Husker Men Run Their Way to a 12th-Place Finish

St. Paul, Minn. - With less than a minute separating Nebraska's first finisher from its eighth, the NU men's cross country team used a team effort to defeat several top-ranked teams on its way to a 12th-place finish at the Roy Griak Invitational in St. Paul, Minn., on Saturday. The meet, which featured 36 teams, 15 of which participated in the NCAA Championships last season, was the first team test of the season for the Huskers. Nebraska's finish was its highest since 1997, when the Huskers finished ninth before going on to finish 11th at the NCAA Championships.

In what could prove to be Coach Jay Dirksen's deepest team in recent years, the Huskers placed three runners in the top 50, led by junior James Bowler. Bowler, who hails from Alcester, England, finished 32nd in 24:51.8, followed closely by classmate Ian Gray, who crossed the line in 24:53.5 to finish 37th. Sophomore Dana Carne, a transfer from Colorado State who has impressed Dirksen early this season, finished 49th (24:59.4), while Kyle Wyatt, a sophomore from Albion, Neb., finished 96th in 25:21.5. Junior Jed Barta rounded out the scoring for the Huskers, finishing the 8,000-meter course in 25:31.4. Freshman Luke Garringer, the 2000 Nebraska Class A cross country champion, ran a strong race finishing 145th in 25:41.5. Junior Mike Kamm finished 163rd (25:45.6), and sophomore Eric Rasmussen finished less than four seconds later in 25:48.7 (173rd). Sophomore Paul Wilson also competed, finishing 241st in 26:23.0.

The Huskers finished ahead of six ranked teams, including three ranked in the top 15. Nebraska tallied 334 points, finishing 19 points ahead of 10th-ranked Georgetown, which finished 13th. William and Mary, the 11th-ranked team in the nation, finished 14th along with No. 25 Air Force (366), followed by 12th-ranked Arizona (373), and 20th-ranked Minnesota (415), while No. 19 Indiana finished 20th (452). Sixth-ranked Wisconsin placed three runners in the top 10, including winner Matt Tegenkamp (23:58), to win the meet title with 129 points.

Meanwhile in the women's race, Nebraska collected 663 points to finish tied for 26th with Indiana. Sophomore Ann Gaffigan was again Nebraska's top runner, finishing the 6,000-meter event in 21:41.4 to finish 29th. Junior Kathryn Handrup, who has just returned to racing, was the second Husker to cross the line, finishing 85th in 22:27.1. Although 20 seconds were all that separated Nebraska's third through sixth runners, they finished too far back in the pack to move NU into the top 20. Junior Jenna Lucas finished 185th in 23:12.1, while newcomers Monica Barger, Anne Shadle and Michele Steube finished within four seconds of each other. Barger, a junior from Imperial, Neb., finished the course in 23:27.3, good for 211th, followed by Shadle (214th, 23:29.8) and Steube (217th, 23:31.6). Sophomore Morgan Hartman also competed, finishing 276th in 24:41.4.

Washington's Sabrina Monro captured the women's title in 20:12.9, while Arizona State won the team title with 109 points.

The Huskers will send runners to the Briar Cliff Invitational in McCook Lake, S.D., on Oct. 6, before Nebraska's top runners travel to Greenville, S.C., on Oct. 13 for the Furman Invitational, a preview of the national meet.

Roy Griak Invitational (Top five individual finishers plus Nebraska)
Men	Women
1. Matt Tegenkamp, Fr. (Wisconsin) - 23:58.0	1. Sabrina Monro, Sr. (Washington) - 20:12.9
2. Juan Reyes, So. (Arizona State) - 24:12.6	2. Lisa Aguilera, Sr. (ASU) - 20:34.2
3. Fasil Bizuneh, Jr. (Arizona State) - 24:13.7	3. Kelly MacDonald, Sr. (ASU) - 20:37.2
4. Josh Spiker, Fr. (Wisconsin) - 24:17.2	4. Tara Chaplin, Sr. (Arizona) - 20:42.5
5. Mark Pilija, Sr. (Michigan) - 24:18.2	5. Jennifer Owens, Sr. (Virginia) - 20:49.4
32. James Bowler, Jr. (Nebraska) - 24:51.8	29. Ann Gaffigan, So. (Nebraska) - 21:41.4
37. Ian Gray, Jr. (Nebraska) - 24:53.5	85. Kathryn Handrup, Jr. (Nebraska) - 22:27.1
49. Dana Carne, So. (Nebraska) - 24:59.5	185. Jenna Lucas (Nebraska) - 23:12.1
96. Kyle Wyatt, So. (Nebraska) - 25:21.5	211. Monica Barger, Jr. (Nebraska) - 23:27.3
120. Jed Barta, Jr. (Nebraska) - 25:31.4	214. Anne Shadle, Fr. (Nebraska) - 23:29.8
145. Luke Garringer, Fr. (Nebraska) - 25:41.5	217. Michele Steube, Fr. (Nebraska) - 23:31.6
163. Mike Kamm, Jr. (Nebraska) - 25:45.6	276. Morgan Hartman, So. (Nebraska) - 24:41.4
173. Eric Rasmussen, So. (Nebraska) - 25:48.7
241. Paul Wilson, So. (Nebraska) - 26:23.0

Roy Griak Invitational (Top five teams plus Nebraska and Big 12 Schools)
Men (36 Teams)	Women (32 Teams)
1. Wisconsin (129)	1. Arizona State (109)
2. Portland (167)	2. Providence (139)
3. Providence (189)	3. Arizona (167)
4. Colorado State (192)	4. Colorado State (188)
5. Duke (212)	5. Michigan State (194)
12. Nebraska (334)	13. Missouri (380)
29. Missouri (801)	26. Nebraska (663)
31. Iowa State (889)	29. Iowa State (744)