Despite a humid and muddy environment, the Indiana Intercollegiate Meet went on. The Hoosiers pushed through and, in the end, won both the men’s and women’s races.
After an hour delay due to rain and lightning, the meets were underway, and IU never looked back. The Hoosiers’ men’s and women’s teams both took home first place Friday afternoon after coming off first place finishes in the Indiana University Open.
The women’s team started the day off with a first place finish. Led by Katherine Receveur and Brenna Calder, it was the Hoosiers’ eighth consecutive Indiana Intercollegiate victory.
Receveur and Calder went back and forth between second and third place throughout the meet, and Receveur ended up with the second place finish overall. Only following Purdue runner Emma Benner, the Hoosiers controlled the race with six runners finishing in the top ten and the team finishing with 23 points.
Once again freshmen Hannah Stoffel stepped up for the Hoosiers and finished sixth in her first official race of the season. She finished second at the Indiana Open two weeks ago when she ran unattached.
This is the seventh season in a row that the women’s team has won their first two meets of the season and will look to make it three in a row at their next meet. The women have never won three in a row to start a season in history, so winning next time out would be a huge milestone for the team.
The men’s race followed shortly after, and the Hoosiers were looking to bounce back after finishing third at this meet last year. After winning three years in a row, the men’s team fell short in last year’s race, and they made sure to win it this time around.
The last race of the day had leftover damage on the course from previous races due to all the mud and rain. Led by senior Matt Schwartzer, the Hoosiers had six runners in the top ten, which was good enough to grab first place. IU managed to have one runner in the top three in Schwartzer, and freshmen Ben Veatch made his mark by grabbing fourth place in his first collegiate meet.
The youth stepped up for the Hoosiers when they were needed most as two freshmen, Veatch and Kyle Mau, both placed in the top ten. Even though seniors make up the core of the group, the young runners are finding ways to contribute to the team.
The Hoosiers will be back at it Oct. 1 when they travel to Kansas for the Rim Rock Farm Classic. Both the men’s and women’s teams are undefeated on the year and will try to go for their third wins on the season.
