Huskers Look to Defend Team Titles at Woody Greeno

Lincoln - Fans will have the opportunity to catch the Husker cross country team at home for the only time during the 2008 season on Saturday, Sept 20. The Huskers will play host to the 19th Annual Woody Greeno / Husker Invitational at Pioneers Park.

 

Annually the Woody Greeno / Husker Invitational draws a strong contingent of fans and with the Husker football team having a bye week, it is expected to be another well-attended meet.

 

The women's 6K race will be run first at 10 a.m. with the men's 8K race to follow at 10:45 a.m.

 

Big Red Runs Tough at Home...

The Woody Greeno / Husker Invitational has been dominated by the hometown Huskers in recent years. The Nebraska women’s team has won the meet three straight years and four of the last five years. The men’s squad has posted back-to-back wins and has won the meet three times since 2000.

 

Overall, the women have won the meet 13 times, including the first nine team titles. The Husker men have posted nine overall wins with their longest winning streak coming from 1995 to 1997 when they won three straight.

 

Huskers Look to Add Individual Titles...

For the first time since 2006 on the women’s side and for the first time since 2002 on the men’s side the Huskers will take aim at the individual Woody Greeno / Husker Invitational titles.

 

The Husker women won the first three individual titles starting in 1990 when Fran ten Bensel won three straight championships. The women then saw a draught until 2003 when Anne Shadle picked up the hardware, followed by current Husker Ari Goldstein in 2006. Goldstein will not run Saturday as she is still recovering from mononucleosis.

 

After Joe Kirby and David Iteffa won back-to-back titles in 1990 and 1991, the Husker men did not produce another champion until Cleophas Boor in 1996. James Bowler then recorded the Huskers’ last individual title in 2002.

 

Youth Doesn’t Hold Back Crofford...

Before the 2008 season got under way Head Coach Jay Dirksen couldn’t say enough good things about sophomore Lara Crofford.

 

“Last year Lara (Crofford) ran well beyond her age. I expect big things out of her in 2008,” said Dirksen.

 

A native of Newville, Pa., Crofford had a breakout freshman season in 2007 that saw her earn All-Big 12 and All-Midwest Region honors as well as make a trip to the NCAA Championships. She was the first Husker freshman on the women’s side to reach the NCAA Championships since Jeannette Zimmer in 1998.

 

Just like 2007, Crofford won the individual title in her first race of the 2008 season, winning the BYU Autumn Classic in Provo, Utah. Last year she won the Creighton/UNO Classic, propelling the Husker women to the team title. The following week at the Woody Greeno / Nebraska Invitational the competition stiffened and Crofford finished runner-up to sophomore Beverly Ramos of Kansas State. Crofford continued to improve throughout the 2007 season, placing ahead of Ramos at the Big 12 and NCAA Midwest Regional meets.

Overall, Crofford went on to finish in the top 20 at every meet during the season, except the NCAA Championships where she finished 85th. She earned All-Big 12 and All-Midwest Region honors with ninth-place showings at the both meets.

 

Crofford will look to prove on Saturday that she is one of the top runners in the Big 12 as Ramos and the rest of the Wildcats are expected to run in Lincoln at the Woody Greeno / Husker Invitational.

 

Redshirt Season Paying Dividends for Adams...

Redshirt freshman David Adams is reaping the rewards in 2008 of a redshirt year in 2007. Adams finished first overall at the Creighton/UNO Classic, carrying the men to a team title. Adams then was the first Husker to cross the finish line last weekend in Provo, Utah, at the BYU Autumn Classic, coming in 11th overall.

 

Adams went to high school at York High School, a town of 8,000 just 50 miles west of Lincoln. He totaled two Nebraska Class B state championships in cross country in 2005 and 2006, as well as three championships in track. Adams suffered a stress fracture in the spring of 2007, forcing him to miss the 2007 state track meet and redshirt his first year at Nebraska.

 

Head Coach Jay Dirksen was very high on Adams entering the 2008 season, “David Adams is a pure talent and could be a major force for us this year,” Dirksen said.

 

Crofford and Carrizales Go 1-2 in Provo...

The Nebraska cross country team received its first true test of the 2008 season on Saturday, Sept 6, at the BYU Autumn Classic in Provo, Utah.  The Huskers not only had to the deal with an altitude adjustment of 4,551 feet, but also had to compete against a BYU Cougar team that finished 22nd on the men’s side and 25th on the women’s side at the 2007 NCAA Championships.

 

Sophomore Lara Crofford showed no ill effects due to the altitude as she dominated the women’s field, running 19:10.9 in the 5K race. Crofford finished nearly 18 seconds ahead of teammate Rachel Carrizales (19:28.2) and over 30 seconds ahead of BYU’s top runner, Anna Sperry (19:41.7). Crofford and Carrizales were joined in the top 15 by senior Jen Pancoast (11th) and sophomore Jen Webers (15th).

 

Even with Crofford and Carrizales pacing the overall field, the Big Red (51) finished runner-up in the team standings as BYU (35) placed four runners in the top 10. Head Coach Jay Dirksen was encouraged with his team’s finish, considering the Husker women were missing two of its top runners, Ari Goldstein (illness) and Natalja Zarcenko (injury).

 

“Lara (Crofford) ran great and Rachel (Carrizales) may have run the best I have ever seen her run,” Dirksen said. “If we had our full team here with Ari (Goldstein) and Natalja (Zarcenko) I think we would have had a very good shot at winning the team title.”

 

For the second straight week redshirt freshman David Adams was the top Husker runner on the men’s side, finishing 11th overall with a time of 21:47.1 in the four-mile race. Adams led the Husker men to a team title last week at the Creighton/UNO Classic with a first-place finish.