NU Men Finish Fifth, Women Seventh, at Big 12s

Boulder, Colo. - The Nebraska men's cross country team finished fifth, while the women claimed seventh place at the Big 12 Cross Country Championships in Boulder, Colo., on Saturday.

The Husker men tallied 153 points to finish fifth, bettering last season's sixth-place showing. Nebraska was led by senior Marcus Witter's 11th-place finish. Witter completed the 8,000-meter course in 25:31 to capture his highest finish ever at the conference meet, narrowly missing out on all-conference honors given to the top nine finishers.

Teammate and fellow senior Aaron Carrizales ran a strong race finishing 13th in 25:34, marking the first time the Morrill, Neb., native finished in the top 15 at the Big 12 meet. Sophomore Jed Barta finished 38th in 26:24, while freshman Kyle Wyatt cracked the top 50 in his first conference meet, crossing the line in 26:32 to finish 43rd. Sophomore Mike Kamm rounded out the scoring for the Huskers, finishing 54th in 26:49.

Other Nebraska finishers included freshman Eric Rasmussen (58th, 26:54), sophomore Ian Gray (60th, 27:00), freshman Paul Wilson (62nd, 27:01) and sophomore James De Bruhl (85th, 28:16).

Colorado's Jorge Torres claimed the individual title finishing in 24:48 and leading the Buffaloes to their fifth conference title with a Big 12 record 16 points (1-2-3-4-6).

In the women's 6,000-meter race, Nebraska placed two runners in the top 25. Sophomore Kathryn Handrup finished 20th in a time of 21:43, followed closely by senior Amie Jorgensen, who crossed the line in 21:47 to take 22nd, her highest finish ever at a conference meet. Freshman Ann Gaffigan finished 31st (22:11), with junior Jenna Lucas (45th, 22:58) and senior Jaimie Kruger (58th, 23:20) rounding out the top five finishers for the Huskers. Freshman Hillary Laird (67th, 23:32), sophomore Christy Linnell (77th, 23:49), sophomore Melissa Drozda (81st, 24:19) and senior Deb Osteen (86th, 24:31) also represented Nebraska.

The Huskers, who finished fourth in 1999, totaled 153 points to finish seventh.

Colorado's Kara Grgas-Wheeler successfully defended her individual title tying her own course record of 19:38 and leading the Buffaloes their second consecutive conference crown with 29 points.

Both the Nebraska men's and women's teams are off until Nov. 11 when they travel to Waterloo, Iowa to compete in the NCAA Midwest Region Championships.

 

Big 12 Championship Team Scores

Men (points)	Women (points)
1. Colorado (16)	1. Colorado (29)
2. Oklahoma State (85)	2. Kansas State (81)
3. Missouri (133)	3. Missouri (100)
4. Texas (141)	4. Texas A&M (114)
5. Nebraska (153)	5. Oklahoma State (139)
6. Kansas (177)	6. Iowa State (161)
7. Iowa State (185)	7. Nebraska (173)
8. Texas A&M (199)	8. Texas (208)
9. Texas Tech (211)	9. Baylor (214)
10. Kansas State (241)	10. Texas Tech (231)
11. Baylor (250)	11. Kansas (256)
12. Oklahoma (366)	12. Oklahoma (364)