Huskers Travel to Roy Griak Invitational

The Husker men’s and women’s cross country teams will leave Nebraska for the first team this season as they travel to St. Paul, Minn., for the annual Roy Griak Invitational this Saturday, Sept. 24.

There has been a time change for this week as the men will kick off the action at 11:20 a.m. with the 8K, followed by the women’s 6K at 12:10 p.m.

"The Roy Griak Invitational is a challenging test," Head Coach Jay Dirksen said. "This meet annually attracts many of the better teams in the country. Competing against the best is a great challenge, and we need this type of competition."

The Husker women are coming fresh off one of their best starts in recent history after becoming just the second women’s team since 1998 to win back-to-back team titles to open the season. Co-captains Kayte Tranel and Kim Pancoast have played their respective roles of team leaders well, each placing in the top 10 at the Woody Greeno last weekend after going 1-2 to begin the year at the Creighton/UNO Invitational.

Freshman Ari Goldstein has been the surprise on the women’s side, placing ninth at the Woody Greeno and third at Omaha in her first taste of collegiate action.

The men have seen what they expected out of newcomer Peter van der Westhuizen-a 1st-place finish to start the year followed by an eighth-place showing at the Woody Greeno.

Junior co-captain Bryce Dickmeyer has also fought to gain recognition. He placed 62nd at the Woody Greeno, second on the team, after a third-place finish to start the year in Omaha.

Overall, the men’s squad cut a team average of 1 minute and 58 seconds of its 8K time from the first to second meet, led by freshman Kyle Custer, who knocked off 2 minutes and 39 seconds.

Time Changes for Nebraska Cross Country

The start times for this week’s Roy Griak Invitational have been changed, as the men’s 8K will now run at 11:20 a.m., followed by the women’s 6K at 12:10 p.m.

 

The men’s time for next week’s South Dakota State Invitational also has been moved to 10:40 a.m., while the women’s start time remains at 10 a.m.

 

Last Year at the Roy Griak Invitational

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 team finish. The men’s division was won by Wisconsin.                       

 

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 the 2003 Roy Griak Invitational.            

 

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.

 

Huskers Will Face Top Competition This Weekend

The Nebraska men’s and women’s cross country teams will face a combined 22 nationally-ranked Division I teams this weekend at the Roy Griak Invitational.

 

The men will compete against 12 ranked teams, including No. 1 Wisconsin, and two other teams in the top 10 (#4 BYU, #8 Cal Poly).

 

On the women’s side, two top 10 teams will be among the action in No. 7 Providence and No. 8 Arizona State.

 

A complete list of the teams competiting is listed below.

 

Women:  Arizona State (#8), Baylor (#24), Boston College (#35), Boston, Butler (#30), California-Santa Barbara (#15), Indiana, Indiana/Purdue-Fort Wayne, Iowa State, James Madison, Kansas, Marquette (#28), Minnesota, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota State, North Carolina (#26), Northwestern, Oklahoma State, Princeton (#18), Providence (#7), Rice, South Dakota State, Southern Illinois, Southern Methodist (#31), Southern Utah, Toledo, U.S. Naval Academy, Utah Valley State, Weber State, Wichita State, Wisconsin and Wisconsin-Milwaukee.

 

Men:  Arizona State (#11), Baylor, Butler (#15), Brigham Young (#4), California-Santa Barbara, Cal Poly-SLO (#8), Iowa (#16), Iowa State, James Madison, Kansas, Loyola (IL), Marquette, Michigan (#27), Michigan State (#30), Minnesota (#25), Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota State, Ohio State (#13), Providence (#24), South Dakota State, Southern Utah, Utah Valley State, Weber State (#42), Wisconsin (#1) and Wisconsin-Milwaukee.

  

Up Next:    

Following this weekend, the Huskers will travel to the South Dakota State Invitational on Sept. 24.

 

The meet will be held at the Edgebrook Golf Course in Brookings, S.D., with the women running at 10 a.m., and the men at 10:40 a.m.