Late season injuries bedevil Hoosier hopes

The IU men's cross country team entered the season with plans for national prominence, but ended it injured and unsatisfied.\nThe team returned the majority of its core members from 2004's 18th-place finish, including perennial stars Sean and John Jefferson. Also, the 2005 track season saw senior Stephen Haas emerge as a dangerous distance threat, grabbing several All-American awards in both indoor and outdoor track, which gave IU three All-Americans at the start of the short cross country season. Seasoned veterans Eric Redman and Charlie Koeppen were set to complete a top five comprised entirely of fifth-year seniors - a team primed to make a national impression.\nJohn Jefferson said he was convinced of IU's strong potential before the season began.\n"Things really look good for us," the senior All-American said before the season began. "With Sean and I ready to roll, and (Haas) improving, we think we can make a run at a top-10 finish."\nEarly-season meets like the Indiana Intercollegiates and the Loyola Lakefront Invitational were used to give younger members of the team - most of them redshirt freshmen - much-needed experience. While the Jeffersons and Haas took the time to build up strength with 90-mile training weeks, IU's youngsters, including true freshman Tim McLeod and redshirt-freshmen Mark Fruin, Chris Honig and Brian Sullivan took care of the low-key races.\nWhen IU's front-running trio of All-Americans returned to the mix at the Pre-NCAA Invitational, it seemed as if things were beginning to come together as planned. Though the team's eighth-place finish wasn't as high as the members had hoped, it remained encouraging.\n"We just had to get a race under our belts before the championship season starts with Big Tens," said Haas, who finished the race side-by-side with John Jefferson. \nThe 20-day championship portion of the season began at the Big Ten Championships at the University of Minnesota. The meet served as the first time top-ranked Wisconsin raced together as a team. The Badgers dominated, winning the meet just one point short of a perfect score. The one runner to disrupt their perfection was Sean Jefferson, who finished fifth after moving up in the latter stages of the race. \n"I felt great at Big Tens," Sean Jefferson said. "It really showed me that I could run with almost anybody at NCAAs."\nJust before the race, however, two Hoosiers, John Jefferson and Tim McLeod, had their seasons ended early because of injuries. As a result, IU barely qualified for the NCAA Championships, finishing sixth at the Great Lakes Regional meet on its home course - with Hoosier hopes of a top-10 finish effectively dashed. \nAt the NCAA's, John Jefferson raced back and forth across the course's sidelines to cheer his twin brother on in his final cross country race in an IU jersey. With his mother in from Delray Beach, Fla., to watch him compete, Sean Jefferson pulled off his third straight All-American finish, taking 24th with a time of 30:09. After the race, in which the team finished 29th overall, Sean Jefferson reflected on his career and the state of the program.\n"When John and I came here, we wanted to bring IU distance running back to national prominence," he said. "So many Olympians have run for IU that we just hoped to be able to add to that legacy. It's kind of sad finishing cross country, because it's really the only way a runner ever feels like he's part of a team for anything longer than a 10-minute relay race. But at the same time, I'm proud to have gone out on a high note."\nIn the Jeffersons' era, IU qualified as a team for the NCAA cross country meet four straight times, a feat not accomplished at IU since 1959.