Indiana University Athletics
Oct. 29 Weekly Release
10/29/2003 12:00:00 AM | General
Bloomington, Ind.- The No. 19 Indiana men's cross country team and the IU women's cross country team head to East Lansing, Mich. for the 2003 Big Ten Cross Country Championships Sunday, Nov. 2. The Forest Akers East Golf Course will host the event, featuring the women's 6K race at 10:45 a.m. and the men's 8K at 11:30 a.m.
Last Week: Both Indiana teams were idle last weekend.
What Will IU Do For An Encore?: Both Indiana teams are looking to duplicate the success each squad enjoyed at last year's Big Ten meet in West Lafayette.
Indiana was one of two Big Ten programs to record a top four finish in both the men's and women's races at the 2002 league cross country championships Nov. 2 at the Varsity Cross Country Course in West Lafayette. After finishing ninth in 2001, the Hoosier women's team took third, and the men finished fourth for the second straight year.This is Indiana's best finish in the Big Ten women's race since the 1990 team won the title.
From an individual records perspective, both teams had an historical day. For the first time in school history, three IU women's runners earned all-league laurels in the same season. Junior Audrey Giesler ran a career-best 17:49 over 5K to finish sixth, followed by freshman Jessica Gall (11th, career-best 17:58.9) and junior Becky Obrecht (14th, 18:05).
On the men's side, redshirt freshmen John and Sean Jefferson became the first Hoosier rookies since Olympian Bob Kennedy to earn all-league honors in their inaugural campaign. John Jefferson finished the 8K race fourth with a career-best time of 24:07, while Sean was right behind him as usual, taking sixth with a career-best time of 24:13.
The Standard Is Excellence: When Robert Chapman took over the Indiana program in 1998, the Hoosiers had not finished among the top four in Big Ten cross country since 1987. When the Hoosiers step to the starting line in East Lansing on Sunday, they will be gunning for their fourth straight top four finish. Should this occur, it would mark the first time since 1970-73 that IU has had four consecutive top four finishes at the league meet.
History Lessons: This is the fourth time that Michigan State has hosted the Big Ten men's cross country championship, and IU has never finished lower than fifth when the league meet is held in East Lansing. The Hoosiers were fifth in 1993, won the 1980 championship and finished fifth in 1970.
Past Big Ten Performances: Here is a look at how Indiana has fared in the Big Ten since 1998.
Year M W
1998 10th 9th
1999 5th 5th
2000 2nd 7th
2001 4th 9th
2002 4th 3rd
Pre-NCAA Meet Recap: The No. 25 Indiana men's cross country team finished eighth at the Pre-NCAA 8000m meet Saturday afternoon at Byrnes Park/Irv Warren Memorial Golf Course. The Hoosiers placed three runners among the top 50, led by senior Chris Powers' 18th place effort in 23:56.
Indiana men's coach Robert Chapman feels that his team continues to gradually reach its goals.
"I would give Chris an `A" for today, and the rest of the team around a `B' or `C'," Chapman said. "While we still have work to do, this puts us in decent position for an at-large bid to the NCAA Championships (Nov. 24 in Waterloo). But we we still have to run better at Big Tens and regionals to secure that bid.
"Chris was among the top 15 throughout the race and just got caught at the end. It was a fine effort by the fifth year senior."
IU finished ahead of four ranked teams - No. 6 Central Michigan, No. 16 Virginia, No. 23 Portland and No. 27 Texas A&M.
Sean Jefferson was the second Indiana runner and 37th overall at 24:17. Eric Redman was five places behind Jefferson in 24:21, and Chad Andrews was 96th in 24:53. Tom Burns (103rd, 24:58) and Stephen Haas (149th, 25:26) round out the Hoosier lineup.
Five Indiana men's runners competed in the open race. Charlie Koeppen finished 11th in 25:13.7, while Marcus Aguilar (23rd, 25:40.5), Matt Sweetman (40th, 26:04.1), Nick Kruse (41st, 26:04.2) and Nathan Purcell (62nd, 26:39.1) also competed.
The Indiana women's team continue to battle injuries and finished 22nd in the 6000m race.
"We're trying to fill some gaps with people who do not have big meet experience, and they're learning the hard way," Wilson said. "Today, we got out well, but between 1 and 2K, things fell apart early.Audrey Giesler (28th, 21:07) ran well and Kelly Siefker (108th, 22:11) was okay."
Giesler and Siefker were the Hoosiers' first and third finishers, respectively. Mindy Peterson was second for the team and 93rd overall (22:01), followed by Siefker. Julie Shields (22:57), Kristin Whitezell (23:02) and Allison Miller (23:03) round out the Hoosier lineup.
Heidi Crowley turned in a personal-best in the women's open 6000m race, taking 37th in 22:48.9.
Hoosiers Sweep Intercollegiates: When the Indiana men's and women's cross country programs swept the team titles at the Indiana Intercollegiates on Sept. 19, it marked the first time since 1988 that both Hoosier squads won the championship in the same season. The IU men took the top five places and seven of the top 10 to finish with a perfect 15 points en route to a third straight Indiana Intercollegiates championship, while the women captured their first intercollegiates team title since 1988.
Hoosiers On The Web: For the latest information on Indiana cross country, please refer to the official Indiana athletics' website, iuhoosiers.com.
National Polls: Here is a look at the most recent national polls
Oct. 21 Apple Raceberry Jam Men's National Poll
1. Stanford
2 Wisconsin
3 Iona
4 Colorado
5 Northern Arizona
6 Michigan
7 Ohio State
8 Arkansas
9 Air Force
10 Colorado State
11 Villanova
12 BYU
13 Georgetown
14 Arizona
15 Arizona State
16 Cal Poly
17 N.C. State
18 Oregon
19 Indiana
20 Providence
21 Georgia
22 Central Michigan
23 Florida State
24 Notre Dame
25 Texas A&M
26 Miami (Ohio)
27 Washington
28 Kansas
29 William&Mary
30 Iowa
Oct. 21 Apple Raceberry Jam Women's National Poll
1 Stanford
2 BYU
3 N.C. State
4 Arizona State
5 North Carolina
6 Michigan State
7 Notre Dame
8 Providence
9 Colorado
10 Michigan
11 Northern Arizona
12 Columbia
13 Wake Forest
14 Princeton
15 UCLA
16 Georgetown
17 Missouri
18 Wisconsin
19 Penn State
20 Nebraska
21 Marquette
22 Colorado State
23 UC Santa Barbara
24 Baylor
25 West Virginia
26 Tennessee
27 Boston College
28 Nevada
29 Duke
30 Florida State
IU In The Polls: Here is a breakdown of where the Indiana cross country teams have fared in the polls:
Men Women
PS 17 18
Sept. 22 16 21
Sept. 30 19 32
Oct. 7 24 34
Oct. 14 25 ---
Did You Know?
• Judy Wilson coached Bloomington South to its first-ever Indiana state meet appearance and also coached the boys' 400m state champion.
• In less than two years under Wilson, Indiana's Becky Obrecht (34:32) and Monica Hostetler (34:47) and Connecticut's Danyelle Wood (34:09) and Allison Ciosek (34:48) have each completed the 10K in less than 35 minutes.
• Indiana's 2002 cross country team was one of the most improved teams in the nation, finishing 14th overall and having five of its top seven runners turn in personal-best performances.
• Indiana was one of only three schools (along with Arkansas and Texas) to have a men's track and field athlete qualify for the 2003 Outdoor NCAA's in each of the 1,500m, 3,000m steeplechase and 5,000m events.
• With three distance qualifiers for the 2003 Outdoor NCAAs, Indiana was tied for the fourth-most nationally, trailing only Arkansas, Stanford, and Northern Arizona.
• In 2002, Indiana was one of only four programs in the nation (with Colorado, Arkansas, and Stanford) to have four separate athletes post times of 14:10 or better for 5,000m - and all four were either freshman or sophomores in eligibility.
2003 Women's Scoring
Aug. 29 IU Open
2. Audrey Giesler, 18:13.67
3. Lindsay Hattendorf, 18:42.66
4. Mindy Peterson, 18:45.19
5. Kristen Whitezell, 19:00.61
8. Julie Shields, 19:24.40
Sept. 19 Indiana Intercollegiates
1. Audrey Giesler, 17:47
5. Lindsay Hattendorf, 18:21
6. Mindy Peterson, 18:22
10. Kristin Whitezell, 18:33
14. Julie Shields, 18:38
Sept. 27 Roy Griak Invite
29. Audrey Giesler, 21:40
74. Mindy Peterson, 22:15
87. Kristin Whitezell, 22:24
103. Kelly Siefker, 22:38
120. Julie Shields, 22:49
Oct. 4 ISU Invite `B' Team
11. Julie Shields, 22:40
21. Jaime Higginbotham, 23:09.84
30. Heidi Crowley, 23:27.85
40. Amber Miller, 23:41
72. Sarah Meyer, 24:29.51
Oct. 10 Auburn Invite
5. Audrey Giesler, 17:50.6
11. Mindy Peterson, 18:34.52
26. Kristin Whitezell, 18:51.41
29. Kelly Siefker, 18:56.72
46. Julie Shields, 19:23.15
Oct. 18 Pre-NCAAs
28. Audrey Giesler, 21:07
93. Mindy Peterson, 22:01
108. Kelly Siefker, 22:11
158. Julie Shields, 22:57
164. Kristen Whitezell, 23:02
2003 Men's Scoring
Aug. 29 IU Open
3. Marcus Aguilar, 23:19.84
9. Matt Sweetman, 23:48.97
10. Nick Kruse, 23:49.97
16. Kurtis George, 24:13.87
30. Jeff Zeha, 25:15.67
Sept. 19 Indiana Intercollegiates
1. Chad Andrews, 24:52.2
1. Chris Powers, 24:52.3
1. Sean Jefferson, 24:52.4
4. Eric Redman, 24:58.5
5. Stephen Haas, 25:00.7
Oct. 4 Murray Keatinge Invitation
5. Sean Jefferson, 24:01
6. Chris Powers, 24:04
18. Eric Redman, 24:35
23. Tom Burns, 24:45.10
35. Chad Andrews, 25:09.40
Oct. 4 ISU Invite
12. Nick Kruse, 25:47
26. Matt Sweetman, 26:34
30. Nathan Purcell, 26:43
48. Jeff Zeha, 27:2
5
Oct. 18 Pre-NCAAs
8. Chris Powers, 23:56
37. Sean Jefferson, 24:17
42. Eric Redman, 24:21
96. Chad Andrews, 24:53
103. Tom Burns, 24:58
