Looking ahead to regional meet

The IU women's cross country team travels Saturday to compete in the NCAA Great Lakes Regional meet on the LaVern Gibson Championship Cross Country Course in Terre Haute.\nTwo weeks ago, the team finished fourth in the Big Ten Championship meet in East Lansing, Mich., edging then-No. 18 ranked Wisconsin by three points. IU finished behind then-No. 6 Michigan State, then-No. 10 Michigan, and then-No. 19 Penn State.\nBecause of this finish, the latest FinishLynx NCAA Division I Women's Cross Country Poll ranked IU No. 33 in the nation.\nIU is led by senior Audrey Giesler, who finished ninth overall in the Big Ten Championship with a six-kilometer time of 21:22.9. Last season at the NCAA Regional Meet in West Lafayette. Giesler finished with a 6K time of 21:46.8.\n"If everyone runs up to her fitness level, we will do well as a team," Giesler said. "I need to focus on responding when the pack makes a move. It's important to keep contact with the top runners."\nIn 2002, IU finished fourth in the NCAA Regional Meet, behind Notre Dame, Michigan and Michigan State. IU earned an at-large bid last season to the NCAA National Championship in Terre Haute as the top two teams in the Great Lakes Region earn an automatic bid to the NCAA National Championship.\nAfter thinking the team could not finish higher than fifth two weeks ago at the Big Ten Championship, IU coach Judy Wilson said she thinks the team can finish fifth at the NCAA Regional Meet.\nDepending on which teams IU beats, Wilson thinks the team can qualify for the NCAA National Championship with an at-large bid. However, the at-large bid selection factors on IU's finish relative to other teams IU has beaten previously this season.\n"If Minnesota makes it, then we've got a win over Minnesota," Wilson said. "If Illinois makes it, we've got a win over Illinois. If Nebraska makes it, we don't have any wins at all."\nSophomore Larra Overton finished fourth in the Big Ten Championship two weeks ago with a 6K time of 22:24.6. Overton, who entered the Big Ten Championship with no prior Big Ten Championship or NCAA Championship experience, said for the team to call the NCAA Regional Meet a success, each runner needs to run a personal best.\n"I need to improve my finish from Big Tens," Overton said. "Although I ran my best time at the Big Ten, places are what really matter in these final meets. We need to pack our girls together and just focus on picking off competitors throughout the race."\nOn the men's side, the No. 11 Hoosiers will compete in their most important meet of the season before nationals. The Regional Championships will showcase many of the top teams in the country including No. 2 Wisconsin and No. 6 Michigan.\nThese two Big Ten rivals of IU will be on the Hoosiers' radar, but they are not the main focus of the meet.\n"We just want to go out there and have a solid race and compete with all the teams," sophomore Eric Redman said. "It would be great to beat Michigan, but we are just looking to have a solid performance before nationals."\nRedman said the Great Lakes Regional is one of the hardest in the country. \nThere are eight different regionals across the country, and 31 teams from each of these regions make it to nationals. \n"I think our region and the mountain region are definitely the two toughest regions in the nation," Redman said. "Six or seven teams will probably make it to nationals from each one."\nIU was fourth at last year's meet, finishing only one point behind third place Central Michigan. In this year's meet, the Hoosiers will be looking for their third top four regional finish in the last four years. \nThe men's race will start at 11 a.m. The women's race begins 12:15 p.m. Both races will be on the LaVern Gibson Championship Cross Country Course at the Wabash Valley Family Sports Center in Terre Haute.\n-- Contact staff writers Steve Slivka and Alex Witteveld at smslivka@indiana.edu and pawittev@indiana.edu.