The Indiana State men's and women's cross country teams will continue their 2017 campaign as they travel to West Lafayette, Ind., on Friday, September 15 to participate in the Indiana Intercollegiates. The races which will be held at the Purdue University Cross Country Course begin with the women's 6K at 3:30 pm (ET) and continue with the men's 8K at 4:15 pm.
"We left the John McNichols Invitational content with our mental approach to the competition and I thought we executed our races very well," head coach
Kyle Walsh said. "The season opener is always a good rust buster and I was proud of the way the men and women represented the Sycamores in honor of our legendary Coach McNichols."
The men's race will feature three Division I programs as the Sycamores check in at No. 12 in the latest Great Lakes Region rankings released on September 11. Indiana State took second at the John McNichols Invitational behind the strength of three runners who finished in the Top 10. While ISU fell to nationally-ranked Illinois, they were able to top regionally ranked Louisville by three points on their home course. Sophomore
Seth Cousins led the way with a time of 25:45.2 and a sixth place finish while junior
Akis Medrano posted a time of 25:46.0 which was good enough for seventh. In tenth place was junior
Quentin Pierce whose time of 25:59.4 just edged sophomore
Ryan Cash who finished 13th with a time of 26:19.2.
"The men got some great experience battling Top 30 Illinois coming off a national qualifying season and beat a historically strong Louisville program," Walsh said. "This was a great step forward for the men.
Seth Cousins and
Akis Medrano lead us with their best season debuts ever. Both moved at different times through the race but were able to close the final straightaway within a second of each other.
Quentin Pierce had one of the fastest last miles of the race flying by competitors over the final portions of the race and that will be huge for his momentum.
Ryan Cash really pressed with the top group early and will be able to hold that pace longer this weekend. The #5 man is the staple of the team and
Corey Alfredson stepped into that role well at our season opener."
Joining the Sycamores in the field is Indiana who checks in at No. 2 in the Great Lakes Region and No. 27 in the nation. The host Purdue Boilermakers will enter the race as the No. 8 team in the Great Lakes Region. Purdue is coming off a second place finish at the Crusader Open during Labor Day weekend while the Hoosiers were victorious at the IU Open.
On the women's side, the Sycamores enter the race as the No. 13 team in the Great Lakes Region as they jumped up one spot from their preseason position following an impressive third place showing at the John McNichols Invitational. Leading the way for the Sycamores was senior
Taylor Austin who posted a 12th place finish with a time of 18:00.2 over the 5K course. This week, the Sycamore women will be adding more kilometer to the their distance from one week ago. Also strong in the season opener was
Alli Workman, a sophomore who posted a time of 18:26.3 and earned a Top 20 finish. ISU topped Cincinnati and Evansville while hanging tough with No. 3 nationally-ranked Michigan as well as regionally-ranked Louisville.
"The women got to compete against the National Runner-ups from last year Michigan and that's a program we highly respect and try to emulate," Walsh commented. "Louisville women entered the season as a top 30 program in the nation so it's great that we get to see top notch competition from the start of the season.
Taylor Austin will be excited to battle the best collegiate runners in Indiana after her best season opener ever as a Sycamore. I look for her to be competing with several in state rivals for the Indiana Intercollegiate Championship. It was exciting to watch our #2-#5 runners work together and push each other through different parts of the competition.
Alli Workman had a break out race leading the tight group of
Megan Doty,
Brittany Neeley, and
Colleen Madden. I look for
Abigail Grider to close the gap on that group at Purdue Friday."
This Friday, the Sycamores will race against Indiana who enters the event as the No. 3 team in the Great Lakes Region as well as host Purdue who is ranked No. 8. Indiana appeared at No. 26 in the national rankings on Monday. Also in the women's event is Ball State. The Hoosiers took a team victory in the IU Open while the Purdue women were victorious in their opener at the Crusader Invitational. The Cardinals are coming off a sixth place finish at the Illinois State Invitational last weekend.
"The Indiana Intercollegiate meet has a long history and we are really excited to toe the line vs many of our in state rivals in another great weekend of competition," Walsh said ahead of the meet.
The event begins at 3:30 pm (ET) with the women's 6K and continues with the men's 8K at 4:15 pm. There will be a women's 6K open race at 5:00 pm and the day concludes with a men's 8K open race at 5:45 pm.
