IU cross country faces 1st big test of season

After warm up meets with no implications on postseason play, the Hoosiers now head to the Roy Griak Invitational in Minneapolis, and possible postseason berths are on the line. While every team goes to the Big Ten Championships and Regional Championships, a good showing in this tournament will strengthen IU’s chances of sending individual runners to the national championship if the team does not finish well as a whole at regionals. \nIU coach Ron Helmer is not taking this added incentive lightly, even though he hopes to approach this meet like any other one.\n“There is obviously a different sense of urgency,” Helmer said. “Still, it hasn’t changed our approach to training as we will perform against the very best competition (this weekend).”\nFor the men’s team, competition begins at 12:10 p.m. Saturday and the course will be eight \nkilometers long. \nIU sophomore Jordan Kyle, who has won IU’s first two preseason meets against limited competition, hopes for another strong run in this meet.\n“The competition is superior to the last two races, so winning might be a bit optimistic but a top five (finish) would be good,” Kyle said. “Since the previous races were a warm-up and this meet is one of the bigger deals of the season, we must show more professionalism and run at our best.”\nThe women’s race will start 45 minutes after the men’s race at 12:55 p.m. and will be six kilometers long. \nSince the competition is so fierce, IU sophomore Sarah Pease, who has lead the team with two top-10 finishes this year, would not predict where she might finish this race.\n“We’ve raced hard so far as a team,” Pease said. “Hopefully, it will be my best race of the season.” \nHelmer also said the fact that this meet is IU’s farthest from home this season will have no effect on how the team runs.\n“It will be a relatively painless trip,” Helmer said. “Traveling is part of college athletics so the travel distance is no big deal and we will approach this race as just another meet.”