Huskers to Host 20th Annual Woody Greeno/Nebraska Invitational

Lincoln - This weekend at Pioneers Park in southwest Lincoln, the Nebraska cross country team will host their lone home meet of the year. Nearly 700 runners will battle for the meet crowns at the 20th running of the Woody Greeno/Nebraska Invitational.

 

On the women’s side, a new champion will be crowned as two-time defending champion Beverly Ramos of Kansas State will not be in the field as the Wildcats are not making to the trip to Lincoln. Of the top-five finishers from last season, three will be back this year, including two Huskers in 2008 runner-up Lara Crofford and fifth-place finisher Rachel Carrizales. Last season’s fourth-place runner, Ramsey Fitzsimmons of South Dakota, will also be in the field.

 

For the men, Ben Zywicki of the Colorado School of Mines could become the first repeat champion since Barton County’s Richard Kosgei won back-to-back titles in 1992-93. Just a junior, Zywicki won the 8K title last season with a time of 24:52.8.

 

In the team races, the Husker women will look to win their fifth straight university division title, while Wartburg College won the college division title last year, their first 2002.

 

On the men’s side, the Husker men are the three-time defending university division champions. Another win would mark the Huskers longest winning streak at the meet, as they also won three straight from 1995-97. After falling to Butler Community College last season in the college division, Zywicki and the Orediggers will look to regain the college team title after winning three straight crowns from 2005-07.

 

The university and college division races are run at the same time, with separate men’s and women’s team champions crowned for each, while there is just one overall individual winner. The university division consists of only Division I teams, while the college division contains all other entries.

 

Crofford has Crown in Sights

As the top returning finisher from last season’s Woody Greeno/Nebraska Invitational, Husker junior Lara Crofford is expected to make a strong push for the 2009 individual title. The Huskers’ Most Valuable Runner in her first two seasons in the scarlet and cream, Crofford has finished runner-up to Kansas State’s Beverly Ramos the past two seasons.

 

With Wildcats not competing at the meet this season, Crofford will look to keep the individual title in Lincoln for the first time since 2006, when current Husker Ari Goldstein won the meet as a sophomore.

 

Overall, the Husker women have won the individual title five times during the meet’s 19-year history. Along with Goldstein’s victory, Anne Shadle won the meet in 2003, while Fran ten Bensel won the meet’s first three titles from 1990-92.

 

Huskers Dominant at Home

Over the past 19 years the Nebraska men’s and women’s cross country team have dominated the Woody Greeno/Nebraska Invitational, as the women have totaled 14 wins and the men have added another 10.

 

The women have put their wins together in bunches, as they have currently won the past four meets. However, that streak comes nowhere close to the nine-meet win streak that the Huskers started in 1990 that lasted until 1999 when Kansas State won the team title behind Amy Mortimer’s individual title. Following a four-year dry spell, the Huskers also won the 2003 meet behind Anne Shadle’s individual win.

 

Currently with a three-year winning streak, the men’s squad will look to set their longest streak with a fourth straight win on Saturday. Following back-to-back wins in 1990-91, the Huskers then reeled off three straight wins from 1995-97. Following a tie with Air Force in 1999, the Huskers won their seventh team crown in 2002, before beginning their current win streak in 2006.

 

Huskers Make Clean Sweep at Creighton/UNO Classic

The Nebraska cross country team started 2009 on a high note at the Chili Greens in Omaha, Neb., as the Huskers swept the Creighton/UNO Classic team titles behind individual champions Erica Hamik and Brad Doering. The wins marked the second straight year that the Huskers have won both individual titles, after Jen Webers and David Adams won their first career races last season. It is also the second straight team title for the Husker men and the fourth title for the Husker women in the last five years.

 

The Husker women were dominant over Creighton and Nebraska-Omaha as Hamik, a sophomore, led a 1-2-3-4-5 finish for the Huskers with a time of 18.57 in the 5K race. Hamik was followed by Webers, Ashley Miller, Ari Goldstein and Katie White.

 

For the men, the Huskers placed six runners in the top 10 and eight in the top 15. Doering paced the pack with an 8K time of 26:19. A junior from Yuba City, Calif., Doering was joined in the top 10 by Jesse Adams (3rd), Bryce Somer (4th), Eric Thies (5th), Anthony Oberle (6th) and Tommy Brinn (9th).

 

Chasing 1988

With three All-Big 12 runners on the women’s team in 2009, the Nebraska women have a shot at becoming the first Husker squad in the Big 12 era to have three runners earn All-Big 12 accolades at the same meet.

 

Junior Lara Crofford earned the honor in her first two seasons and was joined last year by senior Rachel Carrizales. Prior to Crofford, Ari Goldstein was the only Husker in the Big 12 era to earn the honor twice, earning it in 2006 and 2007. Goldstein redshirted last season with mononucleosis.

 

The Huskers last had three all-conference selections at the same meet when Sammie Resh, Tracy Smith and Yvonne van der Kork achieved the feat at the 1988 Big Eight Championships.

 

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, Goldstein 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.

 

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. Joining Crofford is senior Rachel Carrizales, who also earned All-Big 12 and All-Midwest Region honors last season. Rounding out the returning NCAA qualifiers are junior Jen Webers and sophomore Ashley Miller, who will each be expected to take a step forward in 2009.