Hoosiers travel to Oregon for Bill Dellinger Invitational Friday

It had to come some time or another.\nThis weekend's meet will be the first real test for the No. 26 IU women's cross country team this year. The Hoosiers will compete at the Bill Dellinger Invitational at the University of Oregon Friday against some of the top teams in the nation. \n"I think we're as good as a lot of the teams that are coming," IU coach Judy Wilson said. "If we can go out and run well, we might be one of the top teams in the race."\nWith five ranked teams participating in the meet including top ten teams No. 5 Duke University, No. 6 Brigham Young University and No. 8 Arkansas University, the IU women's cross country team is excited to see how they will perform, senior Jessica Gall said.\n"It will help us judge how we're doing right now at this point in the season though it's still early," Gall said.\nAfter a week off from three straight weekend meets, the Hoosiers travel out of state for the first time this season. Wilson said the week off will benefit the team because it's hard for some runners to race in meets four weeks in a row.\n"With the week off, we were able to focus and recharge," Gall said.\nThis will also be the first meet of the year in which the team will run 6K instead of 5K, though most runners shouldn't have trouble adjusting to the distance, Wilson said. Because the course does not have as many hills as past meets, she said the team is looking for some fast times this weekend.\nThe Hoosiers are coming off their first scored meet of the season. Sept. 15, the team finished first in the Indiana Intercollegiates with a score of 38 points and won the invitational for the fourth time in a row. The following week, the coaches' poll named IU the No. 26 team in the country after having been previously ranked No. 29.\nWhile the Hoosiers intend to compete to the best of their abilities, the team will be running without freshman Kelly Lemcke, who is sidelined with a sprained ankle. Lemcke finished 15th with a time of 18:38.3 at the Indiana Intercollegiates.\n"We're just going to be looking for a good competitive effort Friday," Wilson said. "I don't know who the other teams are going to run, but I think we're definitely capable of placing in the top three teams"