Cross Country Team Kicks off 2008 Season in Omaha

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The Nebraska cross country team will open the 2008 season on Saturday, August 30, at the Creighton/UNO Classic in Omaha, Neb., at Chili Greens.

 

The women’s team will look to take home the team title for the fourth straight year. The women will travel a young squad that includes four freshmen, a redshirt freshman and one sophomore. Junior Elizabeth Marsh and senior Betsy Miller will also make the trip, with the meet being the first meet for Miller in over a year after she redshirted the 2007 season.

 

The Huskers’ top three finishers, who were also the top three overall finishers, Lara Crofford, Ari Goldstein and Rachel Carrizales will not make the trip this year. Jen Webers (6th), who finished sixth overall in 2007 will be the Huskers’ top returner to the meet.

 

For the Husker men, they will also be very young sending nine athletes who are either sophomores or freshmen, along with one junior, Bryce Somer. The men will look to regain the team title after winning it in 2006 and finishing runner-up in 2007.

 

The men’s top returner will be sophomore Mikel Thomas, who finished ninth overall as a freshman. The Huskers will also send four other top-15 runners into competition in Peter Falcon (11th), Bryce Somer (12th), Brad Doering (13th) and Eric Thies (15th).

 

Directions to the Chili Greens...

From Lincoln, head East from on I-80 and take the 72nd St. exit. Next take a left on 72nd St. and make your way to Spring St. Turn right on Spring St. and follow it to 66th St. where you will see a white dome.

 

Dirksen Names Team Captains...

Nebraska cross country Head Coach Jay Dirksen has released the captains for the upcoming 2008 season.  The women will be captained by three veteran runners, Ari Goldstein (senior), Betsy Miller (senior) and Elizabeth Marsh (junior). The men will be led by the lone senior on the team, Kyle Custer, and junior teammate Brian Parr.

 

Goldstein returns as a captain in 2008 after being the lone captain on the women’s team in 2007. Of the five captains, Goldstein has arguably had the most success at Nebraska, being the first Husker athlete during the Big 12 era to earn two All-Big 12 honors. In 2007, she finished in the top 30 at five of her six races. Goldstein has also been a leader in the classroom, earning first-team academic All-Big 12 honors the past two seasons while majoring in biochemistry.

 

Following a redshirt year in 2008, Miller resumes her role as a captain after being a co-captain with Kim Pancoast in 2006. In her final season running for the Big Red, Miller will be expected to help a strong women’s squad make a run at the Big 12 Championship meet after finishing third last year. She had a solid junior season in 2006, finishing 31st at the Big 12 Championships and 49th at the Midwest Regional. An outstanding student, Miller is a two-time first-team academic All-Big 12 selection. She served as Nebraska’s Student Athlete Advisory Committee President during the 2007-08 academic year.

 

Marsh is the youngest of the three captains on the women’s side, but carries the same respect. The Wichita, Kan., native will look to make progress in 2008 after struggling in 2007. Marsh produced a solid freshman year, finishing 13th at her first collegiate meet and finishing 82nd at the Big 12 Championships.

 

Kyle Custer will be the lone senior on a very young men’s team in 2008. The Cambridge, Neb., native will captain a team that consists of three juniors, seven sophomores, two redshirt freshmen and three true freshmen. Custer came into his own in his junior year, moving up 30 spots at the Big 12 meet from his sophomore season. After finishing 78th at the 2006 Big 12 Championships, Custer moved up to the No. 48 spot in 2007 by shaving 41 seconds off his time to run a 26:22.6. For his efforts in 2007, Custer was named Nebraska’s Most Improved Runner on the men’s squad.

 

After redshirting in 2007, Brian Parr will join Custer as a captain in 2008. Parr is still recovering from ankle surgery during the summer and his impact on the course may not be felt until the end of the season. Parr’s contributions were missed last year as Coach Dirksen believes he would have made a major difference at the conference level.

 

“If we would have had him last season we may have been in the top five in the conference,” Coach Dirksen said.

 

Parr will look to make his mark on the course after succeeding on the track. He has qualified for the NCAA Midwest Regional the last two outdoor track season in the 3,000-meter steeplechase. He has also produced All-Big 12 performances at the past two Big 12 Outdoor Championships in the same event.

 

Women’s 2008 Preview...

Nebraska has plenty of reasons to aim for the top in 2008. The Huskers return six letterwinners, including two All-Big 12 selections from 2007. The biggest motivation for the Huskers’ potential success in 2008 comes from the disappointment of last fall, when NU narrowly missed a spot at the NCAA Championships.

 

Last year the Huskers not only placed fourth at the NCAA Midwest Regional, but also finished third at the Big 12 Championships, solidifying Nebraska’s spot among the conference’s elite after third- (2006) and fifth-place (2005) showings the previous two years.

 

With the loss of just two seniors, Channing Anseth and Joslyn Dalton, from a fine 2007 squad, Coach Jay Dirksen has a prime opportunity to produce a third consecutive top-five regional finish this fall.

 

“I think we will be really strong across the board this year and well-balanced,” Dirksen said. “We are going to have a tough time deciding our top seven and that’s a good problem to have.”

 

For the Huskers’ goals to become reality, they will look to one of their youngest, but brightest stars in school history, Lara Crofford. Only a sophomore, Crofford has already left her mark on the Nebraska cross country program after qualifying for the 2007 NCAA Championships. In her first year in Lincoln, she led the Husker women in all seven meets she competed, beginning with the individual championship at the season-opening Creighton/UNO Classic. Her back-to-back ninth-place finishes at the conference and regional meets led to an 85th-place showing at the national meet, the 10th-highest finish among all freshmen.

 

“It was a real key for us to get Lara (Crofford) last year,” Dirksen said. “She had an unbelievable season for a freshman.”

 

Although Crofford has already proven her potential well beyond her age, Nebraska also carries needed experience in a strong senior class led by Ari Goldstein. A team captain in 2007, Goldstein has been a mainstay among the Huskers’ best runners during her first three seasons. She is Nebraska’s only multiple-time Big 12 Conference selection with 13th- (2006) and 14th-place (2007) finishes. She had a superb freshman season in which she placed 10th at the NCAA Midwest Regional, just missing out on a trip to the NCAA Championships. The Soldotna, Alaska, native’s resume is only missing a trip to the NCAA Championships, a goal she hopes to reach in 2008.

 

“Ari Goldstein is much stronger than last year and is training harder this summer than she ever has before,” Dirksen said.

 

Behind Crofford and Goldstein, the Huskers narrowly missed a team qualification to the 2007 NCAA Championships. With both runners back, in addition to seniors Jen Pancoast, Betsy Miller and Natalja Zarcenko and junior Rachel Carrizales along with a strong freshman class, Dirksen could have one of his best teams in program history.

 

The senior class possesses the necessary experience and skill to lead Nebraska on its way to post season success. Pancoast has progressed the past three seasons, including earning the team’s Most Improved Runner Award in 2006, when she finished in the top 30 at the conference and regional meets. Zarcenko has been ahead of the curve since 2005, immediately contending for a top-30 spot (32nd in 2005) at the Big 12 Championships, a mark she exceeded in 2006 (27th) and 2007 (23rd).

 

The final piece of an excellent senior class comes with Betsy Miller, who redshirted last season as she battled injuries. Now, the 2006 co-captain is in a position to utilize her leadership and talent in 2008. The Lodgepole, Neb., native finished 31st at the 2006 Big 12 Championships and was in the team’s top three in four of seven meets, leaving solid expectations for her final season as a Husker.

 

“This will be one of the deepest teams we’ve had in a very long time,” Dirksen said. “Having a team that can run as a pack and not have to rely on one person to carry the load is going to be a positive for us.”

 

The junior class support may look small in numbers, but could produce at a high level. Rachel Carrizales is coming off her best season after she was a lock for the team’s 2007 Most Improved Runner Award. Carrizales improved in every repeat meet from her freshman year, including an astounding ninth-place finish at the Woody Greeno/Nebraska Invitational after coming in 82nd in 2005. She also took 23rd at the Big 12 Championships, a key part to Nebraska’s third-place team finish. All the success came despite a redshirt year in 2006.

 

Carrizales is joined by Elizabeth Marsh, whom Dirksen believes can be a solid contributor for Nebraska. Sophomore Jen Webers and Marsh look to vie for top-five team finishes in a stacked Husker lineup.

 

With a strong group of veterans, the Huskers will add redshirt freshmen Katie Kelly and Ashley Miller as well as four true freshmen. Kelly battled injuries in 2007 and is still gaining strength after suffering mononucleosis. Miller was not a team member of the 2007 team, but did run for the Nebraska track and field team in one meet before being sidelined with a stress fracture. Miller brings success as a 15-time state champion in Iowa, helping her team to four consecutive team titles on the track and on the cross country course.

 

Dirksen’s senior class may only be matched by a strong freshman class. Michelle Fluitt (Lincoln, Neb.), Jessica Furlan (Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada), Erica Hamik (Kearney, Neb.) and Katie White (Broken Bow, Neb.) have combined for 17 state track and cross country championships with Furlan adding a junior division Saskatchewan Provincial Cross Country Championship and four Saskatchewan Provincial championships on the track.

 

Men’s 2008 Preview...

A promising nucleus of young talent combined with leadership from upperclassmen has the Nebraska men’s cross country team primed for the 2008 season. The Huskers will look to improve on a 2007 season that saw them finish 12th at the Midwest Regional. They were led by a 43rd-place finish from Peter van der Westhuizen, the Husker’s lone departure from the regional competitors. The next Husker finishers were two freshmen, Mikel Thomas (51st) and Todd Gulizia (52nd). Combine that with the return of six of their seven letterwinners from 2007 and the return of Brian Parr after a redshirt year, and the Huskers may have a recipe for success this season. 

 

Head Coach Jay Dirksen’s squad will miss the contributions of van der Westhuizen, Nebraska’s recognized leader the past three years. This fall, Kyle Custer takes van der Westhuizen’s role as the team’s only senior, but should have a boost of leadership behind him in Parr, who returns to the course after a redshirt year in 2007.

 

Custer won the team’s Most Improved Runner award last year. The native of Cambridge, Neb., has made steady progress after a tough transition year in 2005. At last year’s Big 12 Championships, Custer improved to 48th place after finishes of 78th and 89th the previous two years.

 

“Kyle Custer has made great improvement, especially last season, since his arrival on campus,” Dirksen said. “He is a very hard worker and really wants to be good.”

 

Parr may add the greater hope for the Huskers in 2008, aiming to build on his 2006 sophomore season, when he led Nebraska in the final five meets of the season, including top-50 finishes at the conference and regional meets.

 

“Brian is coming off ankle surgery this summer, but could really help us later in the year,” Dirksen said.

 

Junior Bryce Somer has shown steady improvements after running in all six meets in 2007. He finished the year by climbing 17 spots at the Big 12 Championships (85th), before running in his first ever regional meet.

 

“Bryce Somer made a big jump in performance last season,” Dirksen said. “He is limited in speed, but his work ethic is outstanding and he gives you 100 percent at all times.”

 

Classmate Ethan Luebbe possesses skills the Huskers were unable to use last season after he suffered through hamstring injuries last fall. Luebbe did run in the Woody Greeno/Nebraska Invitational and Roy Griak Invitational before sitting out the remainder of the season. Luebbe’s third-place showing among Husker runners at the 2006 Big 12 Championships demonstrate his potential to help the squad in 2008. “Ethan Luebbe is coming off a number of years of hamstring problems.  He took off an extended amount of time last spring and in late-May started gradually building up his base,” Dirksen said. “He is an excellent competitor, but where he fits into our team is hard to say.”

 

The sophomores represent Nebraska’s largest class (seven) on the 16-man roster. As freshmen a year ago, the group performed beyond their years. Five of the eight first-year runners on the 2007 roster earned letters, including veteran-like performances from Thomas and Gulizia at the Midwest Regional. The pair produced Nebraska’s second and third finishes (51st and 52nd overall) in the team’s 12th-place showing.

 

“The sophomore class was definitely one of the best classes we have had in my 26 years at Nebraska,” Dirksen said. “Of the eight in that class, I think at least four of them are candidates for our top five to seven runners.”

 

After a large freshman class in 2007, the Huskers bring in three newcomers in 2008. Jesse Adams (Ogallala, Neb.), Adam Mitteis (Plattsmouth, Neb.) and Jon Ronhovde (Fremont, Neb.) all come off successful prep careers where they combined to win three individual state cross country championships, eight individual state track and field championships and two team cross country titles.

“The freshmen always have a big transition from racing 5K in high school to 8K and 10K intercollegiate racing distances,” Dirksen said. “I am extremely pleased at the quality of the three freshmen, and they will definitely be an asset in the future.”