Hoosiers travel to Ohio for Great Lakes Regional

At the start of this season, IU women's cross country coach Judy Wilson asked for a little luck for her Hoosiers.\nDuring the last month and a half, several injuries have hurt the team's chances to win in multiple meets. With a healthy team going into the Great Lakes Regional Saturday, Wilson is calling on that luck once again to help the team advance to the NCAA Championships.\nThis weekend, IU looks to qualify for the NCAA Championships for the fourth time in five years. In order to qualify for Nationals, the Hoosiers need to finish third and beat Michigan State in the process, Wilson said.\n"We just need to forget about the past races and focus on what we wanted to do at the beginning of the season -- that's to be at the show and be at Nationals," senior Lindsay Hattendorf said. "We have to go out there, and everyone has to run their best and run what they're capable of doing."\nTwo weeks ago, the Hoosiers competed in the Big Ten Championships and finished a disappointing seventh place, partially due to a sickness sophomore Stephanie Greer contracted the day before the race. Prior to racing in the Big Ten Championships, IU finished 15th at the NCAA Pre-Nationals Oct. 14, which Wilson did not see as a disappointment.\n"We didn't do as well as we thought we would in Pre-Nationals. We didn't have our fourth and fifth runners," Wilson said. "At the Big Tens, we had them back there, and it just so happens that Steph Greer was sick the day before and dropped out. We feel like we're more at full strength this week than we have been in the last two."\nThe race will be at Bowling Green State University, which has a relatively flat course. Hattendorf said this will give the Hoosiers, whose home course is hilly, a definite advantage. She said a flatter course will be easier to run on and will enable faster times.\nIf the Hoosiers do not qualify as a team, Wilson said she is hoping for three of IU's runners to make the NCAA Championships individually. If Hattendorf and senior Jessica Gall do reach the NCAA Championships, they will be the first two Hoosiers ever to compete in the race for each of their four years at IU.\nWhile Wilson expects Hattendorf and Gall to reach the NCAA Championships, she said IU's third through fifth runners will be key to a solid team performance.\n"I think Lindsay and Wendi (Robinson) haven't run the race that they can run yet," Wilson said. "If they do that at Regionals, (and) Kellee Lemcke and Steph can finish in the top 40, we're going to be OK."\nThough reaching their goal of qualifying for the NCAA Championships looks tough on paper, Hattendorf said not to count out the Hoosiers Saturday.\n"I always think every year we are capable of qualifying," Hattendorf said. "We're definitely capable, if not capable of being a top 15 team in the country."\nIt wouldn't hurt for Michigan State to have a bad race.\n"We need somebody from that team to just bomb," Wilson said.