Pioneers Park

Beautiful Pioneers Park holds a challenging 5,000-meter course that rolls over the tree-covered hills in the 900-acre park. The Huskers co-host the Woody Greeno/Nebraska Invitational each September, featuring more than 30 teams and 1,300 competitors.

The event began in 1990 when Nebraska Wesleyan combined its meet, the Woody Greeno Invitational, with Nebraska’s meet, the Nebraska Invitational, to form what is now the largest cross country event in the state.  Although both university and college competitors run in the same race, divisional champions are determined by each team’s finish within its own division.  In the 2001 meet the Husker men and women ran unattached following a ruling from the Big 12 after the Sept. 11 national tragedy.

In all, Nebraska has captured 11 men’s titles and 15 women’s titles. Most recently, the women and men won the 2009 titles, sweeping the field for the ninth time. In addition, nine Husker athletes have captured 11 individual titles, including Fran ten Bensel, who won three consecutive titles as a Husker in the early 1990s, Anne Shadle, the 2003 winner, Ari Goldstein in 2006 and Lara Crofford most recently in 2009. Shadle also won the 2005 individual championship while running for Reebok. The former Husker standout’s winning time of 20:51.0 ranks as the fastest 6K performance in the history of the Woody Greeno/Nebraska Invitational.

On the men's side, Joe Kirby (1990) and David Iteffa (1991) won the first two titles before Clephas Boor won the individual crown again in 1996. James Bowler would be the next Husker male to win in 2002, followed by David Adams in 2009, who posted the sixth-best 8K mark with a time of 24:29.4.

In 1998 Nebraska hosted the Big 12 Championships at Pioneers Park and in December 2001, the park was the site of the National Junior Olympics Cross Country Championships. Approximately two-dozen meets are run on the Pioneers Park course every year.

Pioneers Park Top-20 Performances (5K) 1990-2001