Huskers To Start Season at Augustana Twilight

The Nebraska cross country team begins the 2016 season at the Augustana Twilight in Sioux Falls, S.D., on Friday, Sept. 2 at Yankton Trail Park. The races begin at 8 p.m.

The Huskers will look to build off the improvement they showed last season. With seven letterwinners back on the men’s side and nine on the women’s side, both Husker squads have raised their expectations heading into the season.

Head Coach Dave Harris shared his thoughts on the team heading into their season-opening meet. He acknowledged that the team has been practicing hard and is looking forward to competing against other runners.

"We are training pretty hard right now, so there is no way they are going to have totally fresh legs." Harris said. "We are trying to stay within ourselves to understand that we’re not trying to be peaking right now, but we do want to be running against some other people."

Nebraska Women's Preview

The Husker women finished 13th at the Big Ten Championships last season and were 22nd at the NCAA Midwest Regional, but those results came without top runner Anna Peer. Peer was the Huskers’ most valuable runner in 2013 and 2014 but missed the 2015 season with an injury. In her absence, Bonnie Smith stepped up to lead the Huskers. Now Peer and Smith will lead a deep squad in 2016.

Peer was a second-team All-Big Ten performer in 2014 after finishing 14th at the conference meet, and she was poised to build on that success in 2015 as a junior before her injury setback. Now a redshirt junior for the Huskers, the Bettendorf, Iowa native will guide a group of 10 returning letterwinners.

Smith, a senior from Omaha, was the top Husker finisher at five of six meets in 2015, including top-five finishes at the Augustana Twilight and Woody Greeno/Nebraska Invitational.

Katrina Santiago, the Huskers’ co-most improved runner in 2015, finished 72nd at the Big Ten Championships to lead the Huskers in her breakout sophomore season. She was in the Huskers’ top four at all six meets and will fight for a top-three spot in the lineup throughout her junior season.

Haley Harsin will be in the mix as well, as she was the Huskers’ No. 2 runner at three of six meets last year after fitting in the Nos. 6-7 range as a freshman in 2014. Other returning letterwinners include Elizabeth Carpino, Kendall Cast (co-most improved runner in 2015), Nicole Colonna, Ashley Geisler, Lizzy Kirby and Kristi Oslund, who will serve as captain along with Peer.

Nebraska Men's Preview

The Husker men are coming off an 11th-place finish at the Big Ten Championships last year with 284 points, their best total since 2011. Peter Spinks came in at 47th, which is also the best finish by a Husker men’s runner at the Big Ten meet since 2011. The men’s team finished 12th at the NCAA Midwest Regional.

Spinks had a breakout season in 2015 with a victory in the University Division at the Augustana Twilight and Big Ten Athlete of the Week honors on Sept. 9. Spinks was one of NU’s top-three finishers in five of six regular-season meets, and he led all Huskers a team-best three times. Spinks was named the Huskers’ most valuable runner.

Senior Jacob Olson also returns to lead the team as captain after finishing as NU’s No. 1 or 2 runner at four of six meets in 2015. Olson posted top-20 finishes at the first four meets in 2015 and is the most experienced Husker returning in 2016.

The Big Red men have a deep pool of other contributors returning, including Matt Gilbert, Patrick Letz, Wyatt McGuire, Austin Post and Alec Sery, all letterwinners in 2015. McGuire was the Big Ten Athlete of the Week on Sept. 23 after leading the Huskers with a fourth-place finish at the Woody Greeno/Nebraska Invitational.