Huskers Head North to Face Ranked Teams

Lincoln -- The Nebraska men's and women's cross country teams head north to St. Paul, Minn., for the Roy Griak Invitational, hosted by the University of Minnesota, Saturday, Sept. 27. The men will compete in the 8,000-meter Gold Race at Noon and the women run in the 6,000-meter Gold Race at 1 p.m.

The invitational provides NU with an opportunity to go against both ranked competition and Big 12 schools for the first time this season. A total of 27 teams ranked or receiving votes will run, including four Big 12 teams other than Nebraska.

In the women's race, 13 ranked teams and one team receiving votes in the Sept. 22 FinishLynx Women's Cross Country Poll will compete against the Huskers. Scheduled to participate, with national rankings in parenthesis, are: Arizona, Arizona State (20), Baylor (27), Boston College (23), Colorado State (25), Columbia (12), Indiana (21), Iowa State, Marquette (26), Michigan (13), Michigan State (15), Minnesota, Missouri (17), Montana, Northern Iowa, Northwestern, Penn State (22), Providence (5), Southern Utah, Texas Tech, Toledo (receiving votes), Utah State, Wake Forest (6), Wartburg (Iowa), Washington State and Weber State.

Despite the tough women's field, head coach Jay Dirksen is optimistic about the Huskers' potential for success.

"We'll have our full team for the first time this year," Dirksen said, referring to the return of redshirt freshman Kim Pancoast. "If they run like they did last week, they should finish well."

On the men's side, nine ranked teams and four teams receiving votes in the Sept. 23 MONDO Men's Cross Country Poll will participate. The teams are: Arizona (receiving votes), Arizona State (receiving votes), Baylor, Boston College, Brigham Young (12), Cincinnati, Colorado State (23), Drake, Eastern Michigan (10), Furman, Iowa (26), Iowa State, Loyola (Ill.), Marquette, Miami (Ohio) (receiving votes), Minnesota (25), Missouri, Montana, Northern Iowa, Oregon (5), Portland (19), Providence (15), Southern Utah, Texas Tech, Utah State, Wake Forest, Washington State, Weber State (receiving votes) and Wisconsin (2).

The overall field includes 19 teams that competed in the 2002 NCAA Championships. Such a strong field should give the Huskers a better idea of where they stand, Dirksen said.

"This meet provides an entirely different level of competition," Dirksen said. "This is an outstanding field, especially on the women's side. After this weekend, we should have a much better idea of where we're at."