Saturday meet first of the season for cross country squads

Racing a teammate for a win can be a huge boost.\nThat was the position IU sophomore Jordan Kyle found himself in during the Indiana Invitational last Saturday in Bloomington. With the only competition coming in the form of IU men’s cross country team was able to use Saturday’s invitational as a warm-up for season competition. \nKyle and teammate junior Timothy McLeod raced neck and neck to the finish line, with Kyle winning by one second. Kyle’s final time was 26 minutes and three seconds, while McLeod’s was 26 minutes and four seconds. \n“We were trying to push each other,” Kyle said, referring to himself and McLeod. “A lot of times you will be running near someone at the end, so (having someone to compete with) was good motivation.”\nKyle said he was pleased with his performance.\n“It was the beginning of the season, so we have a lot of work to do, and the time was not bad for a first meet.” \nRounding out the top five on the men’s side were IUPUI’s Brad Wheeler, unattached runner Ben Hubers and IU freshman Jacob Rich.\nOn the women’s side, the Hoosiers faced much tougher competition in the form of visiting team Michigan, first-year IU coach Ron Helmer said.\nBall State, IUPUI and one unattached runner also competed on the women’s side.\nSophomore Sarah Pease led the way for IU. Pease crossed the finish line ninth, with a time of 19 minutes and one second, while junior Kristina Trcka, sophomore Jenny Kulow and senior Maura Ratcliff placed 15th, 22nd and 23rd respectively. \nRatcliff said that she was pleased with her time.\n“(The time) was good for a first race,” Ratcliff said. “It was a good effort and not too bad for an intro race.”\nMichigan’s Erin Webster won the race on the women’s side, with a time of 17 minutes and 38 seconds. Helmer said the race was a tough gauge of his teams’ ability, because they didn’t have much competition to grade their performance against. However, Helmer said the meet gave him a good measure of where his teams stand early in the season, and what both the men and women can improve upon as the season continues.\n“The guys had less competition, so there was not much credibility based on what happened today,” Helmer said. “The men can still be a good team, and the women will get better because they want to.”