Saturday morning's IU Open at the IU Championship Cross Country Course isn't just the start of the season for the IU cross-country teams. In a way, it's a meet of mystery for Coach Ron Helmer’s squads as well.
Earlier in the week, Helmer was still unsure of what the field for the event would look like because the open invitation extended to any teams that might want to sign up before Saturday. However, this opening weekend isn’t necessarily about the competition in Helmer’s eyes, but rather the training opportunity that comes with it.
“We love to race, but we are training at a really high level right now,” Helmer said. “That means what really starts to count for us is the championship part of the season in October. We don’t have to win anything before that, but that doesn’t mean we don’t want to, either.”
For the runners, Saturday is more about finally getting back on the course against competition after the long offseason. Seeing where the respective rosters stand can be relevant, even as early as the first race.
“I think this first meet is important to work together as a team and see where everyone is at physically,” junior Maggie Allen said. “I think we’re all excited to break out the spikes and to see all the hard work in the summer finally pay off.”
One thing Helmer does expect from the still-unknown field is that it will be much stronger than the one from last year’s opening race, in which both IU's men's and women's team took down Miami (Ohio). Helmer said four or five Big Ten opponents could be present in Bloomington this weekend.
“I think they want to come run on the same course where the Big Ten Championships are going to be held this year,” Helmer said. “If they’re here, the competition could be really tough, but at the same time, I don’t anticipate they’re going to line up everybody they have just like we plan on doing.”
