Men's cross country looks to shake off poor performance

After competeing in the Indiana Open Aug. 31, the men's cross country team hoped to beat several higher nationally ranked teams at the Roy Griak Invitational in Minnesota and prove it belonged with the best in the nation. But much like last season, the Hoosiers struggled at the event.\n"Things didn't go well at all for us this weekend. We thought we could get some key wins over some ranked teams, but we didn't even get one. It was a very disappointing weekend," junior Chad Andrews said.\nThe Hoosiers finished 20th out of 36 teams. The Griak meet was the first opportunity to qualify for an at large bid to the NCAA championships, but IU did not make a favorable first step. This means the team will have to run well this week at the Notre Dame Invite and the Pre Nationals meet to make the national championship.\n"We dug ourselves into a hole with the poor performance at Griak, but I don't think there is any added pressure, because we have been in this situation before" redshirt freshman Tom Burns said.\nLast season the Hoosiers rebounded from its poor performance and had one of there better meets of the season at the Notre Dame Invitational. From there the team finished second in the Big Ten Championships, which helped lead to an at large bid for the NCAA Championship, where they finished 17.\n"After last weekend coach (Robert) Chapman challenged each individual to re-evaluate their commitment to the team. The team that showed up to practice on the Monday after the meet was a different team than the one that got on the plane to go to Minnesota," sophomore Nathan Purcell said. "There was a different look in everyone's eyes. A definite look of determination. The team missed a great opportunity to run fast and beat people at Griak and everyone realizes it."\nThis team has the ability to be successful and one poor performance is not going to shake its confidence, members said.\n"There will always be peaks and valleys in any season in any sport. The team cannot wait to get to Notre Dame this Friday to dominate the meet," Burns said.\nNot every race will go as planned, and this was one of those races. The Hoosiers are not changing their goals for the season because of a bad performance. \n"One bad day does not change the goals for the season. I am 100 percent confident that when it's time to roll, the team will step up and get the job done," Purcell said.