October 8, 2006

Inter-squad Meet Turns Competitive 

Season Update: Dana’s men’s and women’s cross country teams competed in an inter-squad meet at the Homecoming Invitational Oct. 7. A strong group of alumni runners came back to defend their title against the Dana men.

Men give alumni run for their money: A fit group of alumni runners came back to dual the Dana men’s team at the Homecoming Invitational. Senior John Kaup (4th Yr, Grand Island, NE) placed 2nd overall with a 28:04. Freshman Cory Logsdon (1st Yr, Fort Calhoun, NE) took 40 seconds off his previous course best, placing 4th overall with a 29:14. Junior Eric Bane (3rd Yr, Oakland, IA) took 7th overall with a 30:14. Freshman Andrew Palmblade (1st Yr, Hastings, NE) was Dana’s fourth runner, placing 8th overall with a 30:54. Two freshmen battled in the final 100 meters for 8th and 9th overall, with Kevin Bane (1st Yr, Oakland, IA) edging out Tim Kruger (1st Yr, Bellevue, NE/East) with times of 31:47 and 31:49, respectively. Senior Greg Rickenbacher (4th Yr, Tacoma, WA) took nearly one and a half minutes off his previous Dana time, running to a 10th place finish in 33:15. Sophomore Kiel Montgomery (2nd Yr, Indianola, IA), doing double duties as a soccer player, finished in 13th with a time of 36:00. Freshman and Blair native Tyler Petersen (1st Yr, Blair, NE) sat out the meet to heal a sore knee.

Women win dual as expected: The women’s team ran the race they needed to in order to beat the Dana men’s squad in the team challenge. Freshman Rachel Ness (1st Yr, Seward, NE), who has came on strong in the past two weeks, was Dana’s first runner, placing 2nd overall with a 22:48. Junior Jen Anderson (3rd Yr, Lincoln, NE), was close behind, finishing 3rd overall in 23:14. Sophomore Amy Jackman (2nd Yr, Seward, NE) ran to a 5th place finish in 23:30. Freshman Chelsea Fibranz (1st Yr, McPherson, KS) led fellow freshman Christine Bailey (1st Yr, Omaha/Burke) to 6th and 7th place finishes to seal the victory for the women’s team.

Weekly Quote from the coach: “It is always great to see alumni runners come back to their alma mater…even better when some of them are in shape,” Head Coach Derek Fey said. “This was a great opportunity for both teams to take a mental break from racing and just go out and have fun. If anything they enjoyed being done with the course for a month.”

For more information, contact:
Shad Beam, sports information director, 402-426-7389, sbeam@dana.edu
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Scott Guzinski, assistant sports information director 402-426-7949, sguzinsk@dana.edu