NU Fares Well at Pre-National Meet

Terre Haute, Ind. - The Nebraska men’s and women’s cross country teams faced a difficult field composed of 87 Division I squads Saturday at the NCAA Pre-National Meet, hosted by Indiana State at LaVern Gibson Championshp Course. The women’s squad finished 28th out of 36 teams in the 6,000-meter White Race, while the Husker men finished fifth out of 13 teams in the 8,000-meter Open Race.

"We had a pretty good meet, overall," Head Coach Jay Dirksen said. "I think we’re making steady improvement, and that’s what we’ve been looking for since the beginning of the year."

Senior co-captain Anne Shadle recorded the highest finish of any Husker woman, placing 66th in a season-best time of 21:48.8. Sophomore Lindsey Finkner continued her steady improvement on the season by setting a new career-best time of 22:13.0, which earned her 101st place. Sophomore Kim Pancoast (114th) claimed her highest placing on the team thus far in 2004 by being the third NU runner to cross the finish line, in a time of 22:21.2. Freshmen Joslyn Dalton (179th) and Val Zajac (228th) rounded out the Huskers’ scoring spots in times of 23:03.3 and 23:52.6, respectively. Freshman Elizabeth Lange (230th) also competed for NU, setting a new personal-best time of 23:54.4.

Senior co-captain Eric Rasmussen led the Husker men with a 26th-place finish in 25:35.8, while another senior co-captain, Kyle Doperalski, finished 49th in a time of 25:59.8 in only his second race of the season. Sophomores Bryce Dickmeyer (84th) and Alec Maduza (116th) finished in respective times of 26:23.9 and 26:50.8, while freshman Kyle Ferry (157th) set a new personal best of 27:36.1 in his highest team-finish of the year. Sophomore Mike Dorazil (173rd) and freshman Andrew Lind (185th) also ran for the Huskers, finishing in times of 27:59.8 and 29:03.6, respecively.

Nebraska returns to action in two weeks, when it competes in the Big 12 Championshps in Topeka, Kan. The meet will be held on Oct. 30 at the Stateland Cross Country Course with Kansas acting as the host school.

NCAA Division I Pre-National Meet
Oct. 16, 2004 -- Men’s and Women’s Cross Country Results
LaVern Gibson Championship Course--Terre Haute, Ind.

Women’s Team Scores (White Division)
1. Colorado 94
2. Michigan 109
3. Arizona State 187
-------------------------------------------
28. Nebraska 688

Name School Time
1. Renee Metevier Colorado 20:03.6
2. Ida Nilssson Northern Arizona 20:16.9
3. Amy Hastings Arizona State 20:18.5
4. Rebecca Walter Michigan 20:20.1
5. Marina Muncan Villanova 20:21.7

NU Finishers:
66. Anne Shadle 21:48.8
101. Lindsey Finkner 22:13.0
114. Kim Pancoast 22:21.2
179. Joslyn Dalton 23:03.3
228. Val Zajac 23:52.6
230. Elizabeth Lange 23:54.4

Men’s Team Scores (Open Division)
1. Southern Illinois 51
2. South Dakota State 72
3. Ohio 97
-------------------------------------------
5. Nebraska 156

Name School Time
1. Josh Mcadams Brigham Young 24:49.9
2. David Vidal Stanford 24:51.1
3. Lauren Jespersen Stanford 24:56.6
4. Payton Batliner Colorado 24:59.0
5. Austin Baillie Colorado 25:01.0

NU Finishers:
26. Eric Rasmussen 25:35.8
49. Kyle Doperalski 25:59.8
84. Bryce Dickmeyer 26:23.9
116. Alec Maduza 26:50.8
157. Kyle Ferry 27:36.1
173. Mike Dorazil 27:59.8
185. Andrew Lind 29:03.6