Team travels to Purdue for regionals

The No. 20 women's cross-country team travels to West Lafayette tomorrow to compete in the NCAA Great Lakes Regional 6K meet at Purdue University. The Great Lakes region has four women's teams competing from the Big Ten Conference that are ranked in the top 30 of the The FinishLynx NCAA Women's Cross Country Coaches Association Poll.\nThere are seven teams total competing in the Great Lakes Regional that are ranked in the top 30; No. 5 Notre Dame, No. 12 Michigan, No. 19 Michigan State, No. 20 IU, No. 22 Marquette, No. 26 Toledo, and No. 30 Wisconsin.\nTwo weeks ago on the same Purdue University Varsity Cross Country Course, the Hoosiers finished third, only 11 points behind first place Michigan in the Big Ten Conference Women's Cross Country Championship. The Hoosiers also managed to put four of their top five runners in the individual top 20. Junior Audrey Giesler, freshman Jessica Gall, and junior Becky Obrecht earned first-team Big Ten honors by finishing sixth, 11th, and 14th, respectively.\nIn order to move on to the 2002 NCAA National Women's Cross Country Championships, teams are given bids to the national championship meet based on their performance in the regional meet. Giesler said that considering how well they have run this season and beating some top ranked teams, she thinks that the Hoosiers can finish as low as third place and still secure a bid. But, Giesler also said, "If we take fourth, it could go either way."\nAt the Big Ten Championships, Giesler crossed the finish line with an overall 5K time of 17:49. Giesler said she believes that she will be able to run well again tomorrow. \n"I think that if I keep in mind what I'm trying to accomplish both as an individual and as a member of a team that's trying to qualify for nationals," Giesler said. "The race should take care of itself."\nGall said the team knows going into the Great Lakes Regional Meet that Notre Dame is the favorite since they are ranked No. 5 in the country. Gall added that even though Notre Dame is the favorite, there is a pack fighting to stay up with the Fighting Irish and that includes teams such as IU, Michigan, Michigan State and Wisconsin. \n"On any day any particular team could be on," Gall said. "We just need to put ourselves in position to be competitive with any team."\nHoosier coach Judy Wilson said the Big Ten Championship, the NCAA Great Lakes Regional Meet, and NCAA National Championship are all part of a three-race season. She was pleased with the team's success in the Big Ten Championship, considering they finished third overall. \n"Our goal coming in was to win, but in order to do that, all five runners have to run well," Wilson said. "Unfortunately, some of our runners lost focus midway through."\nObrecht said that this meet is the culmination of what the team has been working towards since August when the team started practicing together. \n"We are in a great position and we are ready to go and don't really need to change a thing heading into the meet," Obrecht said. "We just have to step up to the line, race as a team, and if we run the way we all know we are capable of, then we are good to go."\nThe meet begins at 11:15 a.m. Saturday