Three Hoosiers represented the IU cross country program in Terre Haute, Indiana, at the NCAA Championships this weekend.
Sophomore Katherine Receveur capped off her stellar season with an 11th place finish at the meet, and managed to earn an All-America honor for the first time in her young IU career.
Receveur was the only Hoosier on the women’s team who qualified for the meet. She led the Hoosiers in every race this season, and in addition to being named an All-American earned First-Team All-Big Ten honors.
“Katherine was awesome,” IU Coach Ron Helmer said. “It was her first time there, and she beat some really good runners. It was so fun to watch.”
Helmer said he was impressed with Receveur's consistency the most this season, and how she never slowed down or backed out of a race. In the future, he's looking for her performances to motivate the other members of the team.
“To sustain her performances this season is something special,” he said. “The fact that she was able to do it means that we have trained them the right way so they don’t get fatigued. It gives the rest of the team hope that they can have a similar season as Katherine’s."
Seniors Jason Crist and Matt Schwartzer represented IU in the men's 10k race. Crist finished 38th and earned All-America honors while Schwartzer finished 46th, just outside the All-America honors qualification.
“The guys ran really well,” Helmer said. “It’s a challenge to run as hard as they did at the regional meet, and then come back out a week later and put up similar performances.”
Schwartzer did receive All-Big Ten honors in his final season as a Hoosier, while Crist closed out his career with four All-Big Ten honors and a Big Ten Athlete of the Week nod this season.
“I’m proud of the three who competed this weekend,” Helmer said, “and I thought they did a really good job of representing us the right way.”
