Hoosiers off the pace again in Notre Dame Invitational

The IU women's cross country team said that after racing for three consecutive weeks, it will need the two weeks of rest it has coming before its next meet. \nThe effects of their brutal schedule were evident once again as the Hoosiers finished 16th out of 24 teams Friday at the Notre Dame Invitational.\nJunior Jessica Gall led IU for the second straight week with a time of 17:45, but was well off the winning pace of 16:36, run by Notre Dame's Stephanie Madia. Madia lacked a supporting cast, though, as Illinois and Michigan finished ahead of the Fighting Irish. The Wolverines took home first place.\n"It's going to be nice to have a two-week break here. We just need to refocus," Gall said. "We have a bunch of really capable, talented girls and we know we are going to be there in the end, and it's the end of the season that matters more than the beginning."\nBy taking the next few weeks to rest and train, the Hoosiers look to prepare themselves for the final stretch of the season. \n"We are not where we want to be right now," IU head coach Judy Wilson said. "We still have a couple of weeks before the pre-NCAA meet. We just need to regroup and run at our fitness level."\nThe Hoosiers will try to run at the fitness level that helped them win the Indiana Intercollegiate Championship earlier this season. \nOn Friday, junior Lindsay Hattendorf and senior Larra Overton finished second and third, respectively, for the team. Hattendorf ran 37 seconds faster than on IU's home course and Overton ran 22 seconds faster. While their times decreased, it was not quite the drop the Hoosiers had anticipated. Some runners, such as freshman Wendi Robinson and senior Kelly Siefker, who finished fourth and sixth for the team, were even slower than at home.\n"I think in general we should have run faster than we did at the Intercollegiates, but I think racing three weekends in a row definitely took its toll, and I think that the slower times proved that we are just a little tired from trying to compete every weekend," Overton said.\nThe Hoosiers will be back in action next when they run in the pre-NCAA meet Oct. 15 in Terre Haute.