NU Looks to Extend Season

The Nebraska men’s and women’s cross country teams attempt to earn spots in the NCAA Championship meet this Saturday at the NCAA Midwest Region Championships, held at the Newman Golf Course in Peoria, Ill. The women’s 6,000-meter race is scheduled to begin at 11 a.m., followed by the men’s 10,000-meter race at noon.

For a squad to qualify for the national meet, it must finish among the top two teams. Individuals may also qualify by finishing among the top four runners who are not members of one of the top two teams.

Both NU squads will face difficult fields. Among the competition, five teams are either ranked or receiving votes in the latest national poll on the women’s side, as well as four in the men’s competition.

The Husker women enter the regional as the defending team champion after winning the 2003 title, but injuries and lack of depth have hindered the team’s 2004 campaign. Stiff competition, which includes Missouri, Illinois, Oklahoma State, Southwest Missouri State and Minnesota, as well as several others, will make it difficult for NU to repeat this year.

"We will be facing some very talented teams," said Head Coach Jay Dirksen. "We knew we would have some problems going into this year with injuries and lack of depth, and that has been the case. However, we have made significant progress. Hopefully we can use a strong finish this year to build for a good start next year."

The women’s squad will again be comprised of senior co-captain Anne Shadle, sophomores Lindsey Finkner and Kim Pancoast, and freshmen Joslyn Dalton, Elizabeth Lange and Val Zajac.

Meanwhile, the men’s team will field only four runners as it attempts to earn high individual placings. Ranked squads NU will compete against include Oklahoma State, Iowa, Minnesota and Kansas.

Senior captains Eric Rasmussen and Kyle Doperalski will lead the men’s entries, along with sophomores Bryce Dickmeyer and Alec Maduza."The men really have everything to gain this weekend," Dirksen said. "I’m pleased with the way we’ve improved since the first meet. I’m confident that this will be the best meet of the year for each of our men’s runners."

Progress Key for Husker Squads
The central theme for both NU squads during the 2004 season has been improvement. With two relatively young squads under his tutelage, Dirksen has been happy with the progress exhibited by both teams.

"It has been important that we’ve continued to get better with each meet up to this point," Dirksen said. "We’ve come a long way from how we performed early on. What we need to happen now is for each individual runner to finish his or her season on a high note."

Huskers Named Academic All-Big 12
Nine members of this year’s cross country teams earned academic All-Big 12 honors, as announced by the league office. Six NU women were lauded, along with three men.

Seniors Anne Shadle and Kayte Tranel, junior Michaela Lenihan, and sophomores Lindsey Finkner, Kim Pancoast and Val Zajac each were named to the women’s first team. Shadle earned her third straight first-team honor, while Tranel, Lenihan and Pancoast all were repeat selections.

Eric Rasmussen, the only two-time first-team honoree on this year’s men’s squad, previously earned recognition in 2002, while Bryce Dickmeyer was named first-team academic All-Big 12 in his first opportunity. Kyle Doperalski received second-team honors for the first time ever in his final season.

First-team members consist of those who maintained a 3.20 or better GPA, while the second team are those who have posted 3.00-3.19 GPAs.

Since the inception of the Big 12 Conference in 1996, NU cross country team members have tallied 68 first-team academic all-conference selections, as well as eight second-team honors. Huskers also have earned four honorable-mention awards.

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

The men’s team has been without junior Aaron Nasers for most of the year after suffering an injury in the season-opening Creighton/UNO Invitational. Meanwhile, Kayte Tranel, Michaela Lenihan 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. Lenihan filled the role of the team’s No. 5 runner before being ruled out after the Sean Earl Lakefront Loyola Invitational nearly a month into the season.

Looking Ahead
NU runners who qualify for the national meet this weekend will travel to Terre Haute, Ind., on Nov. 11. The women’s 6k race begins at 11 a.m. and will be followed by the men’s 10k race at 12:15 p.m.

Shadle Earns All-Big 12 Status
Anne Shadle finished 15th in the women’s 6,000-meter race at the Big 12 Cross Country Championships, leading the NU women’s team to a ninth-place finish. Eric Rasmussen placed 37th as the Huskers finished 12th in the men’s 8,000-meter race.

"We finished about where I thought we would, in respect to the teams’ finishes," Dirksen said. "The Big 12 Conference is very, very tough. There were many good runners,"

Shadle’s time of 22:01.82 earned her the final spot on the All-Big 12 team, the first conference honor of her career.

"Anne ran an exceptional race, especially the last half," Dirksen said. "I’m really proud of her. She seems to be pleased with her race, and if she’s happy, I’m happy. She’s tougher on herself than anyone."

Kim Pancoast had one of her best races of the year, finishing 29th in 22:37.95, while Lindsey Finkner was the Huskers’ third-place runner with a 57th-place time of 23:33.31. Rounding out the NU scoring were Joslyn Dalton (23:51.69) and Val Zajac (24:36.85) in 67th and 82nd places, respectively. Elizabeth Lange (88th) and Betsy Miller (92nd) also competed for the Huskers, finishing in respective times of 25:12.67 and 28:27.91.

Rasmussen, who finished in 25:44.09, earned the highest placing of any NU male runner at the Big 12 meet since James Bowler, who was 19th in 2002. Kyle Doperalski grabbed his highest placing ever in the conference championships when he finished 57th in a time of 26:18.77. Bryce Dickmeyer improved his time from last year’s meet by 22 seconds as he grabbed 78th in 27:05.29, while Alec Maduza finished close behind in an 82nd-place time of 27:15.81. Mike Dorazil concluded the NU scoring by claiming 91st in 27:59.54, nearly a minute faster that his time from last year. Kyle Ferry (28:40.14) ended his first conference meet in 95th.

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.