TERRE HAUTE, Ind. – Indiana State cross country competes in its final meet before the MVC Championships Friday, as the Sycamores will take part in the Bradley Pink Classic at Newman Golf Course in Peoria.
The women's 6k race is slated to begin at 4 p.m., with the men's 8k race to follow at 4:45 p.m. Additional races at 2:30 p.m. (women) and 3:15 p.m. (men) will precede the invite races.
Who's in the Field?
The Sycamores will be joined by Augustana (S.D.), Bellarmine, host institution Bradley, Cincinnati, Drake, Eastern Illinois, Grand Valley State, Illinois, Illinois State, UIC, IUPUI, Lindenwood, Louisville, Loyola Chicago, Marquette, Miami (Ohio), Milwaukee, Murray State, North Dakota, North Dakota State, Northern Iowa, Northern Kentucky, Northwestern, Oakland, Purdue Fort Wayne, SEMO, SIU Edwardsville, South Dakota State, Southern Illinois, Southern Indiana, St. Thomas (Minn.), Valparaiso, Western Illinois, Western Michigan, Wichita State, Green Bay, and Xavier.
Last Time Out
Competing in its largest field to date, 13 Indiana State cross country athletes broke personal records in the Live in Lou Cross Country Classic at E.P. "Tom" Sawyer State Park.
Jackson Krieg led the way for the Sycamores on the men's side for the second third consecutive meet, placing 55th with a time of 24:22.0.
Jason Dworak (75th, 24.35.7) and
Logan Pietrzak (98th, 24:46.6) rounded out the top three finishers for the Trees, giving Indiana State a trio of top-100 finishers in by far the deepest field the Sycamores have competed in this season.
Erica Barker paced the Indiana State women with a time of 18:48.1 to place 206th, while
Sara Skaff was second among Sycamore finishers in 225th with a time of 18:55.6.
Chloe Loftus, making her season debut, ran a career-best time of 19:14.0 to finish 265th.
Steady Improvement
Indiana State had arguably its best showing of the season in its last meet, the Live in Lou Cross Country Classic. 13 of the 14 runners competing for the Sycamores in the Bluegrass State set new personal records, with some breaking previous PRs by more than a minute.
Chloe Loftus had the biggest PR improvement of anyone competing for Indiana State, as she improved her PR by more than two minutes in her 2022 season debut. On the men's side,
Cannen Wolf improved his PR by more than a minute.
Additionally,
Jason Dworak,
Jackson Krieg,
Logan Pietrzak,
Kyra Young and
Sara Skaff all broke their previous PRs by 30 seconds or more.
Record Chasing
Indiana State had a pair of runners break into the top 15 of the Sycamore all-time best charts at the Live in Lou Cross Country Classic.
Jackson Krieg's time of 24:22.0 was his best 8k time by 50 seconds and put him sixth all-time in program history.
Jason Dworak ran a time of 24:35.7, an improvement of nearly a minute from his previous PR, to rank 14th in program history.
What's Up Next?
Indiana State plays host to the 2022 Missouri Valley Conference Cross Country Championships October 28 at LaVern Gibson Championship Cross Country Course.
