Cross country team enjoys ranking

When the men's cross country team set their goals for the season, they had no idea they would exceed all their expectations.\nYesterday, coach Robert Chapman was named Big Ten Coach of the Year.\nNow, with this week's rankings placing IU at No. 2 in the Great Lakes Region poll behind Wisconsin, the team could be on its way to its first national meet since 1987.\nThis, coupled with its No. 15 national ranking, the team has solidified its position as a program with strong talent and leadership.\n"At the beginning of the year, we talked about being a top 20 team in the nation," Chapman said. "If we keep progressing like this, we may have to reevaluate that goal to maybe top 10 in the nation."\nThe team's second place finish at the Big Ten Championships in Madison, Wis., last weekend was their highest conference finish in 20 years. By beating No. 16 Penn State by one point, the team was catapulted from No. 24 last week to No. 15 this week. The only team to outrun IU was No. 6 Wisconsin.\nOne of the keys to last weekend's success was that almost all of the runners ran their best times ever. Senior Aaron Gillen, the team's No. 1 runner, said the course was partially responsible for his third place finish in the 8K.\n"It was a very fast course with perfect footing," Gillen said. "Since we were running mainly on the fairways (of a golf course), it was like we were running on carpet."\nGillen attributes the team's recent surge of success to something more than sound running.\n"A lot of (why we are successful is because) we've never had the opportunity before to make it to nationals as a team," he said. "It's neat to see us finally being recognized."\nChapman said the team has been exceeding its goals for two main reasons: the talented younger team members who have "completely bought into the program" and the senior leadership that has set an example for the less-experienced runners.\nThe team is looking to keep their momentum intact for Nov. 11, when they will race at the Great Lakes Regional meet in Ypsilanti, Mich. The meet is the qualifying meet for the NCAA national championships Nov. 20 in Ames, Iowa. The top two teams at the Regional will receive automatic bids to nationals, while the third and fourth place finishers have a chance to gain an at-large bid.\nSophomore Chad Andrews, who finished second on the team and 11th overall this weekend, said the team won't be changing its training much for the upcoming meets. If anything, he said the runners will be taking it a little easier in order to stay injury-free.\n"Our main goal is to do whatever it takes to get to nationals," Andrews said. "I'd like us to be an automatic qualifier"