Indiana’s cross country team competed in the Arturo Barrio Invitational on Oct. 13 in College Station, Texas. Hosted by Texas A&M at Watts Cross Country Course, the Hoosiers competed against 39 teams on the men’s side and 42 on the women’s side, the largest field they’ve seen this season.
The invitational concluded the Hoosiers’ regular season and was their final test before the upcoming Big Ten Championships.
“Each meet prepares us a little bit better for the Big Ten,” Indiana head coach Eric Heins said. “This one specifically is a large field and it’s a great cross country course.”
The men placed second in the 8k race, scoring 113 points and falling just short of Tulane University, who took the title with 103 points. The women placed 16th in the 9k race with 436 points. Utah Valley University won with 97 points, followed by University of California, Los Angeles with 188.
Junior Camden Marshall led the men’s team with a 12th place finish and a time of 23:35.0, a personal best by 25.6 seconds. He was followed by graduate student Austin Haskett, who finished 13th with a personal best time of 23:38.9 and sophomore Abe Eckman, who placed 18th with another personal best of 23:44.4.
Junior Mariah Wehrle led the women’s team, finishing 63rd with a time of 20:50.1. Junior Phoebe Bates was 72nd, completing the course in 20:55.5. Freshman Lily Myers and sophomore Tori Schmidt finished 100th and 101st with personal best times of 21:09.2 and 21:09.4, respectively.
The Hoosiers came away from the invitational with 14 personal best times.
Heins feels the team can put itself in good standing by working with one another and finding a strong position as soon as possible.
“Really the main takeaway for both men’s and women’s teams is to work together,” Heins said. “Get into a good position early on into the race and then hold that position.”
In his first season at Indiana, Heins’ priorities involve keeping up the success forged by former head coach Ron Helmer, who retired after 16 years of leading the program.
“They have been very well-coached with a fantastic coach in Coach Helmer, so I don’t necessarily know if I’ve had any impact in terms of improving their performance. But I just think we’ve continued on the trajectory they’ve been on,” Heins said.
Last year, the men placed 4th and the women 5th in the Big Ten Championships. Factoring in the changes in the roster and coaching staff, Heins’ focus is on maintaining the level the team reached.
“Our goal all along was to be as good as we were last year,” Heins said. “We lost some to graduation and with the coaching change, if we could be as good as we were last year with this group, I think that is the biggest goal for us.”
