Huskers Face Nation?s Best at Pre-Nationals, Chile Pepper Festival

The Nebraska men’s and women’s cross country teams continue one of the nation’s toughest schedules as the Huskers travel to the Chile Pepper Festival and NCAA Pre-Nationals this Saturday, Oct. 13.

 

Seven men and seven women will compete at the NCAA Pre-Nationals in Terre Haute, Ind., while five men and one Husker woman will travel to Fayetteville, Ark. for the 19th annual Chile Pepper Festival (complete Nebraska entry lists below).

 

The NCAA Pre-Nationals are hosted by IndianaStateUniversity at LaVern Gibson Cross Country Course, the same site of the NCAA Championships on Nov. 19. A total of 49 nationally-ranked teams (27 men’s, 22 women’s) are set to compete, with the Husker men taking the line at 11 a.m. for the men’s 8K Blue Race. The 29th-ranked Nebraska women will run the 6K Blue Race at 12:20 p.m.

 

The Division I competition is divided into two races, with the Husker men taking on a field of 39 teams, including 13 that are nationally ranked. The NU women will face 11 ranked squads, highlighted by No. 1 Stanford.

 

The last time the Huskers ran at the NCAA Pre-National meet in Terre Haute, Ind., was Oct. 14, 2004, when the men finished fifth and the women were 28th.

 

Saturday in Fayetteville, Ark., the 19th annual Chile Pepper Festival is expected to attract approximately 3,500 runners with a full day events that includes an open 10K run and junior high and high school races. The Huskers will run in the collegiate men’s 10K at 9:45 a.m., followed by the collegiate women’s 6K at 10:30 a.m. Over 40 Division I and Division II teams are set to compete. Nebraska’s women were sixth at last year’s Chile Pepper Festival on Oct. 14, while the men finished 11th.

 

Nebraska’s Entry Lists

NCAA Pre-Nationals

Women

Rachel Carrizales

Lara Crofford     

Joslyn Dalton                

Ari Goldstein                

Jennifer Pancoast                     

Jen Webers

Natalja Zarcenko

 

Men

Matt Conahan

Kyle Custer

Peter Falcon

Todd Gulizia

Vince Sickler

Bryce Somer

Peter van der Westhuizen

 

Chile Pepper Festival

Men

Brad Doering

Ethan Luebbe

Alec Maduza

Eric Thies

Mikel Thomas

 

Women

Elizabeth Marsh

 

NCAA Pre-Nationals Participating Teams:

Men’s 8K Blue Race: Air Force, Alabama, Arizona, BYU, California, Cincinnati, Clemson, Columbia, Dartmouth, Dayton, Duquesne, Florida State, Georgia, Indiana, Iona, Iowa, Iowa State, IUPUI, Kent State, Louisville, Miami (Ohio), Michigan State, Montana State, Morehead State, Northern Arizona, Nebraska, New Mexico, Ohio State, Oklahoma State, Mississippi, Portland, Tennessee, Tulsa, UCLA, Villanova, Virginia, Washington, Wisconsin, Wyoming.

 

Men’s 8K White Race: Arizona State, Belmont, Cal Poly, Coastal Carolina, Colorado, Cornell, Eastern Michigan, Eastern Kentucky, Florida, Georgia Tech, Illinois, Indiana State, Kansas, Lamar, Liberty, Marquette, Michigan,

Minnesota, Mississippi State, Montana, NC State, Notre Dame, Oakland, Ohio U., Penn, Princeton, Providence, Southern Illinois, Southern Utah, Stanford, Syracuse, UC-Santa Barbara, Utah State, UTEP, William & Mary, Western Kentucky, Washington State, Weber State, Wisconsin-Milwaukee, Yale

 

Women’s 6K Blue Race: Akron, Boston College, Butler, Central Michigan, California, Cincinnati, Coastal Carolina, Colorado State, Columbia, Dartmouth, Eastern Kentucky, Florida State, Georgetown, Indiana, IUPUI, Kansas State, Loyola (IL), Marquette, Michigan State, Minnesota, Mississippi, Mississippi State, Montana, Montana State, Northern Arizona, NC State, Nebraska, New Mexico, Notre Dame, Penn, Rice, Stanford, Tulsa, UC-Santa Barbara, Utah State, Virginia, Washington State, Wisconsin

 

Women’s 6K White Race: Arizona, Arizona State, Ball State, Baylor, Belmont, BYU, Colorado, Duquesne, Florida, Georgia, Georgia Tech, Illinois, Iowa, Iowa State, Kansas, Kent State, Liberty, Louisville, Michigan, Morehead State, Oakland, Ohio U., Portland, Princeton, Providence, Purdue, Stony Brook, UAB,UCLA, UNC-Chapel Hill, UNLV, William & Mary, Western Kentucky, Washington, Weber State, Wisconsin-Milwaukee, Wyoming, Yale

 

Chile Pepper Festival Participating Teams:

Men’s 10K: Arkansas,Arkansas Alumni, Abilene Christian, Allen Community, Arkansas State, Auburn, Austin Peay State, Baylor, Cameron University, Central Arkansas, Centenary, East Central University, Hendrix, Houston, LSU, UMKC, Nevada, Nebraska, Oral Roberts, Ouachita Baptist, Rend Lake College, Rice, Richmond, Samford, Southern Methodist, Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, TCU, Texas A&M, Texas-Arlington, Texas Pan America, Texas-San Antonio, Texas-Tyler, Texas Tech, Trinity, Vanderbilt, California-Irvine, Virginia Tech

 

Women’s 6K: Arkansas, Abilene Christian, Alabama, Allen Community, Arkansas State, Arkansas Tech, Auburn, Austin Peay State, Baylor, California-Irvine, Centenary, Central Arkansas, East Central, Georgia State, Hendrix, Houston, James Madison, LSU, Louisiana at Lafayette, Louisiana-Monroe, Midwestern State, UMKC, Missouri State, Nebraska, Oklahoma State, Oral Roberts, Rend Lake College, Richmond, Samford, Southern Methodist, Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, TCU, Texas, Texas-Arlington, Texas-Tyler, Texas A&M, Texas Pan America, Texas Tech, Trinity, Tulane, Utah, Vanderbilt, Virginia Tech

 

Husker Women Reach National Rankings

The Nebraska women claimed a spot in the latest U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCA) Division I cross country poll (Oct. 9), coming in at No. 29 with 41 points.

 

The nationally-ranking marks the first for the Husker women since 2003, when it won the NCAA Midwest Regional behind Ann Gaffigan’s second-place finish before placing 30th as a team at the NCAA Championships.

 

The Huskers are one of three Big 12 schools in the top 30, joining No. 2 Colorado and No. 24 Texas Tech. In 2007, the Nebraska women have won two titles (Creighton/UNO Classic on Sept. 1 and Woody Greeno/Nebraska Invitational on Sept. 15) and finished fifth at the Minnesota Invitational on Sept. 29.

 

Review: Husker Women Finish Fifth in Minnesota

St. Paul, Minn. - The Nebraska cross country teams left the state of Nebraska for the first time in 2007 on Sept. 29 and turned in their best Roy Griak Invitational performance in recent history.

 

Led by freshman Lara Crofford’s 20th-place finish, the Husker women defeated five Big 12 teams and 10th-ranked Virginia on the way to their highest finish at the Griak Invite since 1999, when it also finished fifth. The men turned in a marquee performance as well, matching its highest finish since 2002 with a 15th-place showing.

 

The NU women had three runners finish in the top 30 as junior captain Ari Goldstein was 23rd (22:02.5) and senior Joslyn Dalton was 28th, easily surpassing her previous Griak career-best finish of 70th from 2004. Junior Rachel Carrizales saw the biggest improvement on Saturday, placing 51st after finishing 250th at the 2006 Roy Griak Invite. The women were competing without 2006 All-Big 12 performer Channing Anseth, who was held out of the meet due to a foot injury.

 

The men were led by a solid performance from freshman Todd Gulizia, who finished 43rd in a season-best 8K time of 25:38. The Omaha native was one of three freshmen to set season-best times, joining Brad Doering (26:49.2) and Eric Thies (27:28.9).

 

Senior Peter van der Westhuizen was the Huskers’ second finisher in 84th (26:07.9), just ahead of junior teammate Kyle Custer, who finished 86th (26:10.9). Custer’s finish was a career best at the Roy Griak Invitational after he placed 167th in 2006 and 196th in 2005. Senior Vince Sickler (125th) and sophomores Ethan Luebbe (138th) and Bryce Somer (128th) also bettered their 2006 finishes from the Roy Griak.