Sophomore steps up from first season

As the Hoosiers prepared for last year's regional meet, they received some bad news. Then-sophomore Amanda Bell would not be able to run in that meet because of injury. \nCoach Judy Bogenschutz had a decision to make: Who would she send to run in Bell's spot? \nBogenschutz called on then freshman Becky Obrecht to run the biggest race of her life.\n"I was excited because I hadn't raced for a while. It was a big race. I was glad that coach had the confidence in me to run that race," Obrecht said.\nObrecht hadn't run a 6K race all season. This was going to be her first race in five weeks. Obrecht stepped in and ran a good race, placing 5th on the squad and 80th overall.\n"I didn't feel much pressure on me, because I was a late addition, but I knew that coach had called on me for a reason. I didn't want to go there, run and just have a good time. I was definitely trying to score," Obrecht said.\nBogenschutz said she was pleased with Obrecht's performance.\n"Becky had a very solid race at the regional meet last season where she finished in our top five. She has run well this summer. I think she is going to surprise some people. We look to her to add depth to our squad," Bogenschutz said.\nObrecht said the team's depth was its biggest asset.\n"We don't just have 20 girls. We have 20 girls that train very hard every day. We're all shooting for the same goal."\nObrecht stressed that team consistency will be big this year.\n"We want to go to nationals and run well. But we need to be more consistent throughout the whole season, not just the big races at the end of the season."\nObrecht's summer training has already paid off. She placed fifth overall at the Indiana Open last Friday. Obrecht looks to run in more races this season as she only competed in four events last season.\n"I want to be more consistent and improve my times. I want to put a great effort into every race."\nSophomore Audrey Giesler said she sees improvement from Obrecht.\n"She has been very dedicated and focused so far this season. She has come off a summer of good training. She is very encouraging to everyone and keeps us focused," Giesler said.\nNext MEET\nOpponent: Michigan State\nWhen: 7:30 p.m. Thursday\nWhere: East Lansing, Mich.