Husker Men Finish 26th at NCAA Championships

Ames, Iowa - Just nine days after a fifth-place finish at the NCAA Midwest Regional seemed to all but end its season, the Nebraska men's cross country team battled to a 26th-place finish Monday, at the 2000 NCAA Cross Country Championships hosted by Iowa State.

Battling freezing temperatures and gusting winds, the Huskers, led by senior Marcus Witter (Kearny, Neb.), tallied 623 points. Witter, the only Husker on the team with previous NCAA experience, covered the 10,000-meter course in 31:36 to finish 79th, bettering his freshman finish by 30 places. Despite the weather, Witter's time was only 10 seconds off what he ran at the Pre-NCAA meet in mid-October.

At 11 a.m., the temperature at the Iowa State Cross Country Course was 17 degrees with a minus 19 windchill, prompting Coach Jay Dirksen to search his memory for a similar experience.

"The conditions were brutal out here," Dirsken said. "I've coached for 31 years, and I think this is the coldest I can remember. I've been in some snowstorms before, but never anything quite like this."

Senior Aaron Carrizales (Morrill, Neb.) also ran a strong race, finishing 108th in 31:49.3. The meet marked the last collegiate cross country race for the two Nebraska seniors, and even though they led the Huskers in Ames, Dirksen believes their impact will be greatest in a few years.

"Marcus and Aaron had tremendous senior years," Dirksen said. "Both of them improved greatly from last year, and throughout their careers as well. They've become real leaders on the team and they've set a good example for the younger athletes. I think some of their contribution to the team will be shown in the next few years even more than it was this year, because they've set a standard that is needed to be successful."

Freshman Kyle Wyatt (Albion, Neb.), who surprised Dirken with his quick transition to collegiate running, was the third Husker to cross the line, finishing 180th in 32:25.0. Seven seconds separated the next three Husker finishers, with sophomores Jed Barta (197th, 32:34.1), Mike Kamm (201st, 32:36.9) and Ian Gray (206th, 32:30.5) all running strong races in their first national appearance. Freshman Eric Rasmussen (North Platte, Neb.) was the final Husker to finish, crossing in 33:03.6 (224th).

Nebraska's appearance at the national meet was its first since 1997, when the Huskers finished 11th behind Cleophas Boor's sixth-place finish.

"The way I look at it, we came into the meet as the 30th team and finished 26th, so we did a little better than we supposedly were," Dirksen said. "I thought it was a good way to end the year. Everybody ran good solid races. We had a young team, so we have a lot to build on next year."

Arkansas won the men's race accumulating 83 points, while Providence's Keith Kelly was the first to break the tape, finishing in 30:14.5. In the women's 6,000-meter event, Colorado won the title with 117 points, behind Kara Grgas-Wheeler's first-place finish in 20:30.5.