TERRE HAUTE, Ind. – Indiana State plays host to its lone home meet of the 2024 cross country season when it welcomes more than 900 athletes to the LaVern Gibson Championship Cross Country Course for the John McNichols Invitational.
The men's 8k race will start at 9 a.m., with the women's 6k to follow at 9:45 a.m. Gates will open at 7:30 a.m., and there is a $5 admission fee for spectators.
Who's in the Field?
More than 30 schools will take part in this year's John McNichols Invitational. The competing teams are Anderson (Ind.), Baldwin Wallace, Calvin, Coast Guard (women only), Colby, Colorado College, Cornell College, Danville Area CC, Denison, Eastern Illinois, Evansville, Greenville, Hope, Illinois-Springfield, Indiana State, IU East, Johns Hopkins, Lynchburg (men only), Marian (Ind.), Miami (Ohio), Michigan (women only), Millikin, Milwaukee, North Central, NYU, Oberlin, Roger Williams, Rose-Hulman, St. Mary-of-the-Woods, UChicago, Vermont, Vincennes, Wartburg, Washington and Lee, Wisconsin-La Crosse, Wright State (men only).
Last Time Out
Emma Gresham shattered Indiana State's school record in the women's 4k, pacing the Sycamores to a first-place finish on the women's side at the Sam Bell Invitational.
Gresham ran a time of 14:14.8., breaking a program record which had stood since 2003 by three seconds and placing second overall.
Erica Barker was right behind in third at 14:19.0, a time that also ranks third in program history.
Brittney Burak (14:36.6) and
Peyton Smith (14:38.7) also cracked the top 10 in program history in their Sycamore debuts Friday, with their times ranking seventh and eighth all-time, respectively.
Morgan Dyer rounded out Indiana State's scorers at 14:43.7, as all of Indiana State's top five recorded top-10 program marks.
Emerson Fayman and
Jocqael Thorpe earned top-10 finishes to lead the way for the Trees on the men's side, with Fayman (18:58.8) placing ninth and Thorpe (19:02.1) finishing 10th in the 6k race.
Ryan York (19:22.6) and
Layton Hall (19:26.0) both finished in the top 20, while
Will Kozlowski (19:38.5) cracked the top 25 to round out the scoring in his Indiana State debut.
Sycamore Sitdown
Indiana State seniors
Layton Hall and
Morgan Dyer joined the Sycamore Sitdown podcast this week in advance of Saturday's John McNichols Invitational.
Click
HERE to listen to Hall and Dyer in advance of Saturday's meet.
Record-Setting Sycamores
Indiana State rewrote its women's 4k records at the Sam Bell Invitational, as the Sycamores' top seven finishers all cracked the top 20 in program history in the event.
Emma Gresham (14:14.8),
Erica Barker (14:19.0),
Brittney Burak (14:36.6),
Peyton Smith (14:38.7),
Morgan Dyer (14:43.7),
Gnister Grant (14:49.7) and
Hadley Gradolf (14:57.1) all recorded top-20 marks, as Indiana State claimed a first-place finish in Bloomington.
Five of those top marks came from underclassmen, including three from freshmen making their debuts for Sycamore cross country in Burak, Smith and Grant.
Welcome To The Rankings
Indiana State cracked the top 15 in the women's region rankings for the first time since midway through the 2018 season, with the Trees checking in at No. 14 in the Great Lakes region.
The Sycamores' regional ranking comes on the heels of a first-place finish at the Sam Bell Invitational, which featured the Trees defeating a pair of regionally-ranked opponents in Indiana and Cincinnati.
D3 Preview
Saturday's meet features a large contingent of Division III programs, with the LaVern Gibson Championship Cross Country Course slated to host the NCAA Division III National Championships in November.
23 different Division III schools have made the trip to Terre Haute to compete at the John McNichols Invitational, making up a large contingent of the more than 900 athletes competing between the two races.
Pollster Predictions
Indiana State was picked to finish in the top half of the MVC on both the men's and women's side in the 2024 preseason poll, voted on by the head coaches in the conference. The Sycamores were picked to finish fifth on the men's side and sixth on the women's side.
Head coach
Brad Butler enters his fourth season with the Sycamores, and has a strong upperclassmen group to rely on for both the men's and women's teams.
Cael Light (25:20.2) and
Layton Hall (25:31.1) both placed in the top 25 at the 2023 MVC Cross Country Championships, while
Jason Dworak ranks among the top 20 8k times in program history (24:35.7). Light was also an Honorable Mention All-MVC selection at the 2022 MVC Cross Country Championships (24:57.4).
On the women's side,
Erica Barker and
Morgan Dyer provide strong leadership to a young, but talented group. Barker ranks among the top 10 6k times in program history (21:46.2) and returns from to the fold after missing the 2023 cross country season due to injury. Dyer has consistently been in Indiana State's top five runners in recent years, and ranks among the top 20 6k times in program history (22:10.0).
Up Next
Indiana State remains in the state of Indiana for the Joe Piane Invitational October 4 in South Bend.
Follow the Sycamores
For the latest information on the Sycamore Cross Country teams, make sure to check out
GoSycamores.com. You can also find the team on social media including
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