TERRE HAUTE, Ind. – Indiana State Head Cross Country Coach Brad Butler and Cross Country/Track and Field Program Director Angela Martin announced the Sycamores' 2024 schedule Tuesday morning. The schedule features five regular-season meets, including two at LaVern Gibson Championship Cross Country Course, along with conference and NCAA regional meets to close the slate.
 
"We are really looking forward to the upcoming cross country season," Butler said. "I think we have put together a competitive schedule that will benefit all our athletes, both newcomers and upperclassmen. We will be racing on four different courses from last season, which I think our runners will look forward to."
 
Indiana State opens its 2024 season with a trip down SR-46 for the Indiana Opener August 30 in Bloomington. It marks the first time the Sycamores have competed at Indiana since the 2016, when the Hoosiers hosted the Indiana Intercollegiate, an annual meet which rotated between Indiana, Purdue and Indiana State and featured most of the state's colleges and universities.
 
The Sycamores then play host to their annual home meet, the John McNichols Invitational, September 21 at LaVern Gibson Championship Cross Country Course. The meet is among the top early-season meets in the Midwest and annually attracts high-level teams and athletes to Terre Haute.
 
"We will host one meet this season, the John McNichols Invitational on September 21 at LaVern Gibson Championship Cross Country Course," Butler said. "We have already had a lot of interest in this meet. We anticipate having good races with over 30 schools intending to compete. It will be a good early season test for our squads.
 
"We are really excited about our schedule this year and are happy with the interest from teams that want to compete in the John McNichols Invitational," Martin said. "The LaVern Gibson Championship Cross Country Course was built to host great meets and we plan to continue that tradition."
 
The Sycamores start October with a split-squad weekend. Indiana State will send a contingent to the Joe Piane Invite at Notre Dame October 4, marking the first time since 2021 that the Sycamores have competed in South Bend. That same day, Indiana State will also field a team at the Nike XC Town Twilight, which Rose-Hulman will host at LaVern Gibson Championship Cross Country Course.
 
Indiana State's final meet before the championship stretch is a familiar one, as the Sycamores will compete in the Bradley Pink Classic October 18. The meet has become a fixture on the Sycamores' schedule and gives the Trees an opportunity to run the women's 6k once before championship season.
 
The 2024 MVC Cross Country Championships will take place November 1 in Cedar Falls, Iowa, with Northern Iowa serving as championship hosts. The Mid-American Conference will host the NCAA Great Lakes Regional Nov. 15 in Norton, Ohio. Wisconsin is the 2024 NCAA Cross Country National Championships host, with the championship meet taking place November 23 in Madison.
 
Indiana State looks to build off its 2023 season, which saw the Sycamores improve in the conference standings on both the men's and women's side. The Trees were fifth in the men's standings, the program's best finish since 2018, while the Sycamores' seventh-place finish on the women's side was a three-spot improvement from the 2022 season.
 
Indiana State returns a large portion of its roster, with each of the Sycamores' top-25 finishers from the conference championships returning in Cael Light, Layton Hall and Emma Gresham. Gresham, Light, Jason Dworak, Morgan Dyer and Hadley Gradolf all cracked the program top-20 charts a season ago and are back for the 2024 campaign, while Erica Barker, who is among the program's all-time best in both cross country and track and field, also returns after a redshirt season.
 
2024 INDIANA STATE CROSS COUNTRY SCHEDULE
Aug. 30 – Indiana Opener (Bloomington, Ind.)
Sept. 21 – John McNichols Invitational (Terre Haute, Ind. / LaVern Gibson Championship Cross Country Course)
Oct. 4 – Joe Piane Invitational (South Bend, Ind.)
Oct. 4 – Nike XC Town Twilight (Terre Haute, Ind. / Lavern Gibson Championship Cross Country Course – hosted by Rose-Hulman)
Oct. 18 – Bradley Pink Classic (Peoria, Ill.)
Nov. 1 – MVC Cross Country Championships (Cedar Falls, Iowa)
Nov. 15 – NCAA Great Lakes Regional (Norton, Ohio)
Nov. 23 – NCAA Cross Country National Championships (Madison, Wis.)
 
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