Huskers Host Woody Greeno/Nebraska Invitational

Lincoln - The Nebraska men's and women's cross country teams will play host to their only home meet of the season, the Woody Greeno/Nebraska Invitational, this Saturday, Sept. 20 at Pioneers Park. The 14th annual competition, co-hosted by Nebraska and Nebraska Wesleyan, is the largest cross country event in the state, featuring a university and college division. The meet begins with the women's 6,000-meter race at 10 a.m., followed by the men's 8,000-meter race at 10:45 a.m.

This year's meet marks the 14th year of the invitational. The Huskers have had success as host of the invitational, claiming the most men's and women's team titles, as well as the most individual team titles. The Nebraska women have won nine titles, while the men have brought home seven titles, including a championship in 2002.

A total of 14 runners, seven in the women's field and seven in the men's field, will compete for Nebraska at this year's race. On the women's side, seniors Ann Gaffigan and Kathryn Handrup, juniors Anne Shadle and Kayte Tranel, sophomore Michaela Lenihan and freshmen Lindsay Finkner and Farah Jadran will test the 6,000-meter course. This Saturday's race marks the first event for Handrup and Shadle. Gaffigan has placed in the top 10 in each of her previous three appearances at the Woody Greeno/Nebraska Invitational, taking first-place in 2001, fourth-place in 2002 and eighth-place in 2000. Her 2002 finish came on the current 6,000-meter course, while her previous finishes came on the old 5,000-meter layout.

On the men's side, seniors Dana Carne and Paul Wilson, junior Tim Williams, sophomore Eric Dall and freshmen Bryce Dickmeyer, Mike Dorazil and Alec Maduza will participate for NU. Wilson will be making his 2003 season debut. In his only appearance at the Woody Greeno/Nebraska Invitational in 2001, Carne finished in fourth-place.

The Woody Greeno/Nebraska Invitational consists of an interesting combination of major universities and smaller colleges. The university open field has athletes from Division I schools and club teams, while the college field includes any non-division I team. Although all competitors run in the same race, divisional champions are determined based solely on each team's finish within its own division.

This year's meet will feature seven teams competing in the university division. Scheduled to compete are Air Force, Creighton, Drake (women only), Northern Colorado, Wichita State and Wyoming, in addition to Nebraska.

The college division is considerably larger, with an expected total of 37 team. That division includes Augusta (S.D.), Baker, Barton County C.C., Bethany, Bulter C.C., Central College, Central Methodist, Central Missouri State, Cloud County C.C., Colorado College, Colorado school of Mines, Concordia, Dakota State, Dakota Wesleyan, Dana Doane, Emporia State, Fort Hays, Graceland, Haskell, Hastings, Knox, Lindenwood, McPherson, Midland, Northwest Missouri State, Peru State, Prat C.C., Sioux Falls, St. Mary, Truman State (men only), Nebraska-Kearney, Nebraska-Omaha, Wisconsin-LaCrosse (women only), Wayne State and York, in addition to co-host Nebraska Wesleyan.

"Our meet is going to be a really good meet with a solid mix of big schools and small schools, with talent from all levels," said head coach Jay Dirksen.

Dirksen, in his 21st year at Nebraska, has also announced that seniors Kyle Doperalski and Eric Rasmussen will redshirt this season, leaving them each with one year of eligibility remaining.

"It's in Eric's best interest. He's been continually improving so much, that next year he'll be ready to go for a great season," Dirksen said. "Kyle is injured, and we think he will come back strong next season."