The men's and women's cross country teams are both coming off of one the finer years in their respective histories.\nThe women finished 14th at the NCAA Championships, putting together their best finish since 1990. The men also reached the finals, finishing in 25th place.\nOn Saturday, they will look to build on last year's momentum as they host the Indiana Open. The field will include Huntington College, Manchester College, South Florida and Wisconsin-Green Bay. Louisville will participate in the women's race.\nThe women's 5K race starts at 4:45, while the men's 7K race will begin at 5:15.\nMen's coach Robert Chapman said the meet will give the team a chance to see the capabilities of its younger runners.\n"For this home opener, we traditionally only run our younger guys," Chapman said. "We like to let them get their feet wet in a low key situation and learn how to race the longer college distance."\nDue to the inexperience of the runners in the event and the possibility that overwhelming heat will slow the field down, Chapman won't be focusing on times to assess his team's progress.\n"This meet would be similar to an exhibition situation," Chapman said. \nThe team has already learned a bit more about itself over the past week. It spent last weekend at training camp at Chain O' Lakes State Park in Noble County.\n"They have nice cabins and nice trails to train on," Chapman said. "It's a good atmosphere to bond as a group and set the tone for the season."\nWomen's coach Judy Wilson is expecting her top three runners, junior Mindy Peterson, senior Audrey Giesler, and sophomore Lindsay Hattendorf to be out in front of the field. But she will be paying closer attention to how the other runners handle themselves.\n"We want them to hit certain parts of the race at certain times," Wilson said.\nLike any coach, Wilson wants to see her team put in their best effort. But she also realizes that running too hard in the heat opens up the possibility for injury.\n"If it's like it's been the past couple days, I would certainly want them to go a little easier," Wilson said. "It's very hot, and that can make things difficult on a tough course like ours."\nThe runners involved know it will be important to drink plenty of liquids before the race gets under way.\n"We try to get really hydrated before a meet like this," Giesler said. "And we'll run more conservatively than we would later in the year."\nThe women will already be missing one key member of the team for the meet, sophomore Jessica Gall. Gall has done workouts this week, but is still recovering from a quadriceps injury.\n"She will be there when it counts," Wilson said.
-- Contact staff writer Alex Hickey at ahickey@indiana.edu.
