Huskers Open Season at Augustana Twilight

The Nebraska cross country team begins the 2021 campaign at the Augustana Twilight on Friday, Sept. 3 at Yankton Trail Park in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. The women’s 5K will begin at 8:30 p.m., followed by the men’s four-mile race at 9 p.m.
 
The Husker men have won the Augustana Twilight team title in six of the last seven seasons, including back-to-back wins in the last two seasons.  The women have finished in the top-three at the meet in each of the last seven seasons after placing runner-up in 2019.
 
Men’s Preview
The Huskers begin the season ranked seventh in the USTFCCCA Midwest Region rankings, earning their highest preseason ranking since joining the Big Ten.
 
The 2021 team features 13 returners and one newcomer. The Huskers return a pair of letterwinners Dais Malebana and Ryan Martins from the shortened 2020 season. Malebana finished 19^th with a time of 24:33.8 in his first appearance at the Big Ten Championships and Martins covered the course in 24:38.6 to place 22^nd to help the Big Red finish fifth in the team standings.
 
Bailey Timmons and Mark Freyhof are back for the Huskers are posting top-50 finishes at the Big Ten Championships last season while Adam Christopher, Sadio Fenner, Jerry Jorgenson and Erik Snell also ran last season.
 
Women’s Preview
Nebraska opens the campaign at No. 14 in the Midwest Region rankings. This is the second consecutive season the Husker women have been ranked in the preseason and the third preseason ranking since 2011.
 
This year’s squad includes 15 returners and seven newcomers. Erika Freyhof returns after earning first-team All-Big Ten honors and qualifying for the NCAA Championships last season. Freyhof had the best individual result at the Big Ten Championships by a Nebraska female runner with a sixth-place finish. The Hamilton, Mich., native finished 86^th overall in her first NCAA Championship meet appearance to post Nebraska’s best finish on the women’s side since 2008.
 
The Huskers had eight other returners compete in last season’s Big Ten Championships with Grace Pagone, Brynna McQuillen, Taya Skelton, Maret Elgren, Audrey Freyhof, Abby Volkmer, Katelyn Mullinax and Marissa Kraus all set to run this fall for Nebraska.
 
Meet Information
Host: Augustana University
Date: Friday, September 3
Course: Yankton Trail Park (3901 S Minnesota Ave)
Course Map: 5K & Four-Mile Map
Starting Times: Women – 8:30 p.m. (5K) | Men – 9 p.m. (Four-Mile)
Timing & Results: Unofficial results will be posted at http://results.dakotatiming.com.