Harriers Face Challenging Weekend

The Nebraska men’s and women’s cross country teams travel to Terre Haute, Ind., for the Division I Cross Country Pre-National Meet on Saturday, Oct. 16. One of the most competitive annual collegiate meets, it will be hosted by Indiana State at the LaVern Gibson Championship Course at the Wabash Valley Family Sports Center, the same site as the 2004 NCAA Championships.

The NU women will compete in either the 6,000-Meter Blue Race or White Race, scheduled to begin at 11 and 11:35 a.m., respectively. The men’s team will be entered in the Men’s 8,000-Meter Open Race, which starts at 2:05 p.m.

The competition the Huskers face this weekend shapes up to be the toughest of their 2004 schedule, as 87 Division I teams are entered to compete in both men’s and women’s races.

"This sets up as a very, very tough meet," Head Coach Jay Dirksen said. "Other than the national meet, this one will offer the best competition of the year."

Along with facing several Midwest Region opponents this weekend, NU also will see how it matches up against seven Big 12 schools (Baylor, Colorado, Kansas, Kansas State, Missouri, Texas A&M and Texas Tech) with the confernce meet only two weeks away.

Both Husker squads will feature the same lineup as in their last races. Senior captains Eric Rasmussen and Kyle Doperalski will lead the men’s team along with 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.

NU Sees Team-Wide Improvement

Each Husker that competed in the Sean Earl Loyola Lakefront Invitational two weeks ago posted season-best times, while several runners recorded all-time bests.

On the men’s side, Bryce Dickmeyer (25:51) beat his previous low of 26:37, set at last year’s Pre-Nationals, by 46 seconds, while Eric Rasmussen and Kyle Doperalski each fell just six and 18 seconds short, respectively, of their own personal-best times. Mike Dorazil, Alec Maduza, Kyle Ferry and Andrew Lind each cut at least 40 seconds off of their season-best finishes.

Lindsey Finkner led the way for the women’s team by finishing 1:21 faster than her previous best 5,000-meter time, at the 2003 Loyola Lakefront. Michaela Lenihan continued to improve by matching her best of 19:24, which was also set at last year’s Loyola Lakefront, while Anne Shadle and Kim Pancoast continued to round into form by posting their second-best 5k times ever.

"I’m impressed with both teams’ progress so far, even with the number of injuries and setbacks we’ve had," Dirksen said. "Everybody seems to have really improved a lot since the beginning of the year."

Doperalski’s Return Encouraging

Kyle Doperalski made a respectable 2004 season debut at the Loyola Lakefront Invitational by finishing 47th overall, the second Husker to cross the finish line.

His time of 25:41 was merely 18 seconds off of his best ever 8,000-meter clocking of 25:22.77, which was set at the 2002 Big 12 Championships.

With nearly a month remaining to train for this year’s regional meet, Dirksen is encouraged that Doperalski could be a strong runner down the stretch for the Huskers.

"It was a happy sight seeing Kyle in the lineup again," Dirksen said. "It’s a major loss for the men’s team whenever he’s not in there. I was suprised with how fast he ran in his first race back from injury, and I think he can make up quite a bit of ground with the time that’s left this year."

Injured Huskers

While several NU runners have suffered from a variety of mid-season setbacks, three runners have been ruled out for the remainder of the year with season-ending injuries.

The men’s team will be without junior Aaron Nasers, who hasn’t raced since the season-opening Creighton/UNO Invitational, for the rest of 2004. Meanwhile, senior co-captain Kayte Tranel and sophomore Shelly Langemeier have also been ruled out of any remaining competition due to injury. Neither Tranel nor Langemeier have seen any action at all this season.

"We’re pretty banged up right now, more than I wish we were," Dirksen said. "There’s not a lot of room for error to lose anyone else. Along with our runners out for the season, we’ve got other nagging injuries. We have to get healthy, especially on the women’s side, if we want to keep improving."

Looking Ahead

Both the men’s and women’s teams will take a week off from competition following Saturday’s Pre-National Meet. Next up for the Huskers is the Big 12 Championships on Oct. 30 in Topeka, Kan.

Huskers Show Improvement at Roy Griak Invitational

The Nebraska men’s and women’s cross country teams had their best races of the 2004 season on Saturday, Oct. 2, at the Sean Earl Loyola Lakefront Invitational, hosted by Loyola University of Chicago, at Montrose Beach Park. The women’s squad finished in eighth place out of 24 teams in the Gold Division, while the Husker men finished 12th out of 24 in the the Men’s Gold Division.

"We ran a lot better than we have so far this year," Dirksen said. "We are getting better and making progress. Your goal is to get better each and every time you go out there and run, and both teams made significant strides."

Anne Shadle recored the highest finish of any NU runner, placing seventh in the women’s 5k race in a time of 17:45. Lindsey Finkner completed what Dirksen called the "best race of her career" with an 18th-place finish in a 5k career-best of 17:59, while Joslyn Dalton continued her outstanding debut season by finishing 36th in a time of 18:22. Kim Pancoast (18:33) and Michaela Lenihan (19:24) rounded out the Huskers’ scoring spots by finishing 49th and 105th, respectively. Elizabeth Lange (121st) and Val Zajac (132nd) also ran for NU, finishing in repective times of 19:37 and 19:50.

Eric Rasmussen led the Husker men with a 13th-place finish in 24:57, while Kyle Doperalski made his 2004 season debut by finishing 47th in 25:41. A trio of sophomores completed the NU scoring with Bryce Dickmeyer finishing 57th in 25:51, Alec Maduza finishing 99th in 26:28, and Mike Dorazil finishing in 143rd place in 27:15. Kyle Ferry (27:45) and Andrew Lind (27:52) continued their season-long improvement with 180th and 189th-place finishes, respectively.

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.