By Sam McKewon
Staff Reporter
Before the Woody Greeno
Invitational Saturday, Nebraska cross
country coach Jay Dirksen wasn’t
sure what to expect from his men’s
team, which was still reeling from
losing two of its top four runners for
the season.
NU answered those questions
with an easy victory Saturday at
Pioneers Park. NU placed five run
ners in the top 13, including fresh
man Jeroen Broekzitter, who fin
ished second, and senior Cleophas
Boor, who finished fourth.
Dirksen said his team responded
well in its first major meet of the
year. • '
“The men really impressed me
today,” he said. “They came out and
gave good effort and ran better than I
expected them to do. We’re a little
better than I thought we’d be at this
point.”
Overall, NU finished with 15
points, 38 points better than their
closest competitor, Wichita State.
Creighton finished third with 60
points.
Individually, Broekzitter ran a
time of 24 minutes, 56 seconds, 13
seconds behind the 24:43 time of
winner Rob Finegan, who ran unat
tached. Boor, who won the invitation
al last year, ran a time of 25:25.
Broekzitter, who led Finegan
early in the race, said he ran well even
though he didn’t win.
“I’m pleased with the way I ran,”
Broekzitter said. “They started out
pretty fast, and the one big hill was
steeper than I thought it was. I didn’t
do so well on it the first time I ran it.”
While Dirksen said he expected
Broekzitter and Boor to place high, it
was the other three NU runners who
finished ift the top 15 - senior Aar6ri
,
JEROEN BROEKZITTER smiles to the crowd as he completes Saturday’s Woody Greeno Invitational atPioneersP^c!
Broekzltter finished second in the men’s 8,000 meter run, leading the Husker men to the team championship.
Nebraska’s women also won.
Johnson (8th), senior Lou Petricca
(11th), and freshman Marcus Witter
(13th) - who surprised Ihe coach.
“I had no indication that Aaron
was going to run that well, and
Marcus didn’t run well the week
before, so it was good to see them up
there,” Dirksen said. “We need that
from altthree of those guys all year.”
On the women’s side, Nebraska
held off Wichita State to win the team
title. The Huskers finished with 32
points, while the Shockers had 34.
Drake finished third with 66 points.
Freshman Amy Wiseman kicked
off her collegiate cross country
career in exciting fashion, finishing
third wMfiMedf lfc02,22 seconds
behind winner Amber Anderson.
NU sophomore Jaime Pauli came
in sixth with a time of 18:10, while
senior Nora Shepherd wasn’t far
behind in eighth place with a time of
18:17. Sophomore Melinda Mohr
and freshman Kate Centerwall fin
ished 17th and 29th, posting times of
18:55 and 19:16, respectively.
Huskersgain
confidence
with big win
HUSKER from page 1
nation against the run. .
“Now with this victory,”
Peter said, “it gives us back that
confidence we had when we
dominated college football in
’94 and ’95. That’s the way we
feel now.”
In Tempe, Ariz., last fall,
NU snapped a 26-game win
ning streak that had been
achieved along with two nation
al championships in 1994 and
1995 under the leadership of
quarterback Tommie Frazier.
The loss raised question about
the abilities of first-year starting
quarterback Scott FroSt
Despite throwing for 1,440
yards, and rushing |or 438
yards last season, Frost was
still not accepted by some
Nebraska fans, who booed him
last week against UCF.
Frost struck back, rushing
for a career-high 97 yards while
throwing for 88 yards mid being
named NU’s player of the game.
“I’m glad for his sake it
worked out like it did,” NU
coach Tom Osborne said.
But Frost wasn’t the only
Husker to earn respect.
The Nebraska defense
achieved the success it had
worked for all summer.
“The days were long and
the summers were hot,” Peter
said. “There were a million
places we would have rather
been rather than in that weight
room, or running those stadium
stairs. But we knew. We kept
reminding ourselves,
‘Washington, Washington,
Washington.’ And it paid off.”
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