IU welcomes back team depth after back-to-back NCAA berths

IU women's cross country coach Judy Wilson has plenty of reasons to be enthusiastic about her team's chances for success this season. After posting back-to-back NCAA Championship appearances the past two seasons, their first since 1989 and 1990, Wilson and her team of runners are back and hoping to make the event for the third consecutive year. \n"Overall, I see a big difference from last fall in where some of the girls are with their training," Wilson said. "They are in great shape right now."\nStill, Wilson is being cautiously optimistic, citing the nagging injuries that plagued senior Larra Overton and junior Lindsay Hattendorf last year as reason for her and her runners not to get ahead of themselves. \n"I have a lot of girls who work hard during the workouts. My job so far has been to pull back on the reigns and keep people in check," Wilson said.\nOne of the main elements of the Hoosiers' two-year nationals success streak was Mindy Peterson, a senior who is coming off a junior year in which she finished 46th overall in a time of 20 minutes, 51.6 seconds to gain All-American status at the NCAA Championships at Northern Iowa University. \nPeterson said the team is excited to get the season under way and that squad members have high expectations for themselves.\n"Our goal this year, as in any other year, is to make it to mid-November and peak," Peterson said.\nLast year, the team had a very strong season, posting a second consecutive fourth-place finish in the Great Lakes Region, which is arguably one of the strongest regions in the country, with teams including Notre Dame, Marquette and Michigan. At the NCAA Championships, IU finished 27th.\nBesides front-runner Peterson, junior Kelly Siefker and sophomore Kristin Whitezell hope to ensure the Hoosiers will be a competitive squad. The team also welcomes back junior Jessica Gall, who sat out last year. Siefker looks to have a strong year after going from 247th place in the 2002 NCAA meet to 137th in the 2003 meet. She hopes to make the same sort of strong improvement this year. \n"I hope to definitely be in the top 100, but top 80 would be awesome. So I guess that's what I'm shooting for," Siefker said.\nWhitezell is also looking forward to a strong season now that she has some experience at nationals and one year under her belt. \n"Your first year of running collegiately is real important," Whitezell said. "You learn to help the team a little more and be a leader. After being in a national race, you get more confident and you feel like you belong."\nAs far as the conference is concerned, the Hoosiers, as always, point to the Big Ten Championships as an important meet on the schedule. Many Big Ten teams found themselves graduating large senior classes last year, while IU only graduated four. \n"A goal of ours is definitely to try and win the Big Ten," Wilson said.\nThe Hoosiers welcome three new freshman runners to the squad this year. Lauren Keefe hails from Downers Grove, Ill., Nikki Peterson makes her home in Riverton, N.Y., and Bloomington South's own Maura Ratcliff rounds out the freshman class. \nThe Hoosiers start their 2004 campaign at home Sept. 3 with the Indiana Open. \n-- Contact staff writers Ryan Corazza and Andy Romey at rcorazza@indiana.edu and aromey@indiana.edu.