IU will be host to Tennessee, Kentucky and Purdue in the Hoosier Open this weekend for a series of highly competitive events.
The team has been preparing for this meet, the first of the season, since the beginning of September. IU Coach Ed Beathea said the team is ready for the competition.
“We’re hoping for some competitive efforts, and from what we’ve seen this fall, we feel like we’ll get that,” Beathea said. “We’re confident in our distance runners because cross-country just ended, so they will be in better shape from the end of their season.”
The indoor 5K runners will include sophomore Katherine Receveur, who had a breakout season this year in cross-country. She finished second in the Big Ten Championships, had an 11th-place finish at nationals and received All-America honors.
On the men’s side, seniors Jason Crist and Matt Schwartzer and freshman Ben Veatch will be ready to go after stellar cross-country seasons. Crist managed to get his fourth consecutive All-America honors. Veatch won Big Ten Freshman of the Year for cross-country and adds even more depth to the 5K team.
Beathea said the coaching staff has been focusing on improving the runners’ trust in one another and boosting their chemistry on and off the track. They hope the closer the runners become with one another, the more they will want to push each other in order to get better in training and in meets.
“We’ve really focused on everyone being really committed in their training, and we think everyone has a trust in one another,” Beathea said. “Everyone is training with one another, so they’ve already adapted the mindset to be really competitive with each other.”
Beathea said he is looking forward to seeing the runners compete and said the schools coming to Bloomington are very tough on the track. He said he thinks the team will stack up well against the competition, but it won’t be an easy task to win.
“The competition coming in are going to bring in some really tough teams,” he said. “They’re all strong in the explosive events. The races will be competitive and very well-tested.”
There aren’t one or two athletes that stand out now according to Beathea, and he said he wants the team to focus more on the whole team than on separate individuals. He said he’s been impressed with what he’s seen in practice and thinks his team will be ready when the events start Friday evening.
Beathea said he’s really happy the team is well-rounded enough to go into meets and have plenty of events they should be favored in.
“I think it’s hard to identify any one or two athletes that will stand out,” he said. “We’re well-rounded across the board, so as the season progresses we think that some individuals will stand out compared to others.”
