Hoosier duo qualifies for nationals race

There's a saying that goes, "You always need to take the positives out of the negatives." This sentiment applied to the IU women's cross country team's performance Saturday.\nThe Hoosiers finished seventh at the Great Lakes Regional Championships in Bowling Green, Ohio, and did not qualify for the NCAA Championships as a team. This marks the second year in a row IU has not qualified.\nHowever, seniors Jessica Gall and Lindsay Hattendorf made history for IU as they became the first two women to qualify for the NCAA Championships all four years they ran at IU.\n"Obviously, it's a disappointment not getting the team there, but having two individuals is a pretty big accomplishment," said IU coach Judy Wilson. "We have a young team that had two sprained ankles, and we just had some things happen that we just couldn't get past."\nIn order to advance to the NCAA Championships, the Hoosiers needed a third-place finish and needed to score better than Michigan State. Neither happened. Michigan State took first place in the meet with 63 points, upsetting favorite Michigan. IU finished with 159 points.\n"To do what (Michigan State) did, they had five girls run really well," Wilson said. "It was a great day for them."\nThough the score did not show a close competition between IU and Michigan State, the two teams were nearly equal through their top three runners. Gall and Hattendorf finished fifth and 10th, respectively, while sophomore Wendi Robinson finished 20th. Michigan State's top three finished second, seventh and 12th. The difference, though, was in the Hoosiers' fourth and fifth competitors.\nMichigan State's fourth and fifth runners finished 17th and 25th, while freshman Kellee Lemcke and sophomore Ashley Sommer finished 53rd and 76th.\n"We just had too big of a gap between our third and fourth (runners)," Wilson said. "We were hoping that we could get in and sneak up in there. The whole team took off hard like I told them to do, and I think if (Lemcke and sophomore Stephanie Greer) hadn't missed training time, they would have been a threat."\nWith the season for the team all but over, Wilson is hoping for Gall and Hattendorf to succeed at Nationals. She said Gall has a strong chance at becoming a three-time All-American, while Hattendorf can make All-American for the first time as a Hoosier.\nThough the Hoosiers will lose Gall and Hattendorf to graduation next year, Wilson said she is looking forward to next season and believes the team will be in good shape during the next couple of years.\n"Besides Jess and Lindsay, we're working with freshmen and sophomores," Wilson said. "I think we have a really good team coming back next year"