Husker Women Finish 13th at NCAA Pre-Nationals

Terre Haute, Ind./Fayetteville, Ark.? The nationally-ranked Nebraska women’s cross country team highlighted a busy day of action for the Huskers as the men’s and women’s squads split up to the NCAA Pre-Nationals in Terre Haute, Ind., and the Chile Pepper Festival in Fayetteville, Ark.

 

Running as a ranked team for the first time since 2003, the 29th-ranked Husker women finished 13th out of 38 squads in the 6K Blue Race in Terre Haute, Ind. Freshman Lara Crofford continued to run as one of the best newcomers in the Midwest Region, finishing as the second-highest freshman in the meet and leading the Huskers for the fourth time in 2007 with an 18th-place overall finish in a season-best 6K time of 20:46.

 

Senior co-captain Peter van der Westhuizen was the top male finisher for the Huskers as he came in 82nd in the men’s 8K Blue Race in a career-best time of 24:25. Nebraska finished 33rd in the team standings with 855 points in a tough field of 13 nationally-ranked teams.

 

Crofford was one of four Husker women to finish in the top 100 with juniors Natalja Zarcenko (63rd, 21:22) and Ari Goldstein (82nd, 21:31) and senior Joslyn Dalton (95th, 21:39) providing points for NU, while junior Rachel Carrizales was the Huskers’ fifth and final scorer in 102nd (21:45). It was a significant improvement from the Huskers’ last trip to the NCAA Pre-Nationals in 2004, when Nebraska finished 28th in the team standings and had only one finisher in the top 100.

 

Sophomore Elizabeth Marsh was the only women’s runner to participate in the Chile Pepper Festival in Fayetteville, Ark., finishing 221st with a 6K time of 25:06. Four Nebraska men competed in the men’s 10K, led by freshman Mikel Thomas’ 85th-place finish in 32:30.  

 

Saturday’s high-quality meets also served as valuable preparation for Nebraska’s next competition ? the Big 12 Championships. The 2007 conference meet takes place Saturday, Oct. 26 in Lubbock, Texas. The Husker women will look to challenge No. 2 Colorado and No. 24 Texas Tech at the top of the Big 12 standings, while the men possess a solid chance for its best team finish since 2002 when it placed seventh.

 

NCAA Pre-Nationals
Oct. 13, 2007 ? Nebraska Men’s and Women’s Results
LaVern Gibson Championship Cross Country Course ? Terre Haute, Ind.

 

Women’s Team Scores (Blue Race)

1. Stanford - 102

2. FloridaState - 123

3. MichiganState ? 178

4. Minnesota - 192

5. Georgetown ? 210

13. Nebraska ? 360

 

Top Five Finishers, School ? Time

1. Susan Kuijken, Florida State ? 19:55.5

2. Teresa McWalters, Stanford ? 20:00.1

3. Arianna Lambie, Stanford ? 20:01.1

4. Emily Harrison, Virginia ? 20:04.8

5. Melissa Grelli, Georgetown ? 20:13.1

 

Nebraska Finishers

18. Lara Crofford, 20:46

63. Natalja Zarcenko, 21:22

82. Ari Goldstein, 21:31

95. Joslyn Dalton, 21:39

102. Rachel Carrizales, 21:45

130. Jennifer Pancoast, 22:05

159. Jennifer Webers, 22:23

 

Men’s Team Scores (Blue Race)

1. Northern Arizona ? 124

2. Iona ? 136

3. California ? 157

4. Virginia ? 203

5. Alabama ? 207

33. Nebraska - 855

 

Nebraska Finishers

82. Peter Van Der Westhuizen, 24:25

168. Kyle Custer, 25:11

188. Todd Gulizia, 25:25

199. Vince Sickler, 25:32

218. Peter Falcon, 25:54

229. Matt Conahan, 26:16

248. Bryce Somer, 27:00

 

Chile Pepper Festival
Oct. 13, 2007 ? Nebraska Men’s and Women’s Results
AgriPark ? Fayetteville, Ark.

 

Women’s Team Scores

1. Texas Tech ? 83

2. Arkansas ? 87

3. Virginia Tech ? 130

4. UC-Irvine ? 195

5. OklahomaState ? 200

*Nebraska was not eligible for the team standings due to only one runner

 

Top Five Finishers, School ? Time

1. Sally Kipyego, Texas Tech, 19:49

2. Irene Kimaiyo, Texas Tech, 20:47

3. Lauren Blankenship, Samford, 20:48

4. Silje Fjortoft, Southern Methodist, 20:52

5. Natalie Sherbak, Virginia Tech, 20:56

 

Nebraska Finishers

221. Elizabeth Marsh, 25:06

 

Men’s Team Scores

1. Arkansas - 47

2. Abilene Christian - 74

3. Virginia Tech ? 162

4. Rend LakeCollege - 166

5. Texas A&M - 202

*Nebraska was not eligible for the team standings due to only four runners

 

Top Five Finishers, School ? Time

1. Shadrack Songok, Texas A&M ? Corpus Christi, 29:22

2. Nicodemus Naimadu, Abilene Christian, 29:34

3. Elkanah Kibet, Rend LakeCollege, 29:36

4. Julius Bor, CloudCommunity College, 29:40

5. Shawn Forrest, Arkansas, 29:44

 

Nebraska Finishers

85. Mikel Thomas, 32:30

117. Eric Thies, 33:10

154. Alec Maduza, 33:52

222. Brad Doering, 36:24