Team gains national ranking

Men's cross country coach Robert Chapman wants to know how many top teams there are at IU. \n"How many top-15 programs do we have this school?," the coach asked.\nIn any event, his team became one yesterday as the new poll released by the NCAA ranked the Hoosier men as No. 15 in the nation.\n"I'm really proud of these guys," Chapman said. "They've done an amazing job, and everybody has played an integral part. I think since this is the second of the last three seasons we've made it to Nationals and we've spent all three of those seasons ranked in the Top 20 shows that we've got something special." \nAfter an impressive fourth place performance at the Great Lakes Regional where they finished one point behind No. 11 Central Michigan, the men's cross country team enters the NCAA Championships with momentum on their side.\n"I know we have the talent and the work ethic on the team to be elite," freshman John Jefferson said. "It was just going to be a matter of time before that talent came out, and now we are running on all cylinders."\nThe Hoosiers seem on the verge of reaching that elite level. The team does not graduate any seniors this year and has three freshmen in their top five. Also next year, seniors Chad Andrews and Chris Powers will come off their redshirt seasons to help lead the team.\n"We always looked at next year as the big year," Chapman said. "We'll have six guys with All-American potential and ten guys with Nationals experience, and we're not losing any of these guys. Next year we hope to be in the top five."\nThe team has accomplished this feat with the fewest number of scholarships of any cross country team in the top-30. The team's scholarships are used with track and field, which has 12.6. Less than three of those go toward cross country. Most top cross country teams compete with three times that amount.\nChapman said that one of the main reasons for the Hoosiers' success is the dedication of the team. He said every day revolves around running for the team, from their diet and when they can eat to what they do on the weekends.\n"As a group, everyone has bought in to what we are about," Chapman said. "These guys are in season from mid-August through mid-June. This becomes a lifestyle. They can't take anything for granted."\nThe team heads to Terre Haute for the NCAA Championships only nine days after their Regionals. Chapman said the team should be fine with the short amount of rest because they cruised through the first part of the season and their training focuses on strength.\nThe NCAA Championships will be the team's third meet at Terre Haute this season. Freshman Sean Jefferson said earlier this season that he felt the experience of running on the course would pay off and give the team an advantage at Nationals.\n"We have stayed really consistent throughout the year," John Jefferson said. "We are confident that we are really strong right now and looking forward to Nationals."\nChapman said if the team runs the same as it did at Districts, they should be around 14th or 15th place. He said that if everything goes right, they hope to finish in the top ten.\nAnd, for the record, men's cross country is one of only two programs at the school in the top-15.