Hoosiers Set For 2007 NCAA Cross Country Championships

IU head coach Ron Helmer has led the Hoosiers back to the national meet for the first time in two years.

Hoosiers Set For 2007 NCAA Cross Country Championships

11/17/2007 12:00:00 AM | Cross Country

Nov. 17, 2007

SETTING THE SCENE
For the first time in two years, the Indiana men's cross country team will head to the NCAA Championships, which will be held on the LaVern Gibson Championship Course at the Wabash Valley Family Sports Center in Terre Haute, Ind. on Monday, Nov. 19 at 12 p.m. ET. Monday's race will be broadcast live on CSTV.

LAST TIME OUT
The Indiana men's cross country team had the home course advantage as they hosted the 2007 NCAA Great Lakes Regional Championships on the IU Cross Country Championship Course in Bloomington on Saturday, Nov. 10. The Hoosiers placed fourth overall with 111 points.

Redshirt sophomore Jordan Kyle paced the men's team with a fifth-place finish as he clocked a time of 30:49.51. Kyle was followed by freshman Cole Hardacre, who placed 21st overall with a personal-best time of 31:27.63. Redshirt junior Mark Fruin finished 25th overall with a time of 31:38.50, junior Timothy McLeod placed 26th with a time of 31:41.14, and redshirt junior Brennon Plotner finished 34th overall with a time of 31:48.89.

Freshmen Ben Hubers and Jacob Rich rounded out IU's group of seven as they placed 41st (31:54.76) and 90th (33:13.92) overall, respectively.

THREE EARN ALL-REGION HONORS
Three Hoosiers picked up USTFCCCA All-Region honors after placing among the top-25 in the Nov. 10 race. Jordan Kyle finished fifth with a time of 30:49.51, Cole Hardacre placed 21st overall with a time of 31:27.63, and Mark Fruin crossed te finish line in 25th overall with a time of 31:38.50 to earn the honor.

HOOSIERS RANKED 28TH
The Hoosiers enter Monday's national meet ranked 28th with 38 points in the nation according to this week's United States Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association poll (USTFCCCA). IU had received at least one vote prior to this week's poll.

2006 NCAA CHAMPIONSHIPS RECAP
Jordan Kyle earned his first NCAA All-American honor after placing 33rd in the 2006 NCAA Championships at the LaVern Golf Course in Terre Haute, Ind. on Nov. 20, 2006.

Kyle recorded a time of 31:39.3, earning his first-ever All-America nod. He extended the Hoosiers' streak of competing at the national meet to an eighth consecutive year, the longest in school history.

Kyle became IU's 15th All-American in men's cross country. He was the first IU freshman to earn All-America honors since Bob Kennedy in 1988 and only the third freshman to be an All-American (Jim Spivey and Kennedy in 1978 and 1988, respectively) in program history. Kyle was the third freshman among the field and the first American born freshman to finish.

HOOSIER HISTORY AT NCAA'S
Indiana's trip to the national meet marks its first as a team since 2005. That Hoosier squad placed 29th as a team with Sean Jefferson earning All-America honors for placing 20th overall.

The Hoosiers have won the NCAA Cross Country titles on three occasions, in 1938, 1940 and 1942, and have recorded 21 top-10 finishes since 1938. Its most recent top-10 finish was in 1987 when Scott Williams paced IU with a 20th-place finish to earn All-America honors.