NU Heads to Chicago?s Lakefront

The Nebraska men’s and women’s cross country teams travel to Chicago, Ill., for the Sean Earl Lakefront Loyola Invitational on Saturday, Oct. 2. One of the country’s largest annual cross country meets, it will be hosted by Loyola University of Chicago at Montrose Beach Park. The Women’s Gold Division Collegiate/Open 5,000-meter race begins at 10:30 a.m., while the Men’s Gold Division Collegiate/Open 8,000-meter race is set to begin at 12:45 p.m.

Other Division I teams the Huskers will face on Saturday include Marquette, Ball State and Hawaii, while several small colleges will also compete.

The competition the Huskers will face this weekend should be less fierce than at last week’s Roy Griak Invitational, which saw both men’s and women’s squads face 25 Division I programs.

"There will be some quality teams there this weekend," Dirksen said, "but not quite the level of competition as last weekend (Roy Griak Invitational). Our athletes will have a good chance to compete for some top positions."

NU will feature the same lineup as last week’s meet, with one exception. Senior Kyle Doperalski will join the men’s lineup along with fellow senior Eric Rasmussen, sophomores Bryce Dickmeyer, Alec Maduza and Mike Dorazil, and freshmen Kyle Ferry and Andrew Lind. The women’s squad will once again be comprised of senior co-captain Anne Shadle, junior Michaela Lenihan, sophomores Lindsey Finkner and Kim Pancoast, and freshmen Joslyn Dalton, Elizabeth Lange, Betsy Miller and Val Zajac.

Doperalski to Return
Kyle Doperalski will appear in his first cross country race for the men’s squad since the 2002 Midwest Regional this weekend. An injury forced him to redshirt in 2003, while a separate setback has kept him out of the first three races this season.

"It will mean a lot to have finally have Kyle back," Dirksen said. "He’ll be a big difference in making our overall team more effective. We can’t expect too much out of him right away, as he’s not in true racing shape. It will take him a while to get back in form."

Freshmen Set Career Bests
Each of the five freshmen who competed at last week’s Roy Griak Invitational set career-best times for their respective distances.

In the men’s 8,000-meter race, Kyle Ferry and Andrew Lind both cut nearly two minutes off their previous best times. Ferry made the biggest jump, lowering his best time from 30:52 to 28:48.

On the women’s side, Joslyn Dalton finished the best race of her brief Husker career in a time of 22:43, 46 seconds faster than the 23:29 she ran two weeks ago at the Woody Greeno/Nebraska Invitational. Val Zajac and Elizabeth Lange also shaved roughly a minute each off their personal bests.

"You typically see freshmen drastically cut down their times early in the season," Dirksen said. "It takes them a while to get used to the higher levels of competition and race length. Most of them still have a long way to go. At the same time, though, they have been steadily improving. Some could easily drop another minute in the next few meets."

Injured Huskers
Three Huskers continue to be held out of this season’s action with nagging injuries, some that may be season-ending.

The men’s team is still without junior Aaron Nasers, who will remain absent for an undetermined length of time. Meanwhile, senior co-captain Kayte Tranel and sophomore Shelly Langemeier continue to recover from injuries for the NU women, but it is feared that both may be forced to sit out the entire season.

Looking Ahead
Both the men’s and women’s teams will take a week off from competition following Saturday’s Sean Earl Lakefront Loyola Invitational. Next up for the Huskers is the Division I Pre-National Meet on Oct. 16 in Terre Haute, Ind.

Huskers Show Improvement at Roy Griak Invitational
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 a 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, respectively.

"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), who 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."

About Head Coach Jay Dirksen
Head Coach Jay Dirksen has seen much success in his 21 years at the helm of Nebraska’s men’s and women’s cross country teams.

Dirksen has guided Husker women’s teams to five conference titles, which is the second-most by any active coach in the Big 12. His women’s teams have also qualified for the NCAA Championships 13 of the last 20 years, finishing in the top 25 all but one of those years.

Dirksen’s success is not limited to the Husker women. For the men, eight of their nine NCAA appearances have occurred during Dirksen’s tenure, with six of those eight teams finishing among the top 15.

Under his guidance, 13 athletes have received a total of 19 All-America honors in cross country.

In the classroom, Dirksen’s teams have been just as successful. The 2003 men’s squad earned its second straight Herman Award, given to the Nebraska team with the highest cumulative GPA. Overall, the men’s team has collected two Herman Awards in the 10-year history of the honor, while the women have won a record seven, the last of which came in 2001.