Huskers Forced to Play Waiting Game

Carbondale, Ill. - Now it's a waiting game. With its third-place finish at the NCAA Midwest Regional in Carbondale, Ill., on Saturday, the Nebraska men's cross country team must now wait until Monday to discover its fate. The Huskers finished 16 points behind Minnesota (78) and six points off runner-up Oklahoma State (88). Both the Gophers and the Cowboys earned automatic berths to the NCAA Championships in Greenville, S.C. on Nov. 19, while the Huskers must wait to see if they are selected as one of 13 at-large selections, which will be announced Monday. Nebraska took a similar route to nationals last year after finishing fifth at the regional.

"I thought our men probably had their best race of the season," Coach Jay Dirksen said.

Although Dirksen, who has taken at least one Nebraska team to the national meet every year since 1995, said he wasn't sure where his team stood overall, but remains optimistic about the Huskers' chances.

"It's hard to tell," he said. "I really don't know. My gut feeling is that they have a 50-50 chance of getting in."

The Huskers were once again led by junior James Bowler, whose sixth-place finish was one spot shy of automatically qualifying him as an individual. Bowler covered the 10,000-meter Southern Illinois course in 30:48.5, less than three seconds behind Eastern Illinois' Jason Bialka, who secured the fourth and final individual qualifying spot with his fifth-place finish. The top four individual finishers not qualifying with a team also earned an automatic berth to the championships.

Nebraska was also bolstered by the strong running of a trio of juniors, led by captain Ian Gray. Gray covered the grassy course in 31:03.8 to finish 10th overall, his highest individual finish ever at a regional meet. Mike Kamm also had a strong race, finishing 20th in 31:24.1. Sophomore Paul Wilson also stepped up, crossing the line in 28th-place (31:38.5), marking the first time this season that the Wahoo, Neb., native has broken into Nebraska's top five. Jed Barta rounded out the scoring for the Huskers finishing 37th in 31:48.4, as just one minute separated Nebraska's first runner from its fifth. Freshman Luke Garringer, making his first postseason appearance, finished 51st in 32:08.4, while sophomore Eric Rasmussen took 53rd (32:09.2).

With their 10th-place finish, the Nebraska women failed to qualify for the national meet, but sophomore Ann Gaffigan still stands a remote chance of making it to Greenville. The Springfield, Ill., native put forth a brilliant effort, covering the 6,000-meter course in 21:04.4, knocking five seconds off her previous best over that distance. Although Gaffigan missed out on an automatic berth - she was the fifth runner to finish who was not on a qualifying team - she could still qualify as one of two at-large individuals.

"She had a great meet," Dirksen said of Gaffigan's performance. "She is certainly deserving of competing in the national meet - she's running that well."

Junior Kathryn Handrup also ran a strong race, finishing 19th in 21:39.9, her highest finish ever at a regional. Senior Jenna Lucas capped her collegiate cross country career with a 59th-place finish, completing the race in 22:45.3. Nebraska's freshmen tandem rounded out the scoring for NU, with Anne Shadle, a South Sioux City, Neb., product finishing 79th (23:08.1), while Kearney native Michele Steube finished 86th (23:16.9). Junior transfer Monica Barger also competed, finishing 97th in 23:30.3.

"Our goal was to be in the top 10 - and we did it," Dirksen said. "They ran about what they are capable of."

Oklahoma State and Minnesota will also send their women's squads to nationals. OSU captured the women's title behind Siri Alfheim's winning time of 20:31.4.

NCAA Midwest Regional (Top five individual finishers plus Nebraska)
Men	Women
1. Shadrack Kimeli (Kansas State) - 30:37.3	1. Siri Alfheim (Oklahoma State) - 20:31.4
2. Terrance McComb (Minnesota) - 20:40.5	2. Amy Mortimer (Kansas State) -
3. Balazs Csillag (Northern Iowa) - 30:44.9	3. Stacia Beste (Illinois State) - 20:51.4
4. Rob Briet (Illinois State) - 30:45.2	4. Ann Marie Brooks (Missouri) - 20:56.8
5. Jason Bialka (Eastern Illinois) - 30:45.7	5. Amanda Behnke (Kansas State) - 21:02.4
6. James Bowler (Nebraska) - 30:48.5	6. Ann Gaffigan (Nebraska) - 21:04.4
10. Ian Gray (Nebraska) - 31:03.8	19. Kathryn Handrup (Nebraska) - 21:39.9
20. Mike Kamm (Nebraska) - 31:24.1	59. Jenna Lucas (Nebraska) - 22:45.3
28. Paul Wilson (Nebraska) - 31:38.5	79. Anne Shadle (Nebraska) - 23:08.1
37. Jed Barta (Nebraska) - 31:18.4	86. Michele Steube (Nebraska) - 23:16.9
51. Luke Garringer (Nebraska) - 32:08.4	97. Monica Barger (Nebraska) - 23:30.3
53. Eric Rasmussen (Nebraska) - 32:09.2

NCAA Midwest Regional (Top five teams plus Nebraska)
Men (24 Teams)	Women (23 Teams)
1. Minnesota (78)	1. Oklahoma State (56)
2. Oklahoma State (88)	2. Minnesota (97)
3. Nebraska (94)	3. Loyola (Ill.) (135)
4. Iowa (122)	4. Southwest Missouri State (137)
5. Loyola (Ill.) (151)	5. Missouri (147)
	10. Nebraska (233)