Husker Men Finish 5th, Women 9th at Big 12 Championships

Norman, Okla. - On the strength of strong individual performances by James Bowler and Ann Gaffigan, the Nebraska men's cross country team finished fifth, while the women took ninth, at the Big 12 Championships in Norman, Okla., on Saturday.

"I thought our top men and top women ran superb today," Head Coach Jay Dirksen said.

Bowler finished the 8,000-meter course in 24:30.2 to finish sixth overall, the highest individual showing by a Husker at the conference meet since Cleophas Boor's runner-up finish in 1997. Nebraska's second through fifth runners all finished within 19 seconds of each to help the Huskers to a fifth-place team finish, which matched their 2000 showing.

Junior Mike Kamm was the second Husker to cross the line, finishing 23rd in 25:05.4, the highest finish of his career at a conference meet, while junior Ian Gray finished 26th in 25:08.6.

"On the men's side, we ran real well in the first three, particularly James Bowler," Dirksen said. "He got out great and just ran awesome."

Meanwhile, junior Jed Barta rebounded from an injury suffered at the Pre-NCAA meet to finish 40th (25:22.6). Sophomore Eric Rasmussen also had a strong showing, finishing 43rd in 25:24.0, the fastest 8,000-meter time of his career.

Although individually the Huskers' times were relatively close, 17 runners finished between NU's second and fifth finishers, pushing the team down in the standings. Nebraska accumulated 136 points, just 11 points off fourth-place Baylor, and 32 points shy of No. 3 Texas A&M.

"We just have to get our team a lot closer together," Dirksen said. "We weren't that far out of third place, or even second."

In the women's race, Gaffigan, a sophomore from Springfield, Ill., knocked nearly 18 seconds off her personal best, covering the 6,000-meter course in 21:10.5 to finish seventh overall, matching former Husker Michelle Brooks' seventh-place finish in 1999. It marked the third time since the conference's inception in 1997 that a Husker had finished in the top 10. (Amy Wiseman finished sixth in 1997.) Junior Kathryn Handrup also ran a strong race, finishing 16th in 21:38.1, bettering her 20th-place finish in 2000.

"Ann Gaffigan ran great today and so did Kathryn Handrup -- she had an awesome race," Dirksen said. "Those two really ran well."

Senior Jenna Lucas finished 49th (22:38.1), junior Monica Barger finished 56th (22:50.1) and freshman Anne Shadle finished 58th (22:58.8), rounded out the scoring for the women.

"We ran probably about as well as we have all year as a team and only got ninth," Dirksen said. "I was kind of surprised we weren't higher, but that just shows how tough this conference is."

Colorado swept both team titles, led by individual race winners Molly Austin (20:12.5) and Jorge Torres (23:35.3).

The Huskers will take a week off before heading to Carbondale, Ill., for the Midwest Region Championships on Nov. 10. With the top two teams automatically qualifying for the NCAA Championships, Dirksen said both teams are looking for their best performances of the season.

"Hopefully in another two weeks we'll be able to run our best race of the year," he said.