Huskers Open 2009 in Omaha

Meet - Creighton/UNO Classic

Where - Omaha, Neb. (Chili Greens)

Men’s Race - 8K (8 a.m.)

Women’s Race - 5K (8:45 a.m.)

The Huskers are set to kick off the 2009 season on Saturday, Sept. 5, in Omaha, Neb., at the Creighton/UNO Classic, hosted at the Chili Greens Golf Course. The Husker men will look to defend their team title. After winning three straight titles from 2005-07, the Husker women will try to recapture the meet crown following a second-place finish last season. However, the Huskers did come home with the women’s individual crown, as Jen Webers won her first collegiate meet.

Last Season at the Creighton/UNO Classic

The Nebraska cross country team kicked off the 2008 campaign at the Creighton/UNO Classic at the Chili Greens. The Huskers swept the individual titles as redshirt freshman David Adams won the men’s 6K race in 19:05.73 and sophomore Jen Webers won the women’s 4K race in 14:37.

 

Adams’ victory powered the men’s team to its first team victory at the meet since 2006, after finishing runner-up last year. Adams was followed by five other Huskers in the top 10, including Peter Falcon (fifth), Mikel Thomas (sixth), Anthony Oberle (seventh), Bryce Somer (eighth) and Brad Doering (ninth). True freshman Jesse Adams finished 11th in his first collegiate race with a time of 19:56.74

 

After three straight wins, the women’s squad finished runner-up to Augustana College (Sioux Falls, S.D.). Following a redshirt year in 2007, senior Betsy Miller finished third in her first race since Nov. 11, 2006. The Huskers saw promise out of their newcomers as true freshmen Erica Hamik (seventh) and Katie White (10th) finished in the top 10.

 

Adams Leads Young Squad in ?09

The Husker men return a deep team in 2009, only losing 2008 team co-captain Kyle Custer. However, the team will once again be a young, with only two seniors out of 17 runners.

 

The men’s squad will look to team captain David Adams to lead it in 2009, after the sophomore led the Huskers at all but one race as a redshirt freshman last season. Following a stellar first season on the course, Adams continued to improve during the 2009 track and field season. A native of York, Neb., Adams ended the year at the NCAA Outdoor Championships, where he placed 13th in the 3,000-meter steeplechase.

 

Goldstein Receives Second Shot at Senior Year

One of the biggest additions to the 2009 women’s cross country team will be the return of senior Ari Goldstein. Goldstein was forced to redshirt last season after suffering from mononucleosis in the fall. An All-Big 12 performer in 2006 and 2007, she will add to the fire power that Jay Dirksen already has in frontrunners Lara Crofford and Rachel Carrizales, who each earned All-Big 12 and All-Midwest Regional accolades last season.

 

Dirksen Back for 27th Season

Jay Dirksen enters his 27th year as Nebraska’s head coach for the cross country team and also serves as the assistant head track and field coach, in charge of the middle and long distance runners for both men and women.

 

Overall, the Dirksen era has been filled with many outstanding team and individual highlights. The women have won five conference team championships (1985, 1988, 1989, 1991, 1993), the only women’s cross country titles in school history. Under Dirksen, three Huskers have won individual conference titles, two for the men, Jonah Kiptarus (1996) and David Iteffa (1991), and one for the women, Fran ten Bensel (1991), in one of the toughest cross country conferences in the nation. Dirksen’s teams have produced 35 top-five finishes and 21 top-three finishes in his 52 appearances at the league championships.

 

10-Year Itch

The Nebraska women’s cross country team will look to achieve something in 2009 that it hasn’t done in 10 years - make a repeat trip to the NCAA Championships. From 1996 to 1999, the Huskers made four consecutive trips to the national meet, including three top-20 finishes.

 

Absent from the national meet since 2003, Coach Jay Dirksen’s 2008 team earned an at-large bid to the national meet in Terre Haute, Ind., after placing third at the NCAA Midwest Regional. Led by sophomore Lara Crofford, who finished 45th out of 252 runners, the Huskers placed 25th in the team standings at the NCAA meet. It was the squads’ top finish since 1999, when NU placed 16th.

 

Even with the departure of seniors Natalja Callahan, Jen Pancoast and Betsy Miller, the 2009 Huskers return a strong nucleus from last year that includes four runners who ran at the national meet. Leading the way will be Crofford, the team’s Most Valuable Runner in her first two seasons and a two-time All-Big 12 and All-Midwest Regional honoree.