The IU cross-country teams are kind of like hot air.
Much like hot air rises in the atmosphere, the Hoosiers continue to rise in the national rankings.
In the most recent U.S. Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association poll released Tuesday, the women’s team rose eight spots from its last ranking and now finds itself 18th in the country, while the men's team rose six spots to 21st. For the women's team, its new ranking is tied for the highest in program history.
“I think both of those are fair rankings based off what we’ve done up to this point,” Coach Ron Helmer said. “I think people are taking notice and that means as much to us as anything right now.”
Helmer rested his top runners in last week’s Indiana Intercollegiate in West Lafayette, Indiana. Now he is taking full rosters for both teams to prove those new rankings at the highly competitive Coast to Coast Battle in Beantown at Boston College on Friday.
Friday’s meet will also mark the first races of the year for reigning All-American junior Katherine Receveur on the women’s side and sophomore Bryce Millar on the men's team. Millar will be looking to earn a top-three spot on the men’s team.
Receveur’s return to competition comes after a year in which she finished 11th at the NCAA Cross-Country Championships. Her return will be a big boost for the women's team.
The women's team still dominated the season-opening IU Open in Bloomington three weeks ago without her, behind stellar performances from juniors Maggie Allen and Brenna Calder. However, with their No. 1 runner returning and their new ranking, the Hoosiers should have plenty of confidence heading into Boston.
“It’s exciting to have the whole team together because we’ve been working really hard in practice,” junior Haley Harris said. “It’s a big confidence booster to know we’re ranked this high, and now we know who we should have our sights set on who to beat.”
As for the men’s squad, it, too, will be back together as a full team with the return of Millar from an early-season injury. He’ll team up with sophomores Ben Veatch and Kyle Mau to form a trio looking to lead the Hoosiers to a top-20 ranking for the program's 10th consecutive season.
Teamwork will be important for the men's team Friday. It was the strategy of grouping that helped the men's team secure its season-opening victory at the IU Open. Juniors Kyle Burks and Joe Murphy and freshman Cooper Williams will play key roles by sticking to that strategy and backing up the top three in Boston.
“I think we’re going to try and work in two packs,” Burks said. “We’ll have Ben, Kyle and Bryce up front, and then Joe, Cooper and I behind them. We’re going to try to close out the race really hard just like we did in the first meet.”
Friday’s meet will feature some of the best competition IU has faced so far, and strong finishes could help both teams continue to rise in the rankings. Helmer said he knows how important a good outing from his team will be.
“We definitely needed to race because our top runners haven’t ran in three weeks,” Helmer said. “We have a chance to run really well this week, and that would jump us up in the rankings even more next week.”
