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Madison, Wis. ? After staying in Nebraska for the first two meets of the 2009 cross country season, the Huskers traveled to Madison, Wis., on Saturday for the adidas Invitational at University Ridge Golf Course. Lara Crofford led the Husker women to an eighth-place showing with her 18th-place finish, while the men placed 11th behind David Adams’ 11th-place finish, as both teams defeated a team ranked in the USTFCCCA top 30.
Entering the meet unranked in the latest USTFCCCA poll, the Husker women squared off against seven nationally ranked teams, including top-20 schools Illinois (No. 10) and Michigan (No. 17). Led by Crofford, the Huskers finished with 188 points, just 14 points behind No. 28 Arkansas who finished seventh. The women ran very well as a group, with the top five runners only separated by 32 seconds. The Huskers did take down one ranked team, as host school Wisconsin (No. 26) placed 11th out of 12 teams.
“The women ran well as a team,” Head Coach Jay Dirksen said. “We’re not a top ten team, but I think we’re right there when it comes to the top 30.”
On the men’s side, the Husker had quite a battle as there were five nationally ranked teams in the 13-team field, including No. 10 Georgetown, who finished second to unranked Syracuse. Adams, just a sophomore, ran well once again as his time of 24:11.0 was only 10 seconds away from being a top-five time. The men’s squad was also able to take down a ranked foe as the Huskers took out No. 20 Auburn by 10 points, 256-266.
“David (Adams) ran well,” Dirksen said. “He made a great push at the end. He’s not far from being with the top guys. As a team we’re making good progress, we’ve just been limited in our development with us being so young.”
The Huskers will now have two weeks off before they head back on the road to Terre Haute, Ind., for the Indiana State Pre-Nationals. Hosted on the same course as the NCAA Championships in November, the meet is one of the premier events of the regular season. It will be the Huskers last meet before starting the postseason on Oct. 31 in Columbia, Mo., for the Big 12 Championships. Check back with Huskers.com during race week for more information.