Huskers to Run at Roy Griak

Following a pair of in-state wins to open the 2006 season the men’s and women’s cross country teams will cross the Nebraska border and see an increase in competition this Saturday at the Roy Griak Invitational in St. Paul, Minn.<?xml:namespace prefix="o" ns="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office"?>

 

In its 21st year, the Griak Invite in nationally known as one of the toughest annual Division 1 regular season cross country meets. This year’s Griak is expected to be the largest of all time, with over 350 schools and 4,000 athletes expected to compete. The field includes nine women’s teams and eight men’s teams that competed at the 2005 NCAA Championships. Among those squads are Big 12 Conference foes <?xml:namespace prefix="st1" ns="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags"?>Kansas (men) and Baylor (women). The men’s 8K will start at 11:20 a.m., followed by the women’s 6K at 12:10 p.m.

 

Nebraska heads into this talented event in full stride after winning the University Divisions at the Woody Greeno/Nebraska Invitational last Saturday at Pioneer’s Park in Lincoln. It was the second consecutive victory for both the men and women after winning the Creighton/UNO Classic titles to start the season. 

 

The women have been led by a youngster early this season in sophomore Ari Goldstein, who has won the individual women’s titles in both 2006 meets. The Huskers will also benefit from the return of senior co-captain Kim Pancoast, who will be running in her first meet of the season.

 

Junior Peter van der Westhuizen leads the men following a fourth-place finish at the Woody Greeno, the highest men’s finish at the meet since 2002, which was also the last time the Husker men had won the University Division team title.

 

Nebraska will be back on the road once again next weekend as it travels to Brookings, S.D., for the South Dakota State Classic.

 

Goldstein in Good Company

Sophomore Ari Goldstein is in just her second year competing at the Division 1 level, but her early success has already gained her a spot in the 31-year history of Nebraska women’s cross country.

 

By winning the individual women’s titles at both the Creighton/UNO Classic and the Woody Greeno/Nebraska Invitational, Goldstein became the first Husker woman to win consecutive races since 1992 when three-time All-American Fran ten Bensel accomplished the feat.

 

Last year, Goldstein’s 17th-place finish at the 2005 Big 12 Championships was the highest finish by a Nebraska freshman since 1998. The young talent was also just one spot away from qualifying for the 2005 NCAA Championsips when she placed 10th individually at the Midwest Regional.

 

Last Year: Husker Women Place 14th at Griak Invite

The 2005 Roy Griak Invitational saw the Husker women defeat three preseason nationally-ranked teams on their way to a 14th-place team finish.

 

Kayte Tranel led all Nebraska runners with a 27th-place finish in the women’s 6K race in a season-best 21:53.

 

Tranel was one of four Husker women to place in the top 100, along with Kim Pancoast (41st, 22:09), Ari Goldstein (60th, 22:23) and Natalja Zarcenko (100th, 22:57).

 

The NU men placed 26th in the team standings as only five of the six runners finished the race after Peter van der Westhuizen suffered an injury on the course.

 

After fighting through recent injuries, Aaron Nasers led the Husker men for the first time during the season with a 162nd-place showing in a season-best time of 26:43. Freshman Brian Parr also set a season-best time (26:59) on his way to becoming the runner-up Husker male finisher for the second time in three weeks.

 

Review: Huskers Win Woody Greeno/Nebraska Invitational

Nebraska raced to a pair of University Division titles at the Woody Greeno/Nebraska Invitational at Pioneer’s Park Saturday, Sept. 16.

 

An estimated 1,500 fans witnessed the 17th annual event and watched Husker women Ari Goldstein (22:07.60) and Channing Anseth (22:16.90) race to a one-two finish in the 6K. Nebraska finished with 28 points in the University Division team standings and 32 points in the overall results. It was the 12th team title for the Husker women at the Woody Greeno/Nebraska Invite and marked the first time since 1997 and 1998 that the Huskers have captured back-to-back crowns.

 

For Goldstein, it was her second career victory in just her sophomore season at Nebraska. Goldstein and Anseth, a junior who competed sparingly in 2005, steadily pulled away from the rest of the pack in the second half of the race.

 

On the men’s side, junior Peter van der Westhuizen performed well and NU received support from some vastly improved times from sophomores Brian Parr and Kyle Custer. The Husker men scored 24 points in the University Division to easily outdistance runner-up Wyoming, which finished with 43 points.

 

Running in his first meet of the season, van der Westhuizen raced with the lead pack throughout the majority of the men’s 8K and finished fourth in 25:54.25. Parr and Custer, who placed 91st and 92nd respectively at last year’s Woody Greeno/Nebraska Invite, made amazing strides. Parr finished eighth in a time of 26:14.15, while Custer came in 13th in a career-best 8K time of 26:38.15.

 

Junior Alec Maduza also performed well for the men by placing 27th overall (27:12.80).

 

20 Questions with Betsy Miller:

1. The women are off to a good start - how do you think that will help this weekend?

“I think the way we finished last season really helped us confidence-wise. The teams this weekend are a lot higher caliber than at the Woody Greeno but I think if everyone can step up and run good like last week we’ll do well.”

 

2. What are some of the responsibilities and things you try to do as a captain?

“I just try to keep everyone in a good mood. Sometimes practices aren’t fun but it’s important to stay positive so I just try to be a role model in that way.”

 

3. You have made some big improvements the last two years. What do you attribute that success to?

“Persistence. Just coming back every day and trying to get better. A lot of days I wanted to quit but I stayed with it. Attitude is another thing. And I love running so that made it easy to improve.”

 

4. You didn’t run cross country in high school. Can you tell about that situation?

“(At Lodgepole) In the fall, you either played volleyball or played no sports so I opted to do volleyball. I think it had its pros and cons. I’m definitely glad I had the chance to play volleyball. I don’t regret it because overall it helped me become more athletic but at the same time when track season rolled around I would have liked to have that running background behind me.”

 

5. Can you talk a little more about your hometown of Lodgepole, Neb.?

“Booming metropolis. It’s a small town of 350 people, which is mostly farmers. There were 14 people in my class.”

 

6. What kinds of things did you do on weekends?

“Good question. On Friday and Saturday nights, you just drove up and down main street. And if you saw someone, you stopped to talk to them. That’s about all. Maybe that’s why I started running, because there was nothing else to do.”

 

7. What was the recruiting process like?

“I knew I wanted to come here pretty much since junior high. It was always my dream to be a Husker. Whether or not I would make it here, I didn’t know. When high school came, I was real naive about the whole recruiting process. I didn’t really know how it worked. When I came on my visit to Nebraska I didn’t know what questions to ask or what to expect but I was really impressed with the team, coaches and facilities. That made up my mind right there.”

 

8. What did you do after your senior year of high school to prepare for Nebraska?

“That summer I was kind of hurt after my senior year of track so I got off to a slow start. I was trying to play catch-up the whole summer which made it a little harder.”

 

9. Your teammate Kayte Tranel didn’t run cross country in high school either. Did she help a lot with your transition?

“Absolutely. She is a really good example of loving what you do and making the best out of every situation. She didn’t have cross country in high school but yet was an All-American. It’s always a good reminder for me. You don’t have to be an all-star in high school to be a good collegiate runner.”

 

10. What do you remember about your first day at Nebraska?

“Oh my gosh. It was an awful day. My first semester schedule was hectic and crazy. The first Monday after I got done with classes and practice I sat in my room and I was thinking that I wasn’t going to be able to do this. But by the end of the week everything was fine.”

 

11. Do you have any personal or team goals  for this season?

“Honestly, I haven’t thought about that (personal goals) a lot. It’s still early so I think I have to just see how the season goes first and go from there. I would really like the team to do well at regionals and conference. Last year we were so close to qualifying for nationals as a team. We’re all thinking about that and I think we have a really good chance to make it to the NCAA Championships this year. It’s still a ways off and we have lots of work to do but it’s a main goal.”

 

12. You’re a biology major. Where do you want that to take you 10 years from now?

“Hopefully I’ll be a doctor or on my way to being a doctor. I don’t know what field but I would like to go to medical school.”

 

13. What is the best part about Nebraska?

“Probably all the support staff we have. Not just the coaches or athletics but also on the academic side. Not too many other schools can match us in the academic support we have.”

 

14. What’s your favorite food?

“Peanut butter.”

 

15. What’s your favorite T.V. show?

“America’s Funniest Home Videos.”

 

16. What’s your favorite movie?

“It’s probably a tie between Rudy and Forrest Gump.”

 

17. What’s your favorite book?

“War and Peace.”

 

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

“I like to watch college football.”

 

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

“I’ve never played it competitively, but probably soccer.”

 

20. Lastly, when you’re out on a long run, what kinds of things do you think about?

“I think of the most random things. I never run with an IPod but strangely enough I get songs stuck in my head and I end up singing the same song over and over again for three miles.”