Adams, Crofford Head to NCAA Championships

Adams and Crofford Head to NCAA Championships...
Senior Lara Crofford and junior David Adams are the lone Huskers to make the trip to the meet. Crofford will be making the trip to the NCAA Championships for the fourth consecutive year. Following a 6th-place showing at the NCAA Midwest Regional on Saturday in Springfield, Mo., Crofford was an automatic qualifier from the Midwest Region. With Adams 8th-place finish he too was an automatic qualifier from the Midwest Region.

A native of Newville, Pa., Crofford first ran at the NCAA Championships as a true freshman in 2007, where she finished 85th after also earning an at-large bid. In 2008, she led the Husker women to their first trip to nationals since 2003, where she improved to 45th in the individual standing, while the team placed 25th. Crofford received the only bid for the Huskers last season as she placed 116th at the meet.

Adams, a junior from York, Neb., continued to lead the way for the Huskers, finishing eighth (30:00.1) overall to earn his second career All-Midwest Region honor. His eighth place finish earned him an automatic bid to the NCAA Championships, this will mark Adams first trip to the NCAA Championships. He will be the first husker male to run at the Championships since James Bowler in 2001.

Crofford and Adams automatic bids continues the long success of Head Coach Jay Dirksen at the national meet, as the Husker leader will coach a runner at the meet for the 26th time in his 28 seasons at NU.

The NCAA Championships will once again be hosted by Indiana State University on Monday, Nov. 22 at La Vern Gibson Championship Course in Terre Haute, Ind. The women's race will be first at Noon, with the men to follow at approximately 1 p.m. (Eastern). A live webcast of the championships will be broadcast from noon to 1:30 p.m. Eastern Time.

Crofford, Barinova and Adams Earn All-Region Honors...
Lara Crofford, Martina Barinova and David Adams each earned All-Midwest Region honors.The Husker women, who entered the meet ranked No. 8 in the latest USTFCCCA regional poll and unranked in the national poll, placed eighth behind nationally ranked Iowa State (No. 13), Minnesota (No. 20), Oklahoma State (No. 23) and Tulsa (No. 24), respectively.

Individually, Crofford earned all-region honors for the fourth consecutive year with her 6th-place finish (20:17.1), to become just the third Husker on the women's side to earn four all-region honors, joining four-time honorees Ann Gaffigan (2000-2003) and Kathryn Handrup (1999-01 and 2003). Crofford's sixth place finish was NU's highest finish since Ann Gaffigan finished second in 2003. The women competed well as a team with four runners in the top 60. Along with Crofford, Martina Barinova finished 25th earning her first All-Midwest Region honors, Jessica Furlan 56th and Ashley Miller 59th.

On the men's side, the Huskers' 10th-place showing in the 10K race was one spot lower than their No. 9 ranking in the latest USTFCCCA regional poll. Adams, a junior from York, Neb., continued to lead the way for the Huskers, finishing eighth (30:00.1) overall to earn his second career All-Midwest Region honor. His eighth place finish earned him an automatic bid to the NCAA Championships. Adams will be the first husker male to run at the Championships since James Bowler in 2001. Fellow junior Jesse Adams was just outside the top 50 with a 57th-place showing (31:33.8).

It marked the third straight year that the Husker men have finished in the top 10, after finishing 8th last season. The men ran a young team all season, as two freshmen, one sophomore, three juniors and one senior competed at the regional. Out of the nine regional meets across the country, the Midwest is arguably one of the toughest, as the 25-team field included four top-30 nationally ranked teams, including No. 1 Oklahoma State.

Crofford Earns All-Big 12 Honors...
The Nebraska cross country team took to the OSU Cross Country Course Saturday morning for the 2010 Big 12 Championships. Lara Crofford's 10th-place finish (in 20:37.89) led the Husker women to a eighth-place finish in a 6K race, and David Adams' 20th-place finish (in 25:03.95) led the men to a sixth-place finish in an 8K race.

For the men, Adams' finish is the best for a Husker since James Bowler placed 19th in 2002. The Huskers placed five of their seven runners in the top 50. Newcomers Jarren Heng and Anthony Pittman placed 58th and 59th respectively. Adams was joined in the top 50 by Jesse Adams, who finished 40th with a time of 25:29.19. Todd Gulizia (43rd), Trevor Vidlak (44th) and Anthony Oberle (47th) also finished in the top 50.  As a team, the Huskers finished in the top 10 for the fourth straight year, after placing seventh last season.

As a team, the Husker women have finished in the top 10 at the past eight conference meets dating back to 2003. Overall, the Huskers put two runners in the top 25. After Crofford, newcomer Martina Barinova finished 21st with a time of 21:03.23, while Jessica Furlan and Erica Hamik finished 59th and 63rd, respectively.
 
Following back-to-back All-Big 12 performances in her first two years at NU, Crofford missed out on earning All-Big 12 honors in 2009 when she placed 16th. 2010 marks the first time a Husker has earned three All-Big 12 honors in his or her career.

Adams, Crofford Lead Huskers to 24th Place Finishes...
With 80 teams entered on the women's side and 71 entered on the men's side, each field was broken up into two equally matched races, named the white and blue races. The Huskers women were up first, running in the first women's race, the blue race, at 11a.m., while the men's squad ran in the first men's race, the blue race, at 12:10 a.m.

After placing ninth last season, the Husker women faced stiff competition in nine ranked teams, but posted 24th-place finish out of 38 teams. The race included nine top-30 teams, including five top-15 teams in No. 3 Florida State, No. 6 Arizona, No. 11 Iowa State, No. 13 Washington and No. 15 Princeton. No. 3 Florida State came away with the win, followed by No. 6 Arizona.
Out of 261 runners, the Huskers had two women in the top 100, lead by senior Lara Crofford who finished 13th with a time of 20:39.0, improving on her 35th-place time of 21:22.5 from last season; Crofford was the second Big 12 runner to cross the finish line behind Iowa State's Aliphine Tuliamuk. Redshirt freshman Martina Barinova was the other Husker with a top-100 performance, placing 44th with a time of 21:08.1.

On the men's side, junior David Adams continued to lead the team, as NU finished 24th out of 35 teams. The race was filled with talent, including No. 1-ranked Stanford, which won the race and swept the top three placings. The field also included top-15 teams Northern Arizona (No. 5), Princeton (No. 12) and Florida State (No. 15), who finished 4-5-3, respectively. Individually, Adams placed 26th out of 231 runners, clocking a time of 24:11.5 on the 8K course. Adams was followed by senior co-captian Anthony Oberle who finished 117th with a time of 25:03.1 improving on his 131st-place time of 25:28.7 from last season.

Crofford Continues to Make Strides in 2010...
Lara Crofford led the Husker women to an ninth-place showing with her 5th-place finish, while the men placed 15th behind David Adams' 9th-place finish. Entering the meet unranked in the latest USTFCCCA poll, the Husker women squared off against six nationally ranked teams, including top-20 schools Florida (No. 7), Syracuse (No.11) and Michigan State (No. 20). Crofford improved 14 places from her 2009 performance, placing fifth in the competition only seven seconds behind Florida's No. 1 runner Charlotte Browning. The Huskers finished with 248 points, just two places behind No. 7 Florida who finished seventh. The women ran very well as a group, with redshirt freshman Martina Barinova finishing 30 seconds behind Crofford and placing 28th. The Huskers did take down one ranked team, as host school Wisconsin (No. 26) placed 15th out of 20 teams. "The women ran well as a team," Head Coach Jay Dirksen said. "Lara Crofford really looked awesome today, running against some of the best runners in the country. She managed the race extremely well and really showed her maturity as a runner today."

On the men's side, the Husker had quite a battle as there were seven nationally ranked teams in the 20-team field, including No. 6 host school Wisconsin, who finished second to No. 25th ranked Indiana. Adams, ran well once again as his time of 23:51.0 placed him inside the top ten runners. "David (Adams) ran extremely well," Dirksen said. "He made a great push at the end. He overtook at least 10 guys in the last half mile to put him in the top ten. As a team we're making good progress." "If we keep building on what we've got started, I think this could be a really solid year for both teams," Dirksen said.

Crofford Makes History at Woody Greeno...
The women's victory marked the sixth straight year that the Huskers have taken the team title and the 16th time overall in the meet's 21-year history. Crofford became the first Husker to win back to back individual crowns since Fran ten Bensel (1990-92). A native of Newville, Pa., Crofford ran a time of 21:01.31, which marked her second individual title in 2010. "Lara is running better than she has ever run, and the whole team did exceptionally well today," Head Coach Jay Dirksen said.

David Adams was the men's top finisher with a time of 24:54.1, finishing second behind Jim Walmsley of Air Force. Adams' time of 24:29.4 is the sixth-best ever on the 8K course and the second-best time ever by a Husker, trailing Cleophas Boor's time of 24:05.3 in 1996, which ranks third overall.

Overall for the women, Crofford led a 1-2 Husker finish with redshirt freshman Martina Barinova placing second. The Huskers placed four more in the top 15, with junior Erica Hamik finishing fifth, Ashley Miller coming in seventh, Jessica Furlan placing eighth and Jen Webers taking ninth. Freshman Sarah Plambeck just missed the top 15, placing 18th and running a time of 22:59.7.

Adams led the Huskers by placing second, followed by Jesse Adams in eighth, Trevor Vidlak finished 10th, Todd Gulizia took 12th and Anthony Oberle placed 17th. The Husker men were runner-up to Wyoming, which finished with 33 points, while Nebraska had 34 points.

Adams and Crofford Receive Big 12 Honors...
David Adams (Nebraska) and Laura Tremblay (Colorado) have earned Big 12 Cross Country Runner of the Week honors. Adams becomes the first Husker to win the award since Marcus Witter in 2000. Tremblay earns her first individual honor and the first weekly award for the Colorado women this season.

Adams was the only Big 12 runner to crack the top 10 finishers at the Wisconsin adidas Invitational. He ran the 8K in a time of 23:51.0 for a ninth-place finish. Adams led his team to place 15th against seven nationally-ranked teams.

Nebraska's Lara Crofford and Tom Farrell (Oklahoma State) have been named the first Big 12 Cross Country Runners of the Week of the 2010 season. It is the first conference weekly award for both student-athletes.

Crofford led the Huskers to a team title last weekend, as she captured her second career Creighton/UNO Classic individual title. She ran the 5K in a time of 18:11.42, which was 44 seconds faster than the second-place finisher. This is the first Big 12 Runner of the Week award for Nebraska since Kayte Tranel earned the honor in 2005.