Top runners sitting Friday, multiple freshmen to race

IU Coach Rod Helmer’s team still won’t be completely at full strength, but the cross country team expects to pick it up a notch at Friday’s Indiana Intercollegiate.

After sitting the top seven runners for last week’s Indiana Open, all the women will compete in this week’s affair.

The men, though, will sit their top six runners for this competition, according to the roster.

Despite not racing the full team for a second straight week, IU Coach Ron Helmer said the team is taking this race more seriously. Scores and standings are on the line.

“Last week, it was just a matter of get out, get through it and give those youngins a chance to race for the first time and have that experience,” he said. “This week, they are keeping score. And when you keep score, you want to try to win.”

One of those runners who wants experience and the opportunity to run is redshirt freshman Evan Esselink, who will be running in his first official IU race.

“I’m really confident that I could finish top five and help the team win the title,” he said. “Everyone’s been training really well, so I think we could come out on top even though our top guys aren’t racing.”

Helmer said he isn’t concerned about the absence of his top runners on the men’s side. This will give the younger runners a chance to reveal their potential and show what kind of training they have been putting in, he said.

“Whoever we line up is going to race very, very hard,” Helmer said, “And we’re going to hope that’s good enough for us to come out on top in the team standings and at the same time give us a chance to gain experience we need and grow.”

Junior Samantha Ginther said with the group of girls who are running, she is convinced IU will compete well. Ginther said she expects the team’s top seven runners to place in the top 15 overall and achieve a team win.

“We’ve been training all summer, and we’re definitely ready to see what our legs can do,” she said.