Hoosiers take step forward

The women's cross country team made strides Saturday toward its goal of a birth at the National Championship. The team placed 23rd out of 34 teams in the Women's 6K Purple Division race at the Pre-NCAA Meet in Greenville, S.C.\nThe Hoosiers tallied 557 points, just five points behind the Air Force Academy, and finished four points ahead of La Salle University. Georgetown University won the race by upsetting the No. 1 ranked team, Colorado.\nCoach Judy Bogenschutz said the team could have ran and scored much better.\n"In terms of our fitness level, we should have placed somewhere between 10th and 14th. We're not committing once the race starts. I'm not sure if that has to do with our confidence or not," she said.\nLeading the way for Indiana for the second straight race was sophomore Becky Obrecht. She placed 67th in a time of 22:37. Obrecht said that her workouts have helped her out.\n"I guess I just have faith in my training. I'm just doing what I know I can do," Obrecht said.\nBogenschutz said she is happy with Obrecht's performances so far.\n"She's just going out there and running as hard as she can. It's working for her," she said.\nJunior Amanda Bell took another step in her return Saturday. Bell finished second for the Hoosiers and 88th overall in a time of 22:56, just beating her best time of the year. Each week Bell has gotten closer to the top of Hoosier finishers.\nFreshman Mindy Peterson continued her strong running by placing third for Indiana. Rounding out the top five for the Hoosiers were sophomores Audrey Giesler and Lauren Weddell.\n"I don't think that many of us have had our best races yet. I'm not that much better than everyone else. I've just run different races," Peterson said.\nThe Hoosiers now have a two week lay-off in which to prepare for the Big 10 meet in Savoy, Ill. Bogenschutz said she thinks her team has been too tired heading into races because of their heavy training during the week.\n"We're going to back off a little. We're going to work more on speed work," she said.\nObrecht said she feels the team is getting closer to accomplishing their goal.\n"We haven't shown our ability level yet. We haven't put it all together. We need to stay focused and continue doing what we've been doing every day," she said.