Team needs top finish to earn trip to NCAAs

The IU women's cross country team will compete in its regional meet Saturday where they hope to place high enough to receive an invite to the NCAA Championships.\nThe meet, which will be run in Ypsilanti, Mich., on the campus of Eastern Michigan University, is the final meet before NCAAs, and IU coach Judy Wilson said she feels placing high is essential for a NCAA appearance.\n"I would feel good about us going (to the NCAA Championships) if we get fourth, fifth maybe," Wilson said. "A good day would get us third."\nWilson is confident in her team despite its disappointing performance at the Big Ten Championships, and she thinks the team could possibly place four runners in the top 30.\n"There is doubt there, and now we need to just go out there and run," Wilson said.\nSophomore Kristin Whitezell, who made the jump from number four runner to number two runner in the Big Ten Championships race two weekends ago, said she is confident in herself and her team and thinks the whole team has a strong chance of running well.\n"I think we've just spent a lot of time talking about our team goals," Whitezell said. "We set up a race plan for everyone on the team, and we all believe in each other."\nWhitezell also said she thinks it's important that the team runs at its fitness level and stays with top competitors Michigan State, Notre Dame and Michigan all at the same time.\nSophomore Jessica Gall, who recently earned All-Big Ten first team honors at the Big Ten Championships, said the team has focused on its previous performance, and now they know what they've got to do.\n"Every race is a good experience to build on," Gall said. "We can't just take our abilities for granted; we really have to show up on race day."\nThe two top finishing teams and the four top placing individuals who are not members of those two qualifying teams will automatically advance to the NCAA Championships. After the race, the NCAA Division I Cross Country Championship Committee will then select 13 at-large teams and two at-large individuals from the nine regions to advance to the national meet. In the end, 31 teams and 38 individuals will have qualified for the Championships.\nLast year, the Hoosiers were led to a fourth place finish by recent graduate Audrey Geisler and by senior Mindy Peterson, who took 20th place in the race. The team had three runners in the top 30 of last season's Regional race.\nThe team advanced with a fourth place finish last year, granting a second straight NCAA Championship appearance. \n-- Contact staff writer Andy Romey at aromey@indiana.edu.