IU builds toward Big Ten Championships

In most collegiate sports, the regular season is a warm up for postseason play. This especially applies to the IU men’s and women’s cross country teams, where the entire season culminates in the Big Ten and NCAA Championships.\nThis year, the Big Ten Championships for both Hoosier squads will be at 11 a.m. Oct. 28 in Columbus, Ohio. The women’s race will be six kilometers and the men’s race will be 10 kilometers.\nIU coach Ron Helmer said he is unsure what will happen come late-October at this point in the season. \n“It is hard to say how we’ll do, and I don’t know what to expect,” Helmer said. \nWhen asked to predict where IU would finish in the Big Ten Championships, Helmer expressed modest expectations.\n“I suspect we’ll end up doing well, but we have a lot of work to do,” Helmer said. “There will be many good teams there, and we may not be better than sixth or seventh, but it is too early to tell.”\nAfter the Big Ten Championships, the Hoosiers will host the NCAA Great Lakes Regional Championships Nov. 10. \nElimination rounds begin after the regional round, and only two teams from each of the \nseven regions get to run at the NCAA Championships as well as several individual runners. Fortunately for the Hoosiers, if they are one of these teams their quest will take them to a familiar place not too far away. Terre Haute, Ind., will host the championships Monday, Nov. 19, at a venue IU is familiar with and will compete at during the Pre-Nationals meet Oct. 13. \nLast year on the men’s side, the Hoosiers placed sixth in both the Big Ten and Regional Championships and failed to qualify for the NCAA Championships, but sophomore Jordan Kyle represented IU as an individual and placed 33rd, garnering an All-American honor.\nKyle returns to the Hoosiers this year and is very excited about the team’s prospects in the Big Ten Championships. \n“The team is developing and I think we can surprise a lot of people,” Kyle said. “Everyone seems to be racing well, so I think we can have a really good showing there.”\nWith six of their top seven runners back from last year, the Hoosiers hope to place better than last season and will be very disappointed if they place sixth in postseason play again. \nOn the women’s side, IU placed seventh last year in both the Big Ten and the Regional Championships. Former Hoosiers Jessica Gall and Lindsay Hattendorf represented the team at the NCAA Championships. With Gall and Hattendorf graduated and with only one returning runner from last season, many unknowns surround this year’s squad.\nNewcomers like sophomore Sarah Pease will look to run well in the six-kilometer Big Ten Championships course.\n“We don’t run six (kilometers) often,” Pease said. “ I’d like to be a personal best in the race though.”\nPease was also unable to guarantee a specific placing for herself. \n“I will see where I am at, and hopefully, I am right were I should be at by then (to finish well),” she said.