Huskers Show Improvement at Roy Griak Invitational

St. Paul, Minn. - The Nebraska men’s and women’s cross country teams competed in their third meet of the 2004 season Saturday at the Roy Griak Invitational in St. Paul, Minn.

Senior Anne Shadle paced the NU women to an 18th-place team finish in the 29-team field, which was won by Providence. Meanwhile, senior Eric Rasmussen led the Husker men to the 24th-place finish out of 25 schools. The men’s division was won by Wisconsin.

In her second race of the 2004 campaign, Shadle finished 38th in a time of 22:17 in the women’s 6,000-meter race. Freshman Joslyn Dalton earned a 70th-place finish after running a personal-best time of 22:43, while Lindsey Finkner continued to improve in her sophomore season by finishing 92nd in a time of 23:06, more than two minutes faster than her time at last year’s Roy Griak Invitational.

"Shadle ran a strong race for us today," Head Coach Jay Dirksen said. "Dalton had a great race, probably the best out of all of our women, in terms of ability. It’s good to see a freshman run like she did. And Lindsey (Finkner) made another jump today. She’s been doing a good job competing this year."

Sophomore Kim Pancoast earned 123rd place with a time of 23:31, while junior Michaela Lenihan rounded out the scoring spots for NU with a 165th-place finish in 24:10. Freshmen Val Zajac (24:45) and Elizabeth Lange (25:21) also ran for the Huskers, finishing 186th and 196th, respecitvely.

"Overall, the women did a pretty good job," said Dirksen. "We didn’t know if we could finish that well. We beat some teams from both our conference (Kansas) and region (Kansas and Northwestern). I think (the women) can see we’ll be okay this season if we keep improving."

Rasmussen’s 66th-place time of 25:47 in the men’s 8,000-meter race was the fastest on the Husker men’s squad, followed by sophomore Bryce Dickmeyer’s 26:41, which earned him 124th place.

"Rasmussen ran much better today in his second race," Dirksen said. "He’ll keep improving as the year moves along. And Dickmeyer may have run the best race that I’ve ever seen from him."

Other point-scorers for the men’s team included sophomores Alec Maduza (27:41) and Mike Dorazil (28:36), which finished 154th and 165th, respectively. Freshman Kyle Ferry earned 168th place with a personal-best time of 28:48, more than two minutes faster than his previous best, while freshman Andrew Lind (169th) finished close behind in 28:49.

"We ran better as a group today," Dirksen said. "Our men are slowly improving. I think we had a solid week."

The Huskers will travel north once again next Saturday for the Sean Earl Lakefront Loyola Invitational in Chicago, Ill. The women’s 6,000-meter race begins at 10:30 a.m. and is followed by the men’s 8,000-meter race at 12:30 p.m.