KEVIN JENISON
GoSycamores.com
BLOOMINGTON, IND. – For the second year in a row, the Indiana State cross country team will be represented by at least one individual at the NCAA Division I Men’s and Women’s Cross Country Championships on Nov. 23 as Eric Schulz finished sixth at the Great Lakes Region Championship Saturday at Indiana University.
The Sycamore senior may not be the only runner from Indiana State at the National Championship as the team finished fourth in the Great Lakes Region Championship and have a chance at an at-large selection to the National Championship.
“This is one of the greatest days in Indiana State cross country,” John McNichols, Indiana State men’s cross country coach said. “Fourth is our highest finish ever in the region meet. We really upset the apple cart today.”
Wisconsin, who had been the top pick in the Great Lakes Region poll all season, won the championship on the Indiana University Championship course with 62 points. The Badgers earned one of the two automatic qualifiers from the Great Lakes Region along with Michigan State, who finished second with 128 points. Ohio State was third with 144 and Indiana State fourth with 151.
Butler, who had been ranked second all season in the region, finished fifth with 160 while Kent State was sixth (192 points), Notre dame seventh (205), Indiana eighth (213), Eastern Michigan ninth (232), and Michigan 10th (259).
“I believe that Ohio State will get an at-large bid but I believe that we have enough quality wins this season that we should have a shot also,” McNichols said. “If we do, it will be the first time in school history that we have a team qualify for the National Championships. However, the Mountain West has a lot of good teams. We will just have to wait until the selections are announced.”
That announcement will come at approximately 7 p.m. (ET) Sunday and announced on the NCAA website (www.ncaa.com)
Even if the Sycamores do not get invited to the big show as a team, they will be represented by Schulz who finished sixth overall with a time of 31:13.37.
“We had guys push ahead, fall back and then push ahead again but Schulz stayed right up there with the front pack as the race wore on,” McNichols said. “He ran the final 2,000 meters in extreme pain but was able to block it out and finish really strong.”
It wasn’t just Schulz who ran well but all the Sycamores.
“I don’t know if it was because Scott (Keeney) couldn’t run or not but the guys just decided that this was the race to lay it all on the line,” McNichols said. “They put together a great race and are a very sore bunch of guys right now. These guys are not ready for the season to be over, however. They will treat tomorrow like we have a meet next weekend and will be ready to run if we are selected.”
Indiana State junior Michael Disher finished 22nd overall with a time of 31:37.93 with sophomore teammate Craig Padgett 23rd in 31:39.85. Schulz, Disher and Padgett were each named to the All-Region team.
Sophomore Jeremiah Vaughan finished 46th overall in 32:22.88 and freshman Albaro Escalera was 54th (32.23.11) in the final two scoring spots. Also for Indiana State, junior Andrew Lepkowski was 75th in 32:59.07 and sophomore Dustin Betz was 85th in 33:09.48.
“Escalera finished as one of the top freshmen in the region,” McNichols said. “And we beat all the other Indiana teams today. We certainly put ourselves in a position to be one of the at-large selections to the NCAA Championships. Maybe we have enough going for us that will give us an edge over some others. It would be great to run as a team on our own course at the National Championship.”
While the men had an outstanding day, the Indiana State women did not. The Sycamore women finished in a tie for 18th in the team standings, one of their worst showings ever in the Great Lakes region, finishing with 499 points and tied with Oakland University.
“We just were not ready to compete,” John Gartland, Indiana State women’s team coach said. “We had a number of physical problems also including two athletes falling down during the race. We were just not ready to go like we were two weeks ago and that is my fault.”
Notre Dame took the team title with 94 points with Ohio State finishing second with 102, Michigan third with 104 and Indiana fourth with 105 points.
The Sycamores were led by sophomore Kacie Klem who finished 70th overall in 22:34.40. Junior Allison Malone was the next Indiana State runner, finishing 94th in 22:59.58 while senior Emily Pugh was 102nd in 23:03.18, junior Bethany Scruton 117th in 23:15.76, and senior Kayla Alexander finished 121st in 23:23.41.
Also for Indiana State, senior Julia Costello was 158th in 24:09.61 and freshman Kylee Thacker was 168th in 24:22.72.
Courtesy: ISU Athletics
