton (149) completed the university division field.

Nebraska was led by senior captain Marcus Witter, whose fourth-place finish (25:16.1) was just 15 seconds off Kansas State's Shadrack Kimeli's winning time of 25:01.7. Although Witter found himself deep in the pack early in the race, he moved up and was leading at the 5,000-meter mark, but was unable to hold on through the finish.

"He probably moved a little too fast," Dirksen said. "But he still finished fourth. The guys who beat him are really outstanding runners."

Sophomore Mike Kamm ran an outstanding race, finishing 14th in 25:46.3, a performance which garnered praise from Dirksen.

"That's the best I've seen him run," Dirksen said. "He's going to be a force to reckon with on our team this year."

Another Husker who impressed Dirksen was freshman Kyle Wyatt. The Albion, Neb., native covered the course in 25:57.2 to finish 17th, marking the highest finish by a Husker freshman since Witter's 13th-place finish in 1997.

Sophomore Ian Gray, who hails from Eugene, Ore., finished 40th in 26:36.5, while senior Aaron Carrizales, a Morrill, Neb., native, finished 57th (27:01.2). Freshman Eric Rasmussen rounded out the scoring for Nebraska, crossing the line in 27:09.9, to finish 68th. Sophomores Jed Barta (73rd, 27:14.3), James De Bruhl (75th, 27:18.4) and Phillip Davis (123rd, 27:59.7) completed the field for Nebraska. Dirksen said he was happy with how his team competed.

"I thought overall, it was a good start to the season," Dirksen said. "The meet is a lot tougher than one might think because there are so many schools. If every school has one good runner, that's 35 runners, and that makes for a pretty competitive meet."

Truman State successfully defended its title in the college division, accumulating 55 points to better Minnesota State-Makato (67). Central Missouri State (83), South Dakota's Augustana College (116) and Nebraska-Kearney (160) rounded out the top five.

Nebraska's next meet is the Roy Griak Invitational on Sept. 23. Hosted by Minnesota, it is the third largest meet in the country, falling just behind the NCAA Championships and the Pre-NCAA meet.