Women Place Second at Augustana Twilight; Men Finish Sixth

The Nebraska cross country team began its season at the Augustana Twilight on Friday night at Yankton Trail Park in Sioux Falls, S.D.

Zachary Van Brocklin led the men’s squad with a 19^th-place finish with a time of 20:21.76. Jack Ehlert placed 25^th (20:34.62), followed by Jerry Jorgenson in 45^th (20:50.97) and Brian Beach in 47^th (20:55.36). Ryan Eastman rounded out the scoring for the Huskers with a time of 21:04.52 to finish in 56^th place. South Dakota State took the men’s title with 29 points while Nebraska finished sixth with 172 points.

“The men had a tough night to be honest, but I thought Zach and Jack both ran really well for us tonight,” said head coach Matt Wackerly. “We look to build on this performance tonight and look stronger at our home meet in two weeks.”

The Nebraska women’s team placed second in the team standings with 83 points and had two top-ten finishes with Taya Skelton placing fifth (18:36.17) and Hannah Godwin finishing sixth (18:37.37). Lindsey Blehm was the next Husker to cross the finish line with a time of 18:47.92 to place 12^th. Elizabeth Robertson covered the course in 19:13.37 to finish 34^th, followed by Jacquelyn Abanses in 36^th place with a time of 19:16.78.

“Our women ran well tonight, but I thought we were a little too aggressive early,” added Wackerly. “Taya put together a nice race and Hannah ran a very poised race while making her collegiate debut.”

The Huskers will return to action on Saturday, Sept. 18 when they host the 31^st annual Woody Greeno/Jay Dirksen Invite at the Mahoney Golf Course in Lincoln.