No. 27 Hoosiers travel to Notre Dame for invite

For the last month there have been strong expectations from the women's cross country team. Apparently, the voters for the FinishLynx NCAA Women's Cross Country Poll are starting to listen. Earlier this week, the Hoosiers were ranked for the first time since 1990, as they moved to No. 27 in the nation after a strong showing and a fifth-place finish at the Roy Griak Invitational last week. \nMembers of the team said they were not surprised by the ranking. \n"You can tell from work-outs and the few smaller races that we've had so far that we're capable of competing at the national level," Junior Audrey Giesler said. "We just needed a bigger meet to start proving that to other people."\nIf the Hoosiers are looking to improve on that ranking they are going to have to keep pace this weekend with two of the top three teams in the nation. The Hoosiers face the No. 2 Stanford Cardinal and the No. 3 Notre Dame Fighting Irish at the Notre Dame Invitational today.\nThe Hoosiers finished 8th overall out of 17 teams last year at the same event. But Giesler said this year the team is ready for the level of competition. \n"I'm very optimistic about (today)," she said. "Training has been going well for everyone, and it will be exciting to see how closely we can finish to some of the top ranked teams like Stanford and Notre Dame."\nThe Hoosiers last competed Sept. 28 at the Roy Griak Invitational in Minneapolis, Minn. The team finished in fifth place, but behind three top 10 teams. That invitational was a 6K race, but today's race will be 5K. The Hoosiers competed in a 5K race last at the Indiana Intercollegiates Sept. 20, where they finished in second.\nThe Hoosiers said they are hoping the course conditions at Notre Dame will lead to new personal bests for the team. Junior Becky Obrecht said the flat track along with the solid competition could ultimately help out the Hoosiers. \n"Notre Dame's course is flat and fast, so I think everyone is looking forward to a chance to run some personal bests," Obrecht said. "Also, the competition will be great, and I think going into the meet with a national ranking will give us confidence to know we can hold our own and run with anyone."\nSophomore Mindy Peterson said she thinks the time is now for the Hoosiers to show the rest of the nation what they're made of. \n"All of the girls are excited about these meets and we are ready to prove what we can do," Peterson said. "I think that this weekend is a key weekend for us and if we beat some ranked teams, that will help not only our confidence, but also our chances for a bid to nationals at the end of the year"