TERRE HAUTE, Ind. – Indiana State cross country heads to Angel Mounds Cross Country Course for the second time in the last three weeks, as the Sycamores take part in the 2025 NCAA Great Lakes Regional in Evansville.
 
The women's 6k race will start at 11 a.m., with the men's 10k to follow at noon. Admission is $10 per person, cash only.
 
Regional Format
The NCAA Great Lakes Regional consists of all Division I schools from Ohio, Indiana, Wisconsin and Michigan. The top two men's and women's team at the NCAA Great Lakes Regional will automatically qualify for the NCAA Cross Country National Championships, with at-large bids also up for grabs for high-ranking teams which don't finish in the top two at their respective regional.
 
In addition to the team qualifiers, the top four individuals not from a team which qualifies for the national championships will also earn a spot in the NCAA Cross Country National Championships field, with two individual at-large berths also up for grabs.
 
Last Time Out
Five Indiana State cross country athletes recorded top-20 finishes Friday at the MVC Cross Country Championships, as the Sycamores earned runner-up honors on the women's side for the second straight year. Indiana State placed seventh on the men's side.
 
Brittney Burak had the top result for the Trees, with her eighth-place finish earning her All-MVC honors. Peyton Smith earned Honorable Mention All-MVC accolades by placing 14th, with Sawyer DeWitt (17th) and Halle Miller (20th) also recording top-20 finishes. Ryan York earned a top-20 finish for the Blue and White on the men's side.
 
Among The Region's Best
Emma Gresham earned Indiana State's first all-region honor for women's cross country since 2017 last season at the 2024 NCAA Great Lakes Regional, as the 2024 MVC Champion earned a 23rd-place finish last season at Silver Creek Metro Park in Norton, Ohio.
 
Indiana State also placed eighth as a team on the women's side last season, its best finish since moving to the Great Lakes Region. The Sycamores were the second-best team in the state last season, behind only Notre Dame.
 
Back-to-Back
Indiana State earned runner-up honors at the 2025 MVC Championships on the women's side, marking the second straight season that the Sycamores finished second in the team standings on the women's side.
 
Indiana State had four top-20 finishers on the women's side for a second straight year, including two who earned conference accolades in Brittney Burak (All-MVC) and Peyton Smith (Honorable Mention All-MVC). On the men's side, Ryan York earned the first top-20 finish by a Sycamore men's cross country athlete since Cael Light in 2022.
 
Trees In The Polls
Indiana State remained in the region rankings at No. 13 on the women's side in the USTFCCCA Great Lakes region rankings following the Sycamores' runner-up finish at the MVC Championships.
 
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.
 
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
Should Indiana State have any qualifiers for the NCAA Cross Country National Championships (individual or team), that championship will take place Nov. 22 in Columbia, Missouri.
 
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.