TERRE HAUTE, Ind. – The Indiana State cross country teams return home to host their first home meet of the 2019 season, the John McNichols Invitational, on Saturday at 9 a.m. This year's field features an impressive three top-10 nationally-ranked teams on the men's side and four on the women's side battling for the title.
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AT THE STARTING LINE
Indiana State stays home this weekend to host their first home meet of the 2019 cross country season. The John McNichols Invitational will begin at 9 a.m. ET with the men's 8K race at the LaVern Gibson Championship Cross Country Course. Last season the Purdue men and Butler women claimed victory.
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BATTLE AT LAVERN
The LaVern Gibson Championship Cross Country Course welcomes some of the best teams in the nation on both sides to compete at the John McNichols Invitational. There are a total of 46 teams competing this 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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LAST TIME OUT
ISU opened the 2019 season at the Crusader Open two weeks ago where the men placed fourth and women second. The women fell to only nationally-ranked Notre Dame and were led by redshirt senior
Brooke Moore who placed fourth in the 5K at 17:43.60. She wasn't alone in the top-10, as
Jocelyn Quiles and
Alli Workman placed ninth and 10th with times of 18:04.70 and 18:06.80, respectively.
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On the men's side, the Trees were led by redshirt sophomore
Nick Yeend in the 6K. Yeend was the lone Sycamore to place in the top-10, crossing the line in sixth with a time of 18:44.40. Fellow sophomore standout
Noah Hufnagel was the second Sycamore across the finish line, placing 17th at 19:10.60.
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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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