Hoosiers use strong pack for victory

For the men's cross country team's corps of freshmen, the first meet of their career turned out to be a successful one. Four redshirt freshmen finished in the top seven of the team and all seven varsity runners placed in the top ten of the Indiana Open Friday at the IU Cross Country Course.\nIn an effort to dominate their home opener, the team used a tight pack in which their top runner and seventh runner were separated by only 37 seconds. \nRedshirt freshman John Jefferson debuted as the number one runner for the team in the seven-kilometer race, with senior Bart Phariss slightly behind him. Jefferson finished with a second place overall finish of 22:29.10, and Phariss placed third .2 seconds behind Jefferson.\nJefferson was one of several redshirt freshmen to score in the meet for the Hoosiers. Coach Robert Chapman brought in one of the top recruiting classes in the nation last year and will use the freshmen to play a large role for the team this season. \nRedshirt freshmen Sean Jefferson, Eric Redman and Stephen Haas all stayed in IU's tight pack and were able to place in the top ten in the race. Sean Jefferson placed fourth overall with a time of 22:38.30. Redman finished sixth with a time of 22:50.80, and Haas finished seventh at 23:04.20.\nThe race, similar to a five-mile training run, was a tune up meet to head into the season. The team has had about two weeks of solid training thus far, and the meet was meant to check the progress of the young team. Chapman said the biggest asset the meet had to offer was valuable experience for all the young runners on the team. \n"Our approach to this meet was to give the top guys some time. But you don't want any injuries, and you don't want to disrupt your preparation for the regular season," Chapman said in a statement. "It was a good workout for us."\nSome of the team's top runners chose to sit out the meet in order to avoid injury. The most noticeable absence was senior Chad Andrews, one of the team's leaders. \nOthers who placed for the Hoosiers were redshirt sophomore Tom Burns who finished fifth overall and redshirt junior Robert DeWitte who finished ninth. The team's next meet is the Indiana Intercollegiate meet on Sept. 20 at the IU Cross-Country Course.\nIn a statement, Haas said the team will improve as the training becomes more goal oriented.\n"This time of year, when you log so many miles, you'll have your shares of ups and downs," he said. "We'll be ready."\nThe women's team also opened its season at the Indiana Open with a 1-2 finish.\nSophomore Mindy Peterson won the race with a 5K time of 18:12.20 while teammate Audrey Giesler finished a close second with a time of 18:15.00.\nCoach Judy Wilson was pleased with the times as both Giesler and Peterson improved by over a minute from the season opener last year. \nAlthough the Hoosiers had the top two times, Wilson was also impressed with her freshman runners Jessica Gall and Lindsay Hattendorf. Gall finished in fourth with an 18:27.80 time and Hattendorf took fifth with an 18:36.00 time. \n"This race is probably hardest on them, because in the span of two weeks, they are adjusting to college running and being away from home for their first time," Wilson said in a statement. "And most importantly, they start classes next week." \nOverall, the Hoosiers had four of the top five runners and eight of the top 12 times. Wilson was pleased with the team effort.\n"I told our team to run controlled and stay composed," she said in a press release. "They ran a good race." \nThe Hoosier's team score of 19 was less than half that of their closest competitor, the University of South Florida, who finished in second with 39 points. The University of Louisville took third with 86 points followed by the University of Indianapolis in fourth with 108 points and IU-Purdue at fort Wayne in fifth with 111 points.\nThe women's team will split up this weekend, competing in the Purdue Open and the Miami University Invite at 10 a.m.