KEVIN JENISON
GoSycamores.com
TERRE HAUTE, IND. – The Indiana State men’s cross country team finished second while the Sycamore women’s team finished fourth in the 2009 running of the Indiana Intercollegiates held Friday on the LaVern Gibson Championship Course at the Wabash Valley Family Sports Center.
Indiana University successfully defending its title in the men’s event as the Hoosiers placed five runners in the top 10 to win the event with 20 points. All five of Indiana State’s runners were in the top 15 as the Sycamores were second with 55 points.
They were followed by Purdue in third with 100 points, Butler fourth with 119, IUPUI fifth with 124, Manchester sixth with 179 points, Evansville seventh with 212 points, DePauw eighth with 250 points, Taylor ninth with 295 points and Indiana Wesleyan 10th with 307 points.
Rose-Hulman led the second 10, finishing 11th with 310 points. The Engineers were followed by Anderson (359), Huntington (372), IPFW (423), Franklin (449), Wabash (454), Vincennes (522), Earlham (534), Grace (594), and Hanover (594).
“The team ran well,” John McNichols, Indiana State men’s cross country coach, said. “We just couldn’t overtake a very good Indiana team. I wasn’t really disappointed but I think that the team really wanted to make more of a statement today than they did. We are going to learn from our mistakes and be bettered prepared to overtake quality teams in big races.”
Indiana also won the women’s team title with 47 points with Purdue finishing second with 52 points, Butler third with 102 points and Indiana State fourth with 104 points. DePauw came in fifth with 160 points, IPFW seven with 192 points, Indiana Wesleyan eighth with 227 points, IUPUI ninth with 289 points, and Evansville 10th with 333 points.
The second 10 was led by Taylor with 335 followed by Indianapolis (339), Franklin (373), Rose-Hulman (433), Manchester (434), and Grace (487). St. Mary-of-the-Woods finished in 17 th place with 492 points followed by Huntington (495), Anderson (514), Hanover (577), Vincennes (694) and Earlham (701).
“I was disappointed how things came out today,” John Gartland, Indiana State women’s cross country coach, said. “We just did not meet our expectations today. Indiana and Purdue are what teams should be but we should have been able to beat Butler.”
Rob Mullett of Butler captured the individual championship with a time of 24:44.6. Indiana ran in a pack and took the next five spots led by Andrew Poore who was second with a time of 24:45.3. The Hoosiers Andrew Bayer took third in 24:51.2.
Indiana State also finished in a pack led by Michael Disher with a time of 25.13.8. Eric Schulz was 10th in 25:25.0, Craig Padgett 11th in 24:26.7, Andrew Lepkowski 12th in 25:30.8, Dustin Betz 13th in 25:36.5, Tyler Kent 14th in 25:38.5, and Scott Keeney 15th in 25:45.7.
Also for the Sycamores, Jeremiah Vaughan placed 17th in 25:53.2 and Albaro Escalera was 34th in 26:40.8.
“Disher ran a really tough race,” McNichols said. “He was the only one that was able to challenge the Indiana runners. The rest of the guys ran in a pack but were about 10 seconds behind Indiana.
“There were lots of positives to take from today,” McNichols said. “But there were also some things that we will need to work on to do better against good teams.”
Alison Bishel of Ball State won the women’s 5K race with a time of 17:28.0. Wendi Robinson of Indiana was second in 17:32.0 with Camille Buscomb of Purdue third in 17:38.1 and Sarah Pease of Indiana fourth in 17:40.9
Allison Malone led the Indiana State contingent, placing 10th with a time of 18:22.1. Kacie Klem was 13th in 18:42.4 while Julia Costello finished 15th in 18:52.5. Kayla Alexander was 27th overall with a time of 19:07.7 with Bethany Scruton 40th in 19:33.1, Kate Tar 59th in 20:11.6, Emily Pugh 66th in 20:22.7, and Kylee Thacker 86th in 20:39.1.
“Our top three runners did a really good job,” Gartland said. “We are going to have to get a lot better from top to bottom to be a really good team.”
ON A SIDENOTE - ISU senior Kayla Alexander may not have done as well as she wanted to in the race but her number one fan was ready to make her feel better soon after the women’s 5K race had ended. Jeremy Kunz and Kayla Alexander met at the LaVern Gibson Championship Course three years ago and this afternoon, Kunz had a video ready to display an important message when Kayla finished the race. With just a little bit of difficulty, Jeremy was able to guide Kayla to the specified spot, and directed her attention to the giant video board while he dropped to one knee. Surrounded by family and friends, and with the rest of the crowd watching on the giant video screen, Kayla nodded her head as a cheer erupted from throughout the course.
Courtesy: ISU Athletics
