TERRE HAUTE, Ind. – Indiana State cross country aims to add to its conference championship haul Friday, as the Sycamores take part in the 2025 MVC Cross Country Championships in Evansville, Indiana.
The women's 6k race will start at 11:30 a.m., with the men's 8k to follow at 12:30 p.m.
All tickets for the 2025 MVC Cross Country Championships will be sold at the gates on Friday. Tickets are $5 per person, cash only, with children aged 2 and under receiving free admission.
Who's In The Field?
Indiana State will compete against Belmont, Bradley, Drake, Evansville, Illinois State, Murray State, Northern Iowa, Southern Illinois, UIC and Valparaiso in Friday's MVC Championships.
Evansville is the host institution for this year's championships.
Last Time Out
Indiana State cross country faced its toughest competition to date at the Pre-National Invitational, with multiple Sycamores running career-best times at the Gans Creek Cross Country Course.
Competing against a plethora of mainstays in the regional and national rankings, the Trees placed 29th on the men's side and 30th on the women's side. Indiana State placed ahead of the likes of Kansas and Purdue on the women's side, while also finishing ahead of Iowa on the men's side.
Ryan York led the way for the Sycamores on the men's side for the second straight meet, crossing the line in 24:59.6, while freshmen
Chris Angeles and
Mason Nobles followed behind with career-best times of 25:17.0 and 25:22.6, respectively.
Brittney Burak paced the Blue and White on the women's side with a 6k time of 21:12.3, an improvement by more than 30 seconds from her time at the John McNichols Invitational four weeks ago.
Sawyer DeWitt ran a career-best 6k time of 21:32.3 and
Peyton Smith crossed the line in 21:42.9 to round out the Trees' top three.
Pre-Championship Expectations
Indiana State was picked to finish second on the women's side in the MVC Pre-Championship Poll, with the Sycamores also predicted to earn a top-half finish on the men's side.
The Trees placed second on the women's side at the 2024 MVC Championships, the program's highest finish since 1997. Indiana State earned a top-half finish for the third straight year on the men's side last year with a fifth-place finish.
Bradley was tabbed the unanimous favorite on both the men's and women's side this season, with the Braves seeking to sweep the conference titles for a second straight season.
Championship Desires
Indiana State will look to build off a strong 2024 MVC Championships performance, which included
Emma Gresham winning the MVC Cross Country Championship on the women's side. Gresham was the first Sycamore since 2003 to win the women's individual title.
Gresham and
Erica Barker both earned All-MVC honors after recording top-five performances last year at Northern Iowa, with Gresham later earning All-Great Lakes Region accolades at the NCAA Great Lakes Regional. The Sycamores' last top-15 finish by an individual on the men's side was
Cael Light in 2022, when Indiana State last hosted the MVC Championships.
Trees In The Polls
Indiana State held steady at No. 12 on the women's side in the USTFCCCA Great Lakes region rankings following the Sycamores' performance at the Pre-National Invitational. The Trees placed ahead of the likes of Purdue and Kansas while competing against many of the top-ranked teams in the nation.
The Sycamores have been ranked as high as No. 8 in the region this season on the women's side and have been inside the top 15 in every region ranking since the first meet of the 2024 season. The Trees will look to continue their success in the rankings after picking up a pair of top-five team finishes on both the men's and women's side to start the 2025 campaign.
Postseason Feeling
Indiana State's 2025 postseason all meets will all be contested at courses the Sycamores are or will be familiar with. The MVC Championships and NCAA Great Lakes Regional will both take place at Angel Mounds Cross Country Course in Evansville.
The 2025 NCAA Cross Country Championships will be contested at Gans Creek Cross Country Course in Columbia, Missouri. Indiana State competed in the Pre-National Invitational at Gans Creek earlier this month.
Youth Movement
Indiana State features one of the youngest rosters in the MVC this season, with just one senior –
Jocqael Thorpe – among the Sycamores' 28 cross country athletes. Freshmen and sophomores account for more than 60 percent of Indiana State's roster this season, with head cross country coach
Brad Butler building a team to contend for titles both now and down the line.
Underclassmen have been mainstays within the Sycamores' top five this season.
Brittney Burak,
Peyton Smith and
Sawyer DeWitt have been among the Trees' top four in every meet this season on the women's side, while
Mason Nobles and
Chris Angeles have been among the Sycamores' scoring contingent in nearly every meet on the men's side.
Up Next
Indiana State heads back to Evansville for the 2025 NCAA Great Lakes Regional, set for November 14.
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
Facebook and
Twitter. Fans can also receive updates on Sycamore Athletics by downloading the March On App from the both the
App Store and the
Google Play Store.
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