Indiana State University Athletics

TERRE HAUTE, Ind. -- For the third consecutive week, both the Indiana State men's and women's cross country teams appear in the Great Lakes Regional rankings as announced today by the USTFCCA. The Sycamores are ranked No. 13 in both the men's and women's polls.

The USTFCCCA Regional Rankings are determined subjectively by a single member coach in each of the nine respective regions. The regional representative is tasked with weighing returning teams' strength with current season results (if applicable) in determining team finishing order at the upcoming NCAA Division I Regional Cross Country Championships.

This year the NCAA Regional Championships will be held on Friday, November 10 at the LaVern Gibson Championship Cross Country Course.

The women held steady with a No. 13 ranking from last week's poll. The Sycamores have improved from their Preseason prediction of No. 14. 

The women's team is coming off a second place showing on Friday, September 15 at the Indiana Intercollegiates which were hosted by Purdue. The Sycamores amassed 41 points, edging out Indiana (70) and Ball State (108). They fell to Purdue, who won with 23 points.
 
Leading the way for the Sycamore women were senior Taylor Austin and sophomore Alli Workman. Austin competed with a deep Purdue team, and placed second with a time of 22:25.00. She finished 45th in the same competition last year.
 
"The women ran really well, led off with Taylor Austin, who put on another solid performance, I would say a step ahead of where she was last week," Walsh said. "It was a big move for Taylor to leave the chase pack behind and put together another strong race."

For the men, the Sycamores also checked in at No. 13 down one spot from their No. 12 ranking in the previous two polls. 

ISU defeated Indiana while gaining 47 points at the Indiana Intercollegiates. Purdue won the meet with 16 points.
 
Junior Akis Medrano led the way for the Sycamore men, competing with the loaded Purdue squad, and placing sixth overall at 25:53.2. Behind Medrano was sophomore Seth Cousins who tallied a 10th place finish overall with a mark of 26:32.7. Corey Alfredson was the only other Sycamore in the top 20, crossing the finish line at 27:05.1 and finishing 17th.
 
"Akis Medrano and Seth Cousins led the way for us, and both of them had really strong performances. After that we had a little bit of a struggle. Corey Alfredson ran number five for us last week, and today he stepped up and ran number three for us," Walsh said.

Indiana will travel to South Bend, Ind., on Friday, September 29 for the Notre Dame Invitational.