IU cross-country closed out its regular season Friday at home at the Hoosier Invitational.
IU competed against Indiana State, Oakland and IU-Purdue University Columbus. While the meet wasn’t scored, IU led with first place finishes on both the men’s and women’s sides.
Freshman Cooper Williams finished first for the men and was followed by a second-place finish by senior Carl Smith and a fourth-place finish by sophomore Kyle Burks. Overall, the men’s team had six runners finish in the top ten. Indiana State had two in the top ten.
IU Freshman Stacy Morozov placed first for the women, and senior Olivia Hippensteel and sophomore Alex Warzyniak rounded out the top three. IU took the first eight places.
IU coach Ron Helmer said he was very impressed with his teams’ performances.
“I really liked the effort everyone put forward even though it was a low-key meet,” Helmer said. “They competed hard and gave good effort, and when players can do that consistently then we’ll get where we need to be.”
Helmer said he was very impressed with freshman Katherine Free’s performance and said he thinks she will be an option for next week’s race, the Great Lakes Regional Championships.
Overall, the performances by the younger runners at the invitational indicated to Helmer that they will be significant contributors to the team in the future, Helmer said.
“We wanted all of our young kids to put a cap on our season, and I thought they did a really good job of giving their best,” Helmer said.
This was the last race before the championship meets in the next two weeks. The Great Lakes Regional Championships and the NCAA Championships will be next for the Hoosiers, and Helmer said he thinks this team is in good shape going into the races.
“It’s all about giving effort and getting ready to race,” he said. “We’ve done enough to prepare for this point, and we'll be ready for the next meets ahead.”
