Huskers Co-Host Woody Greeno/Nebraska Invite

Lincoln - The Husker men’s and women’s cross country teams will run in their only home meet of the season when they co-host the 17th annual Woody Greeno/Nebraska Invitational with Nebraska Wesleyan this Saturday morning at Pioneer’s Park in Lincoln.

The Nebraska women won the 2005 University Division team championship and hope to defend their title in the women’s 6K race, which begins the morning’s events at 10 a.m. The men’s 8K will start at 10:45 a.m.

"It’s always nice to run in front of your home crowd," Head Coach Jay Dirksen said. "We always have big turnouts, and the competition is good enough that there will be a lot of good runners in the front end."

Scores will be split into University and College divisions, with teams from Creighton, Northern Colorado, South Dakota State and Wyoming among those set to compete. Over 30 schools will be represented overall, including nearly 20 unattached competitors, including former NU standout Eric Rasmussen.

The Huskers will feature a full roster of talent for the first time this season that includes top male runners Peter van der Westhuizen and Brian Parr and women’s runners Kim Pancoast and Channing Anseth, each who did not compete in the season-opener at the Creighton/UNO Classic on Sept. 2. Nebraska still managed to come home with both team titles for the second straight year as sophomore Ari Goldstein won the women’s 5K and sophomore Kyle Custer won the men’s 8K.

Nebraska’s schedule will only get more competitive in the coming weeks, as the Huskers head to the talented Roy Griak Invitational next Saturday, Sept. 23.

Husker Women Ranked Fifth in Midwest Region

Fresh off last season’s strong performance at the 2005 Midwest Regional, the Husker women are ranked fifth in the region in the first USTFCCCA polls.

 

The Huskers are among four Big 12 teams ranked in the Midwest region as OklahomaState is first, Missouri is eighth and Oklahoma is 10th. Colorado is ranked first in the Mountain Region, while Texas Tech is sixth. Baylor (No. 2), Texas A&M (No. 6) and Texas (No. 9) are ranked in the South Central region rankings to round out the conference teams.

 

“Right now it really doesn’t mean a lot except that other coaches might feel you have a good team this year,” Head Coach Jay Dirksen said. “After three or four meets it will give a much better indication of how good we really are.”

 

Nebraska was fifth at the 2005 NCAA Midwest Regional and fell just short of qualifying for the NCAA Championships as a team.

 

20 Questions with Bryce Dickmeyer:

1. First of all, how is the season going?

“So far, so good. It’s very early and we’ll see where it goes, but really good now.”

 

2. We’re only a month into the season, but how is the team progressing?

“Really well. Even through the first four weeks, we’re building on everything. It’s going good.”

 

3. As a captain, what are your goals for the team in 2006?

“I want to see us do well at conference and at the regional meet. I think that’s our main focus.”

 

4. It’s your last year, do you have any personal goals?

“I would like to break 26 minutes (8K) each meet, but that’s probably about it, individually.”

 

5. How did you spend your summer?

“Working, running and sleeping.”

 

6. You grew up in Fremont, Neb. - What was it like running at a school with great track and cross country tradition?

“It just really helped me focus and it was a great motivator. I don’t think I would be where I am now without it.”

 

7. What do you remember about the recruiting process coming out of high school?

“Well I kind of skipped out on most of it. I didn’t think I was going to run in college. Nebraska was my only visit, so I guess I took the abbreviated recruiting process.”

 

8. How much do you feel that running at Fremont helped better prepare you for college?

“The intensity and high mileage were key. It made it not that big of transition to college.”

 

9. Four years later, you’re finishing up a mechanical engineering major at Nebraska. How is that going and when do you plan to graduate?

“I plan to graduate in December of 2007, but it’s going all right. The classes are really hard though.”

 

10. What’s the best part about the University of Nebraska?

“All the support. People pay attention to you and actually care.”

 

11. What can you say about the academics at Nebraska?

“It’s challenging but manageable. It is going to get me through the rest of my life.”

 

12. Where do you wish to be in 10 years?

“Probably somewhere in a big city working and maybe looking to start my own company.”

 

13. What’s your favorite food?

“Blueberry muffins. Or my mom’s lasagna. She makes killer lasagna.”

 

14. Favorite T.V. show?

“Scrubs.”

 

15. Favorite movie?

“Braveheart.”

 

16. Favorite book?

“The Velveteen Rabbit.”

 

17. Who’s your most interesting teammate?

“They’re all interesting, but I’d have to say Alec Maduza. You never know what he’s going to say or do.”

 

18. What do you like to do in your free time?

“Well, I wish I had free time.”

 

19. If you could play another sport, what would it be?

“Baseball.”

 

20. Have you always been a Husker?

“Yeah. I wasn’t real big into sports when I was young, but I never had any other team so it’s pretty special to be a Husker athlete.”

 

Review: Huskers Win Creighton/UNO Classic Again

For the second consecutive year, the Nebraska men and women opened up the season by taking home titles at the Creighton/UNO Classic in Omaha on Saturday, Sept. 2.

 

Running without top runners Kim Pancoast and Peter van der Westhuizen, Nebraska sophomores Kyle Custer and Ari Goldstein ran two of the best races of their short careers to take first in the men’s 8K and women’s 5K, respectively. Custer, who finished in 27:55, placed 10 spots higher than in last year’s Creighton/UNO Classic to lead the men to a victory in a head-to-head contest over Creighton (46) with 15 points. Goldstein ran a 5K time of 18:33 as the women defeated both Nebraska-Omaha (50) and Creighton (63) with 19 points.

 

“Both Kyle and Ari ran very controlled races,” Dirksen said. “They ran really well. But both teams as a whole ran very good, too. It was a low-key meet, but everyone did a great job.”

 

Not far behind Custer was senior captain Bryce Dickmeyer, who earned runner-up honors in a time of 28:03 for his third top-three finish at the meet in four years. Nebraska also had the runner-up finisher in the women’s 5K, as junior captain Betsy Miller shattered her previous 5K best by nearly half a minute, finishing in 18:56.

 

Last Year: Husker Women Win Woody Greeno

The Nebraska women scored 68 points to win their 11th Woody Greeno/Nebraska Invitational title on Sept. 17, 2005, at Pioneer’s Park, while the men’s team placed fifth in the University standings with 133 points.

 

Junior captain Kim Pancoast led NU to the women’s championship with a career-high sixth-place finish in a time of 22:01, as Nebraska placed four women in the top 20.

 

Sophomore Peter van der Westhuizen led the Husker men with a hard-fought eighth-place finish in the men’s 8K (25:34).

 

The Woody Greeno/Nebraska Invitational

The Woody Greeno/Nebraska Invitational enters its 17th year of competition this Saturday.  Nearly 700 athletes from across the Midwest are expected to compete in one of two divisions with a champion crowned in the university-open field, which includes NCAA Division I schools and club teams, and the college field, which includes non-Division I teams.  The women’s competition was lengthened in 2002 from 5K to the current 6K distance.

 

The competition, held at Pioneer’s Park in southwest Lincoln, began in 1990 when Nebraska Wesleyan combined its meet ? the Woody Greeno Invitational ? with Nebraska’s meet ? the Nebraska Invitational ? to form what is now the largest cross country event in the state.  Although both university and college competitors run in the same race, divisional champions are determined by each team’s finish within its own division.  In the 2001 meet the Husker men and women ran unattached following a ruling from the Big 12 after the Sept. 11 national tragedy. 

 

In all, Nebraska has captured seven men’s titles and 10 women’s titles. Most recently, the women won the 2005 title for the second time in the past three years. In addition, six Husker athletes have captured eight individual titles, including Fran ten Bensel, who won three consecutive titles as a Husker in the early 1990s, and Anne Shadle, the 2003 winner. Shadle also won the 2005 individual championship while running for Reebok. The former Husker standout’s winning time of 20:51.0 ranks as the second-fastest 6K performance in the history of the Woody Greeno/Nebraska Invitational.

 

Directions to Pioneer’s Park (map attached below on page 5)

From I-80 west and east: Get off on Exit-397 and go south on Homestead Expressway. Take a right on Capitol Parkway W. off Homestead Expressway. Capitol Parkway will turn into S. Coddington Ave. After cross Van Dorn Street, you will enter Pioneer’s Park on the east side.

 

From Downtown Lincoln: Get on Capitol Parkway W. off 9th Street (“L” Street turns into Capitol Parkway after crossing 9th). Continue on Capitol Parkway W., which turns into S. Coddington Ave. After crossing W. Van Dorn Street, you will enter Pioneer’s Park on the east side.