INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. – Sycamore cross country will have one final tune-up before the Missouri Valley Conference Championships next weekend as they travel to Butler for the Bulldog Invitational on Friday.
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Competition at Butler is slated to begin at 4:30 p.m. with the women's 5K and will be followed with the men's 8K race at 5 p.m.
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AT THE STARTING LINE
Indiana State will hit the road on Friday for one last tune-up meet before the Missouri Valley Conference Championships when they head to Indianapolis, Ind., for the Bulldog Invitational, hosted by Butler. During their last outing, the men placed 17th in the White Division Race at the Under Armour Pre-National Invitational, while the women' placed 20th.
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FINAL TUNE-UP
Friday's meet in Indianapolis will be the last chance for the Sycamores to race before heading to Valparaiso for the MVC Championships in two weeks. ISU will be joined by conference rival Illinois State, IUPUI and nationally-ranked Butler (26th women), Indiana (13th men/23rd women) and Purdue (9th men).
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CAREER DAY AT LAVERN
In potentially her last meet at LaVern Gibson, senior
Michaela Ward had the best 6K race of her career at the Under Armour Pre-National Invitational. Ward led the Trees in 38th place in the White Division Race with a personal-best time of 22:08.90, the 14th-best time in school history. On the men's
Noah Hufnagel had an outstanding day for the Trees at Pre-Nationals, leading the Sycamore delegation with a ninth-place finish and 19th-best time by a Sycamore at LaVern Gibson, clocking in at 25:12.50.
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THE BIG LEAGUES
Saturday's Under Armour Pre-National meet boasted some of the best teams in the nation with 11 ranked teams on the men's side including BYU (2), Colorado (3), Washington (4), Ole Miss (8), Oklahoma State (14), Indiana (15), Iona (21), Eastern Kentucky (25), Arkansas (27), Virginia Tech (29) and Florida State (30). The women hosted 10 nationally-ranked teams like BYU (2), Colorado (3), Michigan (7), Washington (8), Boise State (11), Florida State (11), Ole Miss (17), Illinois (20), Boston College (26) and Oklahoma State (30).
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BEST FOR LAST
Sycamore senior
Alli Workman was the leading woman for the blue and white at the Joe Piane Invitational three weeks ago. Workman ran a career-best 5K time at Notre Dame of 17:53.40, the 16th-best time in school history, which gave her a 38th place finish against staunch competition.
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NO STEPS DOWN
After competing in a stacked field of competition at the John McNichols Invitational, the Sycamores didn't get a break from strong competition. Both teams raced in the Gold Division races at Notre Dame, which featured nine regionally-ranked teams on the men's side including Akron, Butler, Miami (OH) and Oakland from the Great Lakes Region. The women matched up with eight regionally-ranked teams, featuring Butler and Miami (OH) from the Great Lakes Region.
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SOPHOMORES IN CHARGE
The sophomore duo of
Jocelyn Quiles and
Nick Yeend was impressive to start the season. Yeend was the leader for the men in the opening races of the season, placing sixth at the Crusader Open with a personal-best 6K time of 18:44.40 and then 38th at the John McNichols Invitational with a career-best time of 25:17.90 in the 8K. Quiles ran a personal-best 5K time at the Crusader Invite, clocking in at 18:04.70 for ninth place and then placed 51st at the John McNichols Invitational at 18:04.90.
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BATTLE AT LAVERN
The LaVern Gibson Championship Cross Country Course welcomed some of the best teams in the nation on both sides to compete at the John McNichols Invitational two weeks ago. There were a total of 46 teams that competed over that weekend, (22 men and 24 women), including nationally-ranked Northern Arizona (1), Iowa State (5), Stanford (7), Indiana (16) and Purdue (24) on the men's side, and Washington (3), Michigan (4), Arkansas (5), Stanford (8) and Indiana (28) on the women's side.
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THE POWER OF FIVE
The Trees will have veteran leadership leading the way on both the men's and women's teams, with fifth-year seniors
Ryan Cash and
Brooke Moore returning. Cash is coming off of a stellar outdoor track and field season where he placed second in the steeplechase. Moore is the returning MVC runner-up in cross country and she captured the 1500-meter run title during outdoor season.
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PLANTING SEEDS
The future is bright for both the men's and women's cross country teams. Youth will be a major theme for both, as the men boast nine freshmen and four sophomores out of their 15-man lineup, and the women have two freshmen and 12 sophomores.
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TABBED FOURTH IN THE MVC
Both the Sycamore men and women were tabbed to finish fourth in the Missouri Valley Conference preseason coaches poll. The men gathered 54 points in the poll while Bradley was chosen as the favorite with all nine first place votes and 81 total points. The women tallied 65 points while the Bradley women were selected as the favorite with eight first place votes and 98 points.
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A BALANCED ATTACK
Head coach
Kyle Walsh has some help this season with the addition of new assistant coach,
Billy Poole-Harris. Poole-Harris joined the Sycamores after previously serving as a volunteer assistant at Northern Illinois and before that, the head coach of Whitney M. Young High School.
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HOME, SWEET HOME
The blue and white have the opportunity to host three home meets at the LaVern Gibson Championship Cross Country Course in 2019. Starting on Sept. 21, the Trees host the John McNichols Invitational, hosted in honor of legendary Sycamore head coach John McNichols. ISU will also host the 2019 Under Armour Pre-National Invitational on Oct. 19 before welcoming the NCAA Championships back to Terre Haute on Nov. 23.
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For the latest information on the Sycamore Cross Country and Track & Field teams, make sure to check outÂ
GoSycamores.com. You can also find the team on social media includingÂ
Facebook andÂ
Twitter.
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