Huskers Have High Hopes Heading to NCAA Regional

2006 NCAA Midwest Regional
Date: Saturday, Nov. 11, 2006

Time: 11 a.m. Central/12:15 p.m. Central
Location: Lee Bolstad Golf Course-St. Paul, Minn.

Last Year: Women (5th), Men (No Team Score)

Teams: Bradley, Creighton, DePaul, Drake, Eastern Illinois, Illinois, Illinois State, Illinois-Chicago, Iowa, Iowa State, Kansas, Kansas State, Loyola (Ill.), Minnesota, Missouri, Missouri State, Nebraska, Northern Illinois, Northern Iowa, Northwestern, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Oral Roberts, St. Louis, Southern Illinois, Tulsa, UMKC, Western Illinois, Wichita State and Southeast Missouri

 

 

 

Two weeks following an impressive performance at the Big 12 Championships, Nebraska will now aim to keep its season going at the NCAA Midwest Regional on Saturday, Nov. 11 in St. Paul, Minn.

 

The Huskers will look to qualify runners for the NCAA Championships (Nov. 20 in Terre Haute, Ind.) beginning with the women’s 6K at 11 a.m., followed by the men’s 10K at 12:15 p.m.

 

The NU women have ran their way to one of their most successful seasons in the past decade. The third-place finish at the Big 12 Championships two weeks ago was the highest conference placing since 1997, when it was runner-up. Moreover, the Huskers had two All-Big 12 runners (Channing Anseth and Ari Goldstein) for the first time in the 11-year existence of the conference and the first multiple all-conference runners outright since the 1992 Big Eight Championships, when former NU All-Americans Fran ten Bensel and Theresa Stelling earned the honor. The women began the season by winning their first two meets, the Creighton/UNO Classic and Woody Greeno/Nebraska Invitational, and have finished in the top 10 in every meet this season.

 

The Husker men have seen a positive line of improvement as well the last three years, but have been plagued by injuries in 2006. The leading runner in five of the seven meets in 2005, junior Peter van der Westhuizen, has been fighting an ongoing compartment syndrome injury. It has forced the South African to not finish in three meets this season. The injury bug hit hardest at the Big 12 Championships, when three runners were unable to finish due to injury. When healthy at the beginning of the season, however, the men took home the team titles at both the Creighton/UNO Classic and Woody Greeno/Nebraska Invitational and also finished fourth at the South Dakota State Classic to give them three top-five finishes on the year.

 

Lee Bolstad Golf Course

The Lee Bolstad Golf Course is home of the 2006 NCAA Midwest Regional and was also the site of the 2006 Roy Griak Invitational, where the Huskers competed earlier this season. The course is located at Larpenteur Avenue and Cleveland (2275 W. Larpenteur Ave.) in St. Paul. Admission to the meet is $5 for adults and $3 for students and senior citizens. Course maps (courtesy of gophersports.com) are attached on pages five and six of this week’s release.

 

NCAA Championships Qualifying Procedure

(The following information was provided by the NCAA.)

 

The Division I Men’s and Women’s Cross Country Championship provides for a maximum of 31 seven-person teams and 38 individuals per championship race. Eighteen teams automatically qualify to the championships races by finishing as one of the top two teams at any of the nine regional races. The remaining 13 at-large teams are selected by the NCAA Division I track and field subcommittee.

 

Thirty-six individuals automatically qualify to the championships races by being one of the top four regional finishers not on an advancing team. Two additional individual are selected at-large by the committee.

 

Total Competitors Per Gender

31 teams of seven persons each = 217

Individuals (who are not members of a team) = 38

Total = 255

 

Husker Women Nearly Crack Top 30

The Husker women were just one spot away from being nationally ranked in the USTFCCCA Top 30, released Tuesday, Oct. 31.

 

Nebraska received 16 points, while WeberState is 30th with 19 points.

 

The Huskers did move up a spot in the Midwest Regional rankings following their third-place Big 12 finish. Nebraska is now fourth in the region after maintaining a solid fifth-place position through the regular season.

 

Nebraska’s History at the NCAA Midwest Regional

The Nebraska men had their best Midwest Regional finish in 1997 and 2001 when they placed third in each year. In 1997, Jeroen Broekzitter led the men when he was crowned the individual champion. In 2001, James Bowler placed sixth and then went on to finish 78th at the NCAA Championships, the first of two trips to the national meet for Bowler. The last Husker men to earn All-Region honors were Bowler and Eric Rasmussen in 2002.

 

Just three years ago, the Husker women were the 2003 Midwest Regional champions behind Ann Gaffigan’s runner-up finish. Last year, Kayte Tranel led the women to a fifth-place team finish as her and Ari Goldstein (10th) were named to the All-Region team. In fact, the Husker women have had multiple runners earn All-Region honors every season at the NCAA Midwest Regional but one (2004) since the format began in 1997. Prior to that year, the Huskers competed in the District V meet.

 

Last Year: Husker Women Place Fifth at NCAA Midwest Regional

Iowa City, Iowa ? Kayte Tranel and Ari Goldstein were named to the All-Midwest Regional Team as they led the Husker women to a fifth-place finish at the NCAA Midwest Regional on Nov. 12, 2005.

 

Tranel placed eighth in a career-best 6K time of 21:09 to edge out Meghan Armstrong of Iowa and secure a spot in the NCAA Championships, while Goldstein placed 10th in a career-best time of 21:14. She was the top freshman finisher at the meet.

 

The women scored 142 points as a team and were considered to compete at nationals as a team before they were not included in the 13 at-large bids that were announced the next day.

 

“Both Kayte (Tranel) and Ari (Goldstein) ran really good races,” Head Coach Jay Dirksen said. “They were lights out. As a team, we ran our best race of the year. This is a big improvement from a year ago. The future certainly looks bright for our women’s team.”

 

All seven Nebraska women place in the top 80.

 

After Tranel and Goldstein, Natalja Zarcenko and co-captain Kim Pancoast were 37th (22:26) and 39th (22:30), respectively.

 

Channing Anseth (48th, 22:43), Betsy Miller (63rd, 23:02) and Joslyn Dalton (23:25) rounded out the Nebraska women’s contingent.

 

The men suffered from the loss of Peter van der Westhuizen, who was forced to drop out of the race due to injury, but Brian Parr (82nd) stepped up once again as the top men’s finisher in 33:26. Co-captain Bryce Dickmeyer (92nd, 33:45) and Chris Clymer (97th, 33:57) also cracked the top 100. Co-captain Aaron Nasers was 156th in 34:04, while Kyle Custer did not race due to injury. With only four runners, the men did not place as a team.

 

“Our men ran solid,” Dirksen said. “They are just a young group of runners still learning what college cross country is all about, but they will continue to develop.”

 

Review: Husker Women Finish Third at Big 12 Championships

Lawrence, Kan. - The Nebraska women’s cross country team had one of its finest Big 12 Championship meets in school history on Oct. 27, as it had multiple All-Big 12 honorees for the first time and recorded its best conference finish since 1997 by placing third with 110 points. The men placed 11th with 320 points, ahead of KansasState.

 

“We are ecstatic,” Dirksen said after the meet. “We couldn’t have run much better. I really wish people could have seen our women run because it really was a fantastic performance. I think we surprised a lot of people today.”

 

Junior Channing Anseth and sophomore Ari Goldstein were NU’s All-Big 12 honorees as they finished an impressive 12th (21:32.21) and 13th (21:33.76), respectively. All-conference status requires a top-15 finish or higher. The last time Nebraska had multiple all-conference runners was at the 1992 Big Eight Championships, when former All-Americans Fran ten Bensel and Theresa Stelling both earned all-conference status.

 

Nebraska had a quartet of runners between 27th and 31st, an essential factor in the Husker women’s third-place finish, which tied the second-highest finish at the Big 12 Championships in school history. The Huskers were runner-up in 1997 and third in 1996.

 

Sophomore Natalja Zarcenko finished 27th in 22:17.51, less than a second ahead of senior co-captain Kim Pancoast in 28th (22:18.36). Sophomore Jennifer Pancoast then ran one of the best races of her young career to place 29th in 22:25.43, while junior co-captain Betsy Miller was 31st in 22:29.12. Nebaska’s final scorer was junior Joslyn Dalton in 44th (22:45.96). The Huskers’ seven scoring runners in the top 44 was the second most of any team, trailing only OklahomaState, which finished fourth in the team standings.

 

“This team just has great chemisty,” Dirksen added. “They are a confident team, but not too uptight. They were competitive every step of the way and did everything great.”

 

The Husker women were defeated only by No. 10 Colorado and No. 21 Texas Tech. NU notably finished ahead of nationally ranked Baylor (No. 30), which was fifth. The Bears had defeated the Huskers earlier this season at the Chile Pepper Festival in Fayetteville, Ark., on Oct. 15.

 

For the men, sophomore Brian Parr earned his fourth team-leading performance in a row, as he finished 46th overall in 25:52.00. Parr was 66th as a freshman at the 2005 Big 12 Championships before moving up 20 spots this year.

 

Nebraska also saw positive signs for the future in its second and third men’s finishers, as junior Alec Maduza and freshman Ethan Luebbe finished 75th (26:53.20) and 76th (26:54.20). Sophomore Kyle Custer placed 78th in 27:03.60 to give the Husker men four finishers in the top 80.

 

Senior captain Bryce Dickmeyer came in 84th (27:13.90) and freshman Bryce Somer was 102nd (30:56.70) to round out the scoring Husker men. Junior Peter van der Westhuizen, who led the Husker men with a 25th-place finish at the 2005 Big 12 Championships, was unable to finish the race due to his ongoing battle with compartment syndrome. Junior Vince Sickler and freshman Mackenzie Jeffrey also did not finish due to injuries.

 

“Brian Parr ran a strong race,” Dirksen said. “Ethan Luebbe has come a long way this year too, but it really hurts when you have as many guys get hurt as we did today. It’s a little disappointing because we made really good progress this season.”

 

Miller Named to Big 12 “Good Works” Team

Nebraska junior Betsy Miller was one of 12 athletes named to the inaugural Big 12 Fall Sports “Good Works” Team, the conference office announced Wednesday, Nov. 1. The squad recognizes student-athletes for their dedication to both community service and academics.

 

Miller is in the midst of a stellar junior season on the cross country course. She is a co-captain for the Huskers that recently finished third at the Big 12 Conference Championships, the program’s highest placing since 1997. Miller has finished among NU’s top-five runners in five of six meets this season.

 

A native of Lodgepole, Neb., Miller is majoring in biological sciences and owns a 3.975 cumulative grade-point average at Nebraska. She is the representative for the women’s cross country team on the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee and received the HERO Leadership Award last spring. Miller’s community involvement includes having volunteered for the Spring Break 2006 Tour of Excellence, where Husker student-athletes visit various community schools around the state. She currently is serving as chairperson for the second annual Student-Athlete Week in the spring of 2007.

 

Beginning this academic year, each member institution selected a student-athlete for recognition based upon significant community service, good academic standing and participation in a Big 12 sponsored sport. The Big 12 will announce 12-person “Good Works” Teams for fall (football, cross country, volleyball, soccer); winter (men’s basketball, women’s basketball, swimming and diving, gymnastics, wrestling); and spring sports (golf, tennis, track & field, softball, baseball).