Despite 20 to 30 mph winds and temperatures in the 40s, the Nebraska women's cross country team clinched a spot in the NCAA Championships Saturday morning at the Midwest Regional Championships in Stillwater, Okla.
Four runners earned All-Region honors to lead the Huskers to a third place finish that was just barely enough to lock up a berth to nationals, held Monday, Nov. 24, in Terre Haute, Ind.
Sophomore Lara Crofford earned her second-straight All-Region honors with a time of 20:57, good for seventh place in the 6K race. It was the highest finish for a Husker runner in regionals since Ann Gaffigan's second place finish in 2003.
"It took a whole team effort to be able to get to nationals, so it's exciting," Crofford said. "We've worked so hard, and it was our main goal all year."
Rachel Carrizales finished eighth with a time 21:06. The All-Big 12 junior earned her fifth top-10 finish of the season and showed she has made big strides from last year's 34th place regional finish.
"I think I surprised myself a little," Carrizales said. "The course was fun to run on, and I think it went well."
"She's running really well right now," head coach Jay Dirksen said. "A year ago she wasn't anywhere near this close to (Crofford)."
Seniors Natalja Callahan and Jen Pancoast also stepped up in what could have been the final race of their careers. Callahan earned All-Region honors for the second year in a row with her 20th place finish, and Pancoast finished 23rd. The top 25 finishers in the meet earn All-Region honors.
"Our top four ran really well, and we did what we needed to do," Dirksen said. "They ran really smart, and I wouldn't have changed anything."
Having come up just short of making nationals the past two years, Dirksen knew his team needed to upset No. 20 Iowa and finish third in order to secure an at-large berth, and they edged the Hawkeyes by merely two points, 124 to 126. "We had no clue it was going to be that close," Crofford said. "We were all just waiting around anticipating it, and when we found out we got third, we all started screaming."
"We kind of thought we had gotten fourth place, just based on the way we finished, but when we found out we were ecstatic," Carrizales said.
Minnesota won the meet with a score of 57 and Illinois was runner-up with 64 team points. Iowa's Racheal Marchand won the individual title with a time of 20:32.
While the inopportune weather had an effect on the way the teams had to run, Dirksen said it didn't serve as much of a setback for his squad because they're relatively used to the conditions.
"The weather had a lot to do with what you could or couldn't do," Dirksen said. "The race was dictated a lot by the wind, but when you live in this part of the country, you're always going to have winds."
Nebraska hasn't sent a women's team to the NCAA Championships since 2003, and Crofford is the only runner on the roster with experience at the meet.
"The nice thing is, even though they haven't been to nationals, this group has enough experience that I think they're going to handle it well," Dirksen said.
The men's cross country team earned a 10th place finish at the Midwest Regionals to end their season. It was the first time since 2002 that they placed in the top 10.
In the final race of his career, senior Kyle Custer led the men with a 34th place finish, the highest for a Husker at regionals since 2002.
"Kyle Custer ran a really strong race, and he moved up well in the second 5000 meters," Dirksen said. "He ran probably the best race he's run in cross country."
Redshirt freshman David Adams finished 43rd and sophomore Mikel Thomas was 44th in the 10K race.
The men competed in one of the toughest regions in the nation, as four teams from Saturday's meet earned spots in the NCAA Championships. Oklahoma State won the team title with a score of 42, and Hassan Mead of Minnesota won the individual title.
The future does look promising for the men's team, particularly considering that Custer is the team's only departing runner and that most of the team's top contributors were sophomores and redshirt freshmen.
The men also will get senior Brian Parr back in the lineup next fall. Parr redshirted this season while recovering from offseason ankle surgery and is back up to full strength now.
"Next year's team looks good for the future, I think they're going to be able to move up some more," Dirksen said.
maxolson@dailynebraskan.com
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